Lifeboat Foundation

This week at Starbase Ship 25 goes through another round of cryo testing, work continues on Booster 11, Ship 29 and the new mega bay, and crews begin working on new pilings for the water deluge system, while over at Cape Canaveral SpaceX continues their rapid pace of launch and recovery operations.

Research published in Nature Communications today, has shown that techniques initially developed for astronomy and ecology can be used to study the microenvironment of solid tumors.

Led by Peter Mac’s 2020 Lea Medal winner Dr. Anna Trigos and Yuzhou Feng, the study looked at patient tumor samples from prostate, colon and breast cancers and identified novel cancer subtypes, new patterns associated with patient survival, and was able to predict which patients were likely to develop metastasis first.

These exciting results have generated significant interest from medical oncologists, pathologists and immunologists.

A recent study published in Nature Neuroscience indicates that, contrary to common belief, the immune cells of the brain, known as microglia, are not all the same. Researchers found that a unique microglial subset with unique features and function is important for establishing proper cognitive functions in mice. Evidence for such microglial subsets exists also for the human brain, opening exciting new possibilities for novel therapies.

An international collaboration led by researchers from University of Helsinki, Karolinska Institutet and University of Seville characterized ARG1⁺ microglia, a subset of microglial cells, that produces the enzyme called arginase-1 (ARG1). Using advanced imaging techniques, the team found that ARG1⁺ microglia are abundant during development and less prevalent in adult animals. Strikingly, these ARG1⁺ microglia are located in specific brain areas important for cognitive functions such as learning, thinking and memory.

“Cognition and memory are crucial components of what makes us human, and microglia are necessary for proper brain development and function. Cognitive decline is a common feature of neurodegenerative and psychiatric conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and depression,” says Dr. Vassilis Stratoulias, senior researcher at the University of Helsinki and lead author of the study.

Immune checkpoint blockade therapies have been revolutionary in the treatment of some cancer types, emerging as one of the most promising treatments for diseases such as melanoma, colon cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

While in some cases checkpoint blockade therapies elicit a strong immune response that clears tumors, checkpoint inhibitors do not work for all tumor types or all patients. Moreover, some patients who do experience an initial benefit from these therapies see their cancers recur. Only a small minority of patients treated with checkpoint blockade therapies see lasting benefits. Researchers have developed various combination therapy strategies to overcome resistance to checkpoint blockade therapies, with the STING pathway emerging as one of the most attractive lines of inquiry.

In a study published in Advanced Healthcare Materials, a team of MIT researchers engineered a therapeutic cancer vaccine capable of restoring STING signaling and eliminating the majority of tumors in mouse models of colon cancer and melanoma, with minimal side effects. The vaccine also inhibited metastasis in a breast cancer mouse model and prevented the recurrence of tumors in cured mice.

Students engage in virtual tours and learn about plants, recipes, and STEM education in a captivating Indigenous garden, now accessible online.

Impulsive or Helium-3 enriched solar energetic particle (SEP) events, characterized by Helium-3 and ultra-heavy ion abundances, show high association with type III radio bursts. Minor (B-or C-class) GOES soft X-ray flares often accompany these events.

There are reports on such events measured in clusters from sub-flares in single active regions, where abundance showed significant variations. Imaging observations revealed that sources of these recurrent Helium-3 enriched are jets from solar plages (patches of scattered magnetic fields) or coronal hole edges.

From a distance of only half an astronomical unit (AU), or around 46.5 million miles, scientists from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have made the first close-up observations of a source of energetic particles ejected from the Sun. ESA’s Solar Orbiter provided high-resolution images of the solar flare.

Jiangnan University, via SCMP

Ceramics are commonly used in the fields of electronics, mechanical engineering, and aerospace because of their structural integrity. They are also common because they are resistant to wear while also having endurance to high temperatures. Yet, because of their brittleness and hardness, designing and manufacturing certain ceramic parts.

Imperial College researchers have created a spinning disk of plasma in a lab, mimicking disks found around black holes and forming stars.

The experiment more accurately models what happens in these plasma disks, which could help researchers discover how black holes grow and how collapsing matter forms stars.

As matter approaches black holes it heats up, becoming plasma—a fourth state of matter consisting of charged ions and free electrons. It also begins to rotate, in a structure called an accretion disk. The rotation causes a centrifugal force pushing the plasma outwards, which is balanced by the gravity of the black hole pulling it in.

Just because you need one. 🤔

The Von Mercier Arosa is not a car.
The Von Mercier Arosa is aiming to be the world’s first sport luxury hovercraft.

Continue reading “VonMercier’s electric ‘sports hovercraft’ promises exceptional agility” »