Lifeboat News: The Blog – Safeguarding Humanity

Get the latest international news and world events from around the world.

May 10
2026

Unlocking The Secrets Of Exceptional Longevity

Join us on Patreon! / michaellustgartenphd.

Discount Links/Affiliates:
Blood testing (where I get the majority of my labs, for those who blood test with Quest): https://www.ultalabtests.com/partners… those who blood test with LabCorp: https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-10161… At-Home Metabolomics: https://www.iollo.com?ref=michael-lus… Use Code: CONQUERAGING At Checkout Clearly Filtered Water Filter: https://get.aspr.app/SHoPY Epigenetic, Telomere Testing: https://trudiagnostic.com/?irclickid=… Use Code: CONQUERAGING NAD+ Quantification: https://www.jinfiniti.com/intracellul… Use Code: ConquerAging At Checkout Oral Microbiome: https://www.bristlehealth.com/?ref=mi… Enter Code: ConquerAging SiphoxHealth Blood Testing (ApoB, GrimAge): https://siphoxhealth.com/mlustgarten Green Tea: https://www.ochaandco.com/?ref=fqbtflod Use Code: ML10OFF Diet Tracking: https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=139013… If you’d like to support the channel, you can do that with the website, Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mlhnrca Conquer Aging Or Die Trying Merch! https://my-store-d4e7df.creator-sprin… George’s YT channel: / @reprogrampodcast The Murphy Lab website: https://murphylaboratory.com/ X: @DrGJMurphy.

Blood Testing Essentials (Biological Age, CVD-Risk, Kidney Health and Function):
PhenoAge (Biological Age): https://www.ultalabtests.com/partners…

Risk-weighted ApoB (a better CVD predictor than LDL, non-HDL cholesterol, and ApoB): https://www.ultalabtests.com/partners…

Kidney health and function: https://www.ultalabtests.com/partners…

May 10
2026

The Universe In 25 Photos Captured By The Finalists Of The Milky Way Photographer Of The Year Contest

Every year, the Capture the Atlas Milky Way Photographer of the Year contest brings together some of the most striking night sky images from photographers all over the world. Curated by photographer Dan Zafra, the project highlights a carefully selected collection of around 25 photos taken in some of the darkest and most remote places on Earth – locations where the Milky Way is still visible in incredible detail, free from the glow of light pollution.

What makes this contest special isn’t just the final images, but everything behind them. Each photo usually involves planning, travel, and a lot of patience, waiting for clear skies, perfect timing, and the right conditions to align. These aren’t just snapshots of the night sky, but moments earned through dedication and a real passion for astrophotography. The result is a collection that feels both artistic and deeply human, showing how different places on Earth (and beyond) connect through a shared view of the cosmos.

Scroll down and explore the winning images for yourself. Each one is a window into a different corner of the night sky, captured in a way most of us rarely get to see.

May 10
2026

Reducing Visceral Fat Protects the Brain for Decades

A 16-year MRI study reveals that lower visceral fat is linked to slower brain atrophy and better cognition, mediated by glucose control, independent of weight loss.

May 10
2026

Quantum battery charges in a quadrillionth of a second with a laser — larger prototypes could last for years after charging for just a minute

This allows all molecules within the battery to charge at a constant speed, no matter its size. The more molecules involved, the more efficiently energy is absorbed throughout the system, meaning charging times actually decrease in real terms as the battery size increases.

“Similar to conventional batteries, quantum batteries charge, store and discharge energy,”, explained Hutchinson in the statement. “But while everyday batteries rely on chemical reactions, quantum batteries leverage properties of quantum mechanics. The advantage of quantum is that the system absorbs light in a single, giant ‘super absorption’ event and this charges the battery faster.”

May 10
2026

A bizarre new state of matter may be hiding inside Uranus and Neptune

Deep inside planets like Uranus and Neptune, scientists may have uncovered a bizarre new state of matter where atoms behave in unexpected ways. Advanced simulations suggest that carbon and hydrogen, under crushing pressures and scorching temperatures, can form a strange hybrid phase—part solid, part fluid—where hydrogen atoms spiral through a rigid carbon framework. This unusual “superionic” structure could reshape how heat and electricity flow inside these distant worlds, potentially helping explain their mysterious magnetic fields.

The deep interiors of ice giant planets such as Uranus and Neptune may contain a previously unknown form of matter. This possibility comes from new computer simulations conducted by Carnegie scientists Cong Liu and Ronald Cohen.

Their study, published in Nature Communications, suggests that carbon hydride could take on an unusual quasi-one-dimensional superionic state under the intense pressures and temperatures found far beneath the surfaces of these distant planets.

May 10
2026

Why Scientists Are Combining Neurons With AI

The emerging cancer treatment that’s exciting scientists: ‘We’ve just scratched the surface on what’s possible’

Late last month, Jurassic Park actor Sam Neill put the treatment in the spotlight, revealing his stage three cancer was in remission after undergoing CAR T-cell therapy as part of a clinical trial in Sydney. He stopped short of describing his remission as a miracle – the success, he said, was “science at its best”

The history of CAR (for “chimeric antigen receptor”) T-cell therapy is one of small discoveries accumulating over decades, leading to major advances in patient care. Pioneered in the 1990s, the therapy has exploded in the past decade. Four CAR T-cell therapies have been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use in Australia since 2018. All are for blood cancers.

The success of those therapies is increasing enthusiasm among researchers and clinicians that CAR T-cell therapies will soon become a major weapon in the battle against cancer. It is now being tweaked to combat solid tumours, with promising early signs of success tempered by the difficulties in tailoring T-cells to find their target. The future may even see it become an injectable.

May 10
2026

CRISPR safeguard changes how engineered microbes can be controlled

Engineered microorganisms are widely used in industrial biotechnology and biopharmaceutical applications, including the production of biofuels, sustainable chemicals, and therapeutic compounds. However, concerns remain regarding the unintended environmental release and uncontrolled proliferation of genetically engineered microbes. For this reason, biocontainment technologies, which are designed to prevent microorganisms from surviving outside controlled environments, have become increasingly important in both academia and industry.

Conventional biocontainment strategies have relied on auxotrophy-based approaches, toxin–antitoxin systems, or DNA cleavage-based technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9. However, these methods often suffer from environmental dependency, genetic instability, and the risk of unintended mutations and cellular stress caused by DNA double-strand breaks.

In particular, DNA cleavage-based systems may compromise genomic stability and allow certain mutant cells to escape survival control. In addition, CRISPR interference (CRISPRi)-based systems are inherently reversible, posing challenges for achieving complete and permanent control of cell viability.

May 10
2026

See How You Can Make Rain on Glass in Material Maker

CMZW shared the node setup.

May 10
2026

Spontaneous Emergence of Self-Replicating Molecules Containing Nucleobases and Amino Acids

The conditions that led to the formation of the first organisms and the ways that life originates from a lifeless chemical soup are poorly understood. The recent hypothesis of “RNA-peptide coevolution” suggests that the current close relationship between amino acids and nucleobases may well have extended to the origin of life. We now show how the interplay between these compound classes can give rise to new self-replicating molecules using a dynamic combinatorial approach. We report two strategies for the fabrication of chimeric amino acid/nucleobase self-replicating macrocycles capable of exponential growth. The first one relies on mixing nucleobase-and peptide-based building blocks, where the ligation of these two gives rise to highly specific chimeric ring structures. The second one starts from peptide nucleic acid (PNA) building blocks in which nucleobases are already linked to amino acids from the start. While previously reported nucleic acid-based self-replicating systems rely on presynthesis of (short) oligonucleotide sequences, self-replication in the present systems start from units containing only a single nucleobase. Self-replication is accompanied by self-assembly, spontaneously giving rise to an ordered one-dimensional arrangement of nucleobase nanostructures.

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Conflict of interest statement.