Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Blog – Page 155

Imagine walking into your kitchen and instantly knowing if the fish you bought yesterday is still fresh—or entering an industrial site with sensors that immediately alert you to hazardous gas leaks. This isn’t science fiction—it’s the promise behind our newly developed nanomechanical sensor array, a powerful tool we’ve created to detect and analyze complex gases in real-time.

In our recent study published in Microsystems & Nanoengineering, we introduce a miniaturized array of silicon and polymer-based capable of detecting various gases quickly and accurately.

This array utilizes a simple yet ingenious principle: when gas molecules enter the sensor, they diffuse into specific polymers, causing them to swell slightly. This swelling generates detected by tiny piezoresistive sensors embedded in silicon. It’s like watching a sponge expand as it absorbs water—but at a microscopic scale, with the expansion measured electrically to detect and identify gases.

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Astronomers have identified an exoplanet named Enaiposha, also known as GJ 1214 b, located 47 light-years from Earth. Initially classified as a mini-Neptune, further observations suggest it may belong to a different planetary category.

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We now know it isn’t just neutron stars that emit such pulses. A white dwarf and a red dwarf star have been discovered closely orbiting each other emitting radio pulses every two hours. Their findings means we know it isn’t just neutron stars that emit such pulses, but these are spaced unusually far apart.

An international team of astronomers led by Dr Iris de Ruiter, now at the University of Sydney, has shown that a white dwarf and a red dwarf star orbiting each other every two hours are emitting radio pulses.

Thanks to follow-up observations using optical and x-ray telescopes, the researchers were able to determine the origin of these pulses with certainty. The findings explain the source of such radio emissions found across the Milky Way galaxy for the first time.

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Keratinocytes produce collagen fibers, while deeper fibroblasts later modify the collagen fibers initially formed by keratinocytes. Challenging the long-standing belief that fibroblasts produce skin collagen, researchers at Okayama University have investigated collagen formation in the ‘glass-skinned’ amphibian axolotl and other vertebrates. They discovered that keratinocytes, the surface cells of the skin, are responsible for producing collagen, which is then transferred deeper to form the dermis. Later, fibroblasts migrate into this collagen layer, modifying and reinforcing its structure.

The skin consists of two primary layers. The epidermis, the outermost layer, is predominantly made up of keratinocytes, while the deeper dermis contains blood vessels, nerves, and structural proteins such as collagen, which give the skin its strength and texture. Traditionally, fibroblasts — specialized supporting cells within the dermis — have been believed to play a key role in producing collagen.

In humans, collagen is formed before and after birth. It has been believed that fibroblasts play an exclusive role in collagen production in the skin, and no keratinocytes contribute to collagen production. The statement “Collagen production in the human skin is achieved by fibroblasts” has been an unspoken agreement in the skin research field.

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In a striking development, researchers have created a quantum algorithm that allows quantum computers to better understand and preserve the very phenomenon they rely on – quantum entanglement. By introducing the variational entanglement witness (VEW), the team has boosted detection accuracy while

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Argonne scientists have unveiled new methods for controlling material properties. The breakthrough enables researchers to design materials with customized properties, offering unprecedented control over their optical and electronic behaviors. Imagine building a Lego tower with perfectly aligned

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A quantum machine has used entangled qubits to generate a number certified as truly random for the first time, demonstrating a handy function that’s physically beyond even the most powerful supercomputer.

Researchers from the US and UK repurposed existing quantum supremacy experiments on Quantinuum’s 56-qubit computer to roll God’s dice. The result was a number so random, no amount of physics could have predicted it.

Quantum technology is becoming critical for secure electronic communication as cybersecurity threats increase.

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As scientists, we often think we understand a virus—its structure, its tricks, the way it moves through the body. But every once in a while, we stumble upon something unexpected—something that completely changes the way we see an infection.

I have spent years studying the molecular tactics of viruses—how they invade, replicate, and most intriguingly, how they evade our immune system. Some strategies are well documented: antigenic drift, glycan shielding, . But every so often, we stumble upon a novel mechanism that redefines our understanding of viral pathogenesis.

A recent finding in Nature showed that the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 binds with , leading to thrombo-inflammation. This raises a fundamental question: Why does the virus need to bind with fibrinogen? Could this interaction provide an evolutionary advantage to the virus? Could this be the reason behind post-COVID heart attack cases?

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A genetic mutation in horses that would typically halt protein production has become a molecular asset. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Vanderbilt University have identified a rare instance of genetic recoding that enhances oxygen metabolism and energy production in horses, donkeys, and zebras.

The findings, published in Science, provide insight into the genetic foundation of exceptional equine athletic ability, and hint at an entirely new way of dealing with stop codons.

Few mammals match horses in aerobic performance. Muscle tissue in thoroughbreds consumes oxygen at rates exceeding 360 liters per minute. Oxygen uptake per unit of body mass is more than twice that of elite human athletes. While many genes involved in muscle structure and locomotion have been studied, the genetic basis for this level of metabolic output has remained unclear.

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