Lifeboat Foundation

Oxford Research has reveals how high blood glucose reprograms the metabolism of pancreatic beta-cells in diabetes, acting as a major causal factor of Type 2 diabetes. This is significant because glucose metabolites (chemicals produced when glucose is broken down by cells), rather than glucose itself, have been discovered to be key to the progression of Type 2 diabetes.

With diabetes, the pancreatic beta-cells do not release enough of the hormone insulin, which lowers blood glucose levels. This is because a glucose metabolite damages pancreatic beta-cell function. High blood glucose levels cause an increased rate of glucose metabolism in the beta-cell which leads to a metabolic bottleneck and the pooling of upstream metabolites.

Around 90 percent of global cases of diabetes are Type 2 diabetes (T2D). T2D normally presents in later adult life, and by the time of diagnosis, as much as 50 percent of beta cell function has been lost. In T2D, the beta-cells have a reduced insulin content and the coupling between glucose and insulin release is impaired.

Malls are becoming places for public libraries, animal shelters, basketball courts and entertainment centers.

Across the United States, some malls are undergoing big changes. Businesses such as animal shelters, trampoline parks and movie theaters are filling the spaces that have been left empty in recent years. NBC News’ Brian Cheung has the story.

Continue reading “Malls across the U.S. transforming amid rise of e-commerce” »

Musk says the Super Heavy/Starship rocket may be ready for a second attempt to reach orbit in about six weeks.

Tesla says its long-awaited Dojo supercomputer, which is supposed to bring its self-driving effort to a new level, is finally going into production next month.

Dojo is Tesla’s own custom supercomputer platform built from the ground up for AI machine learning and, more specifically, for video training using the video data coming from its fleet of vehicles.

The automaker already has a large NVIDIA GPU-based supercomputer that is one of the most powerful in the world, but the new Dojo custom-built computer uses chips and an entire infrastructure designed by Tesla.

The interplay between viscoelasticity and inertia in dilute polymer solutions at high deformation rates can result in inertio-elastic instabilities. We show how fluid elasticity has a nonmonotonic effect on jet stability depending on magnitude, creating two distinct regimes. The nonlinear evolution of these instabilities generates a state of elasto-inertial turbulence (EIT) with different spatiotemporal features than Newtonian turbulence. We use high-speed digital schlieren imaging and dynamic mode decomposition to quantify EIT and identify two modes of instability which can lead to a transition to turbulence at a lower Reynolds number with flow-aligned structures in the turbulent region.

ISS systems hit a water recovery milestone of 98% with the better processing of water contained in brine created when crewmates’ urine is distilled.

It’s a scene straight out of a horror movie — a submersible with five souls on board implodes, deep below the ocean’s surface, at the resting place of the infamous Titanic.

Many reporters are asking if there will be an attempt to bring up the bodies.

Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell. New research shows cancer cells can steal these energy generators from healthy cells to speed their growth.

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For Star Trek fans and tech nerds, the holodeck concept is a form of geek grail. The idea is an entirely realistic simulated environment where just speaking the request (prompt) seemingly brings to life an immersive environment populated by role-playing AI-powered digital humans. As several Star Trek series envisioned, a multitude of scenes and narratives could be created, from New Orleans jazz clubs to private eye capers. Not only did this imagine an exciting future for technology, but it also delved into philosophical questions such as the humanity of digital beings.

Continue reading “How ChatGPT and generative AI could bring the Star Trek holodeck to life” »