Lifeboat Foundation

California-based startup Atom Computing has announced a 1,225-qubit quantum computer, the first to break the 1,000+ barrier, which it plans to release in 2024.

Quantum bits, or qubits, are the basic units of information in quantum computing – equivalent to bits in classical computing. Unlike bits, however, qubits can exist in multiple states simultaneously, allowing them to perform calculations that would take millions of years for an ordinary computer.

Particle accelerators are crucial tools in a wide variety of areas in industry, research and the medical sector. The space these machines require ranges from a few square meters to large research centers. Using lasers to accelerate electrons within a photonic nanostructure constitutes a microscopic alternative with the potential of generating significantly lower costs and making devices considerably less bulky.

Until now, no substantial energy gains were demonstrated. In other words, it has not been shown that electrons really have increased in speed significantly. A team of laser physicists at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has now succeeded in demonstrating the first nanophotonic electron accelerator —at the same time as colleagues from Stanford University. The researchers from FAU have now published their findings in the journal Nature.

When people hear “particle accelerator,” most will probably think of the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, the approximately 27 kilometer long ring-shaped tunnel which researchers from around the globe used to conduct research into unknown elementary particles. Such huge particle accelerators are the exception, however. We are more likely to encounter them in other places in our day to day lives, for example in medical imaging procedures or during radiation to treat tumors.

The naked mole rat won’t win any beauty contests, but it could possibly win in the talent category. Its superpower: fighting the aging process to live several times longer than other animals its size, in a state of youthful vigor.

It’s believed that naked mole rats experience all the normal processes of wear and tear over their lifespan, but that they’re exceptionally good at repairing the damage from oxygen free radicals and the DNA errors that accumulate over time. Even though they possess genes that make them vulnerable to cancer, they rarely develop the disease, or any other age-related disease, for that matter. Naked mole rats are known to live for over 40 years without any signs of aging, whereas mice live on average about two years and are highly prone to cancer.

Now, these remarkable animals may be able to share their superpower with other species. In August, a study provided what may be the first proof-of-principle that genetic material transferred from one species can increase both longevity and healthspan in a recipient animal.

Exercise offers benefits for those with type 1 diabetes, but needs careful blood glucose management. Anaerobic & aerobic exercise cause different responses-optimize nutrition, insulin dosing & monitoring to reach target ranges & reduce dysglycemia risk.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disease caused by affected individuals’ autoimmune response to their own pancreatic beta-cell. It affects millions of people worldwide. Exercise has numerous health and social benefits for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus; however, careful management of blood glucose is crucial to minimize the risk of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. Anaerobic and aerobic exercises cause different glycemic responses during and after exercise, each of which will affect athletes’ ability to reach their target blood glucose ranges. The optimization of the patient’s macronutrient consumption, especially carbohydrates, the dosage of basal and short-acting insulin, and the frequent monitoring of blood glucose, will enable athletes to perform at peak levels while reducing their risk of dysglycemia. Despite best efforts, hypoglycemia can occur.

Startup Twin Health is developing a program that uses sensor data to construct a replica of a person’s metabolism and then simulate virtual interventions on the body. The simulations suggest non-drug recommendations that help reverse metabolic disorders such as diabetes.

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A team of scientists at UC San Francisco reported a way to leverage cancers’ unique metabolic profile to ensure that drugs only target cancer cells: Freethink.

To make matters worse, cancer cells sometimes only die when patients take relatively high doses of a drug. This is because cancer’s metabolism is often greater in cancer cells than in normal cells. For instance, some cancer cells have more MEK enzyme — meaning more cobimetinib is required to stop these cells from replicating. Unfortunately, the doses cancer patients receive often closely approach or even exceed the levels at which the drug causes toxicities in healthy tissues.

Cancer cells hoard iron at a far greater rate than healthy cells, according to previous studies. Although the reason for this remains unclear, the UCSF team realized this could be leveraged to increase the specificity of cancer drugs. If a cancer drug, such as cobimetinib, were only activated in the iron-rich environment of a cancer cell, the drug would be inert when it interacts with healthy cells. It’s something like a two-factor authentication system for cancer drugs.

Continue reading “Is iron the Achilles’ heel for cancer?” »

Mammalian cells may consume bacteriophages to promote cellular health and survival.

ServiceNow exposes sensitive data due to misconfigurations. Learn how this could’ve jeopardized your business and the steps to ensure your data is secure.

Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have demonstrated that a key ingredient for many quantum computation and communication schemes can be performed with an efficiency that exceeds the commonly assumed upper theoretical limit — thereby opening up new perspectives for a wide range of photonic quantum technologies.

Quantum science not only has revolutionized our understanding of nature, but is also inspiring groundbreaking new computing, communication, and sensor devices. Exploiting quantum effects in such ‘quantum technologies’ typically requires a combination of deep insight into the underlying quantum-physical principles, systematic methodological advances, and clever engineering. And it is precisely this combination that researchers in the group of Prof. Stefanie Barz at the University of Stuttgart and the Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST) have delivered in recent study, in which they have improved the efficiency of an essential building block of many quantum devices beyond a seemingly inherent limit.

Historical foundations: from philosophy to technology.