Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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The vision of people with a rare inherited condition that causes them to lose much of their sight early in childhood was 100 times better after they received gene therapy to address the genetic mutation causing it. Some patients even experienced a 10,000-fold improvement in their vision after receiving the highest dose of the therapy, according to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who co-led the clinical trial published in The Lancet.

“That 10,000-fold improvement is the same as a patient being able to see their surroundings on a moonlit night outdoors as opposed to requiring bright indoor lighting before treatment,” said the study’s lead author, Artur Cideciyan, Ph.D., a research professor of Ophthalmology and co-director of the Center for Hereditary Retinal Degenerations.

“One patient reported for the first time being able to navigate at midnight outdoors only with the light of a bonfire.”

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NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have signed an interagency agreement to collaborate on a satellite servicing demonstration in geosynchronous Earth orbit, where hundreds of satellites provide communications, meteorological, national security, and other vital functions.

Under this agreement, NASA will provide subject matter expertise to DARPA’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program to help complete the technology development, integration, testing, and demonstration. The RSGS servicing spacecraft will advance in-orbit satellite inspection, repair, and upgrade capabilities.

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TAMPA, Fla. — European small satellite maker Aerospacelab announced the opening of its first manufacturing facility in the United States Sept. 5 amid efforts to break into the lucrative U.S. government market.

The company sees the potential for contracts that would enable the 3,300 square-meter facility in Torrance, California, to reach a capacity to produce an average of two satellites a week in a single shift.

“With Space Force recently announcing its plans for not only a commercialization strategy, but [also the Space Development Agency] signaling their desire to diversify their supply base, we see potential not only for U.S. commercial customers,” said Tina Ghataore, group chief strategy and revenue officer at Aerospacelab and its CEO for North America.

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A common food dye can turn the skin of living mice transparent, enabling researchers to peer inside the body without surgery.

This is the first time scientists have used the technique to visualize the tissues of living mice under the microscope. They used a food-safe dye, which can likely be found in snacks in your pantry, and several fundamental physics principles to render the mice see-through.

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