Lifeboat Foundation

Aleksandra Radenovic, head of the Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology in the School of Engineering, has worked for years to improve nanopore technology, which involves passing a molecule like DNA through a tiny pore in a membrane to measure an ionic current. Scientists can determine DNA’s sequence of nucleotides—which encodes genetic information—by analyzing how each one perturbs this current as it passes through. The research has been published in Nature Nanotechnology.

Currently, the passage of molecules through a nanopore and the timing of their analysis are influenced by random physical forces, and the rapid movement of molecules makes achieving high analytical accuracy challenging. Radenovic has previously addressed these issues with optical tweezers and viscous liquids. Now, a collaboration with Georg Fantner and his team in the Laboratory for Bio-and Nano-Instrumentation at EPFL has yielded the advancement she’s been looking for—with results that could go far beyond DNA.

Continue reading “Extreme DNA resolution: Spatially multiplexed single-molecule translocations through a nanopore at controlled speeds” »

The Titan sub, which is carrying five passengers, is thought to have no more than four days’ worth of emergency oxygen on board.

Dr David Sünderhauf.

Study removes AMR plasmids using a mobile, broad-host-range CRISPR-Cas9 delivery tool.

An estimated 3 million people with severe chest discomfort and slightly increased troponin levels visit emergency rooms each year. When the heart muscle suffers damage due to a heart attack, high amounts of protein troponin are produced. It is still unknown how to diagnose and treat people with chest discomfort with detectable or barely increased troponin.

Now, a new study from researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine reveals that cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is a safe and valuable tool to help evaluate these complex patients.

The study findings appear online today in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, a journal of the American Heart Association.

CB Insights has unveiled the winners of the seventh annual AI 100 — a list of the 100 most promising private AI companies across the globe.

Around one-third of this year’s winners are focused on AI applications across specific industries — such as visual dubbing for the media & entertainment sector or textile recycling for fashion & retail. A total of 40 vendors are focused on cross-industry solutions, like AI assistants & human-machine interfaces (HMIs), digital twins, climate tech, and smell tech.

Additionally, 27 companies in this cohort are developing tools like vector database tech and synthetic datasets to support AI development.

Have you ever wondered how can North Korea afford its nuclear program and the luxury goods for its leadership when its economy is effectively cut off from the world? Well… let me tell you a little secret.

If you want to support the channel, check out my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ExplainedWithDom.

Continue reading “How North Korea Built the World’s Largest Criminal Empire” »

Near the center of the Milky Way Galaxy sits an immense object that astronomers call Sagittarius A*. This “supermassive” black hole may have grown in tandem with our galaxy, and it’s not alone. Scientists suspect that similar behemoths lurk at the heart of almost all large galaxies in the cosmos.

Some can get really big, said Joseph Simon, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Science at the University of Colorado Boulder.

“The black hole at the center of our galaxy is millions of times the mass of the sun, but we also see others that we think are billions of times the mass of the sun,” he said.

We spoke with head and neck surgeon Eduardo Diaz Jr., M.D., to learn more about laryngeal cancer.

How common is laryngeal cancer?

It’s much less common than it used to be because fewer Americans are smoking, which is a risk factor for this type of cancer. That said, laryngeal cancers represent about one-fifth of head and neck cancers.

This quickly turned out to be a record-setter. It was dubbed the Brightest Of All Time, or the “Boat,” as convenient shorthand among astronomers studying and observing the event. Not only did the Boat start out bright, it refused to fade away like other bursts.

We still do not fully know why the burst was so exceptionally bright, but our new study, published in Science Advances, provides an answer for its stubborn persistence.

Continue reading “Brightest Cosmic Explosion of All Time: Scientists May Have Solved the Mystery of Its Persistence” »