Treatment of induced pluripotent stem cells with Norrin and vitronectin, and subsequent cell sorting and maturation, generates retinal-like endothelial cells that can regenerate retinal vasculature in an oxygen-induced retinopathy mouse and recapitulate enhanced inner blood–retinal barrier properties when co-cultured with retinal-like pericytes.
“That which does not kill us only makes us stranger.”
14 years ago, I sat down with Dr. Anders Sandberg, computational neuroscientist and research fellow at Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, for his second appearance on my podcast. His twist on Nietzsche has stayed with me ever since.
This was 2012. Before ChatGPT, before CRISPR babies, before Neuralink implants in human skulls. And yet listen to what we covered:
The ethics of transhumanism and the limits of being human The Epic of Gilgamesh and humanity’s oldest obsession: immortality Enhancement arms-races and the risk of conflict between transhumanists and neo-luddites Hive-minds, distributed intelligence, and whether the Borg should scare us Mind uploading and what survives when the body doesn’t.
What strikes me now, rewatching it, is how little the fundamental questions have changed. The technology raced ahead. The philosophy is still catching up.
Anders argued that embracing strangeness is not a bug of the human future; it’s the feature. The question was never whether we would change. It’s whether we will change wisely.
Mapping of neurogenesis in human hippocampi across ages and different cognitive abilities using multiomic single-cell sequencing reveals distinct signatures between cognitive preservation and decline.
Jacques and colleagues present a cross-tissue meta-analysis of DNA methylation aging, revealing conserved aging signatures and modifiable gene clusters.
This cohort study examines the associations of minimally invasive surgery, intraoperative capsule rupture, and overall survival among patients with stage I ovarian cancer.
The authors present a framework for the selection of immune aging biomarkers suitable for clinical trials in geroscience, alongside a translational roadmap for biomarker development to support the next generation of clinical studies on immune aging.
Storing solar and wind energy to meet the increasing power needs of the electrical grid calls for devices that can deliver power quickly, recharge quickly and last for decades at low cost. A new study led by UCLA has uncovered a technology that could meet all these criteria: a zinc-ion hybrid battery with a 3D-printed electrode that stores more than seven times the charge of similar hybrids.
“The future of energy storage won’t be defined by a single technology,” said co-corresponding author Maher El-Kady, an assistant researcher in UCLA College’s chemistry and biochemistry department. “At some point, we will need to look for something to complement the current options for grid-scale energy storage. What we’ve done in this study essentially gives us zinc-ion hybrid devices that can store nearly one order of magnitude higher capacity.”
Some cancer cells can enter a dormant, sleep-like state that helps them survive treatment. Instead of continuing to grow and divide, these cells become largely inactive, allowing them to avoid the effects of many cancer drugs.
In certain forms of cancer, including some types of lung cancer, stress hormones can trigger this response. Specialized proteins called glucocorticoid receptors detect those hormones inside tumor cells. Once activated, the receptors can push the cells into a dormant state where cell division slows dramatically. As a result, many therapies become far less effective.