Lifeboat Foundation

A global research team has devised a method to decompose plastics and other materials into their smallest components using a laser, enabling their future reuse.

The breakthrough involves placing these materials on two-dimensional structures called transition metal dichalcogenides and then exposing them to laser light. This technique could significantly enhance the disposal of plastics that are currently almost impossible to break down with existing technologies.

Why did the experience of consciousness evolve from our underlying brain physiology? Despite being a vibrant area of neuroscience, current research on consciousness is characterised by disagreement and controversy – with several rival theories in contention.

A recent scoping review of over 1,000 articles identified over 20 different theoretical accounts. Philosophers like David Chalmers argue that no single scientific theory can truly explain consciousness.

We define consciousness as embodied subjective awareness, including self awareness. In a recent article published in Interalia (which is not peer reviewed), we argue that one reason for this predicament is the powerful role played by intuition.

The country’s current progress appears to be on par with Elon Musk’s Neuralink.

China has created a committee to steer the nation’s development of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), with the hope of becoming the global leader in brain chip technology.

Continue reading “China to ramp up brain chip program after teaching monkey to control robot” »

Gaussian ray tracing: fast tracing of particle scenes.

Nicolas Moenne-Loccoz, Ashkan Mirzaei, Or Perel, Riccardo de Lutio, Janick Martinez Esturo, Gavriel State, Sanja Fidler, Nicholas Sharp, Zan Gojcic NVDIA 2024 https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.07090 https://radiancefields.com/3d-gaussian-ray–…

Today, things are taking an exciting step forward with the introduction of 3D Gaussian Ray Tracing (3DGRT).

This study presents a discovery in the fight against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by identifying the protein Schlafen 11 (SLFN11) as a key factor influencing the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Through comprehensive analysis using humanized orthotopic HCC mouse models and in vitro co-culture systems, the research unveils how SLFN11’s deficiency in tumor cells leads to an increase in C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) secretion. This phenomenon promotes the infiltration of immunosuppressive macrophages and leads to immune evasion. The study also showcases the therapeutic potential of blocking CCL2/CCR2 signaling to enhance the efficacy of ICIs in patients with low SLFN11 expression. These findings pave the way for future research to explore additional therapeutic targets within the immune landscape of HCC, offering hope for more effective treatments and improved patient outcomes.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with advanced stages showing dismal survival rates due to limited treatment efficacy. The efforts to improve the situation have focused on immunotherapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), though their success varies significantly among individuals due to the complex interplay of tumor growth and immune evasion within the tumor microenvironment (TME). Previous studies have hinted at the role of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and chemokines like CCL2 in the functional remodeling of TAMs. However, a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms driving immune evasion and therapy resistance in HCC has been lacking. This research proposes a solution by identifying SLFN11’s role in modulating the immune landscape of HCC, specifically its influence on macrophage polarization and CCL2 signaling. The outcome offers new avenues for enhancing ICI therapy effectiveness.

Continue reading “Liver Cancer: How Tackling a Protein Could Boost Immunotherapy Success” »

A global research team led by Texas Engineers has developed a way to blast the molecules in plastics and other materials with a laser to break them down into their smallest parts for future reuse.

Purdue University material engineers have created a patent-pending process to develop ultrahigh-strength aluminum alloys that are suitable for additive manufacturing because of their plastic deformability.

Haiyan Wang and Xinghang Zhang lead a team that has introduced transition metals cobalt, iron, nickel and titanium into aluminum via nanoscale, laminated, deformable intermetallics. Wang is the Basil S. Turner Professor of Engineering and Zhang is a professor in Purdue’s School of Materials Engineering. Anyu Shang, a materials engineering graduate student, completes the team.

“Our work shows that the proper introduction of heterogenous microstructures and nanoscale medium-entropy intermetallics offers an alternative solution to design ultrastrong, deformable aluminum alloys via additive manufacturing,” Zhang said. “These alloys improve upon traditional ones that are either ultrastrong or highly deformable, but not both.”

A new study in Nature Physics demonstrates a novel method for generating quantum entanglement using a quantum dot, which violates the Bell inequality. This method uses ultra-low power levels and could pave the way for scalable and efficient quantum technologies.

Advances in artificial intelligence are making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between uniquely human behaviors and those that can be replicated by machines. Should artificial general intelligence (AGI) arrive in full force—artificial intelligence that surpasses human intelligence—the boundary between human and computer capabilities will diminish entirely.

In recent months, a significant swath of journalistic bandwidth has been devoted to this potentially dystopian topic. If AGI machines develop the ability to consciously experience life, the moral and legal considerations we’ll need to give them will rapidly become unwieldy. They will have feelings to consider, thoughts to share, intrinsic desires, and perhaps fundamental rights as newly minted beings. On the other hand, if AI does not develop consciousness—and instead simply the capacity to out-think us in every conceivable situation—we might find ourselves subservient to a vastly superior yet sociopathic entity.

Neither potential future feels all that cozy, and both require an answer to exceptionally mind-bending questions: What exactly is consciousness? And will it remain a biological trait, or could it ultimately be shared by the AGI devices we’ve created?