Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 1308

Sensory hypersensitivity in mice with the Grin2b gene mutation found in patients is related to hyperactivity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and hyperconnectivity between the ACC and other brain regions. Credit: Institute for Basic Science.

Director Kim Eunjoon states, “This new research demonstrates the involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which has been known for its deep association with cognitive and social functions, in sensory hypersensitivity in autism.”

The hyperactivity of the ACC was also associated with the enhanced functional connectivity between the ACC and other brain areas. It is believed both hyperactivity and the hyperconnectivity of the ACC with various other brain regions are involved with sensory hypersensitivity in Grin2b-mutant mice.

Read more | >

Enhanced neuron growth in the hippocampus, achieved through exercise or genetic methods, aids mice in forgetting strong, maladaptive memories, offering potential for new treatments for PTSD or drug addiction.

Researchers at the University of Toronto, Canada, and Kyushu University, Japan, discovered that enhancing neuron production and subsequently altering neural connections in the hippocampus—through exercise or genetic intervention—enables mice to forget memories associated with trauma or drugs. The findings, reported in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, could offer a new approach to treating mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or drug addiction.

PTSD is a mental health condition that can be triggered by experiencing or seeing a traumatic event, such as a natural disaster, serious accident, or attack. Worldwide, around 3.9% of the general population has PTSD, with symptoms including vivid flashbacks and avoidance behaviors, such as staying away from places or pushing away people that remind them of the traumatic event.

Read more | >

How can rapidly emerging #AI develop into a trustworthy, equitable force? Proactive policies and smart governance, says Salesforce.

These initial steps ignited AI policy conversations amid the acceleration of innovation and technological change. Just as personal computing democratized internet access and coding accessibility, fueling more technology creation, AI is the latest catalyst poised to unlock future innovations at an unprecedented pace. But with such powerful capabilities comes large responsibility: We must prioritize policies that allow us to harness its power while protecting against harm. To do so effectively, we must acknowledge and address the differences between enterprise and consumer AI.

Enterprise versus consumer AI

Salesforce has been actively researching and developing AI since 2014, introduced our first AI functionalities into our products in 2016, and established our office of ethical and human use of technology in 2018. Trust is our top value. That’s why our AI offerings are founded on trust, security and ethics. Like many technologies, there’s more than one use for AI. Many people are already familiar with large language models (LLMs) via consumer-facing apps like ChatGPT. Salesforce is leading the development of AI tools for businesses, and our approach differentiates between consumer-grade LLMs and what we classify as enterprise AI.

Continue reading “How AI is poised to unlock innovations at unprecedented pace” | >

Our guest in this episode is Dr. Mark Kotter. Mark is a neurosurgeon, stem cell biologist, and founder or co-founder of three biotech start-up companies that have collectively raised hundreds of millions of pounds: bit.bio, clock.bio, and Meatable.

In addition, Mark still conducts neurosurgeries on patients weekly at the University of Cambridge.

We talk to Mark about all his companies, but we start by discussing Meatable, one of the leading companies in the cultured meat sector. This is an area of technology which should have a far greater impact than most people are aware of, and it’s an area we haven’t covered before in the podcast.

Selected follow-ups:

Continue reading “Stem cells, lab-grown meat, and potential new medical treatments, with Mark Kotter” | >

The human genome is massive, and it contains many highly repetitive sequences that confounded researchers for years. Many of these repeats were simply written off as junk DNA that had no function. However, new research is revealing that many of these regions are much more important than we thought. Some of the repetitive portions of the genome are known to be human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs). These sequences originated from viruses that infected human germ cells millions of years ago and affected our evolution. About eight percent of our genome is thought to be made up of HERVs. These HERVs have also been associated with a variety of psychiatric disorders, although the connection is unclear.

A new study reported in Nature Communications has suggested that HERVs are making a significant but unappreciated contribution to the development of psychiatric disorders, and that they may help explain a genetic component of these disorders that is thought to exist but has not yet been identified.

Read more | >

Lowtek Games combined the multifunctionality of a screen with the beauty of a pop-up book in a unique project that will take your imagination to another level. Codenamed Lowtek Lightbook, this interactive experience allows you to not only read stories but also play various games.

For example, you can color pictures with digital paints, find hidden objects, run away from aliens, or deliver food to them – all thanks to projection mapping and Lowtek Games’ clever thinking. Moreover, the story of Bib Goes Home can be even more engaging if you manually make Bib go home and explore his surroundings using a controller and a projector.

Read more | >

Dive into the intriguing world of Sentient Singularity Theory, a groundbreaking framework that seeks to explain the interconnected nature of consciousness, cosmology, and metaphysics. Created by Tyler Goldstein, this theory posits that every particle and atom in the universe is a conscious participant in the grand dance of existence. Discover how the universe is viewed not just as a mechanical construct but as a living organism, where space, time, matter, and force emerge from the interactions of sentient beings. Join us as we explore the Four Primary Perspectives, the concept of infinite-oneness, and the idea of a self-simulating universe. Through this journey, we’ll challenge conventional understandings and delve deep into the philosophical and metaphysical implications of a Theory of Everyone. Don’t miss this thought-provoking exploration into the very fabric of reality.

#SentientSingularityTheory #Consciousness #Metaphysics #Cosmology #TheoryOfEverything.

Become a member of this channel to enjoy benefits:
/ @artificiallyaware

Read more | >

NGC 4,731, a barred spiral galaxy in the Virgo cluster, is this week’s Hubble Picture of the Week. Featuring detailed colors and structures, the galaxy’s study may help explain how its bar and spiral arms influence star formation and matter dynamics.

This Hubble Space Telescope image features the broad and sweeping spiral galaxy NGC 4731. This galaxy lies among the galaxies of the Virgo cluster, in the constellation Virgo, and is located 43 million light-years from Earth.

This highly detailed image was generated by using six different filters. The abundance of color illustrates the galaxy’s billowing clouds of gas, dark dust bands, bright pink star-forming regions and, most obviously, the long, glowing bar with trailing arms.

Read more | >

The research team found that long-term urolithin A treatment in mice significantly improved their learning, memory and olfactory function. The treatment also reduced amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau pathologies and improved cellular lysosomal function [1].

The researchers’ findings also suggest that urolithin A is as effective as NAD in promoting mitophagy, positioning it as a potential therapeutic agent for Alzheimer’s disease.

“Our study on mouse models with AD shows that urolithin A, which is a naturally occurring substance in pomegranates, can alleviate memory problems and other consequences of dementia,” says Bohr. “Even though the study was conducted on mouse models, the prospects are positive. So far, research has shown promising results for the substance in the muscles, and clinical trials on humans are being planned [3].”

Read more | >