Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 2

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

Log in for authorized contributors

PCSK9 inhibitor lowers risk of first heart attack and stroke in high-risk adults

Researchers from Mass General Brigham have unveiled the results of a large clinical trial that found that adding the drug evolocumab to patients’ treatment significantly reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in those who are at high risk. Results were presented today at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

“The results of this trial offer hope for preventing a , , or other cardiovascular event in patients who are at high risk,” said corresponding author Erin Bohula, MD, a cardiologist in the Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute. “Our findings reflect the promise of prevention strategies and reflect our ongoing commitment to conducting rigorous clinical trials to advance patient care with the goal of saving lives and improving quality of life.”

PCSK9 inhibitors, such as evolocumab, are designed to reduce LDL cholesterol, a major risk factor for cardiovascular events. Previous studies have found that PCSK9 inhibitors can prevent subsequent cardiovascular events in patients who have previously had a heart attack or stroke, but the current study—known as The Effect of EVolocumab in PatiEntS at High CArdiovascuLar RIsk WithoUt Prior Myocardial Infarction or Stroke (VESALIUS)-CV trial—is the first to study the drug’s preventive effects in people who have not previously had a heart attack or stroke.

Scientists uncover what delayed Earth’s oxygen boom for a billion years

Billions of years ago, cyanobacteria began releasing oxygen through photosynthesis, but the atmosphere stayed oxygen-poor for ages. Researchers uncovered that trace compounds like nickel and urea may have delayed Earth’s oxygenation for millions of years. Experiments mimicking early Earth revealed how their concentrations controlled cyanobacterial growth, dictating when oxygen began to accumulate. As nickel declined and urea stabilized, photosynthetic life thrived, sparking the Great Oxidation Event. The findings could also guide the search for biosignatures on distant worlds.

The arrival of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere marked a defining moment in the planet’s history, transforming it into a world capable of supporting complex life. This major shift, known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), took place approximately 2.1 to 2.4 billion years ago. However, oxygenic photosynthesis — produced by cyanobacteria — had likely evolved hundreds of millions of years before this event. Despite this early ability to generate oxygen, atmospheric levels remained low for a surprisingly long time. Scientists have long debated the cause of this delay, considering explanations such as volcanic emissions, chemical sinks, and biological interactions. Yet no single factor has fully explained why it took so long for oxygen to build up in Earth’s air.

To tackle this enduring question, researchers focused on an often overlooked element of early Earth chemistry: the role of trace compounds such as nickel and urea in cyanobacterial growth.

DBS Rolls Out GenAI Chatbot, Southeast Asia’s Largest Bank Incorporates AI In Its Workflow

In today’s AI news, Southeast Asia’s largest bank is rolling out an AI chatbot for its corporate clients, giving “round-the-block” access for customer care needs. A pilot version of the generative AI-powered chatbot, named DBS Joy, was rolled out in February. It has since managed over 120,000 unique chats, DBS claimed in a statement. The virtual assistant also cut waiting times, and customer satisfaction scores rose by 23%. The bank’s virtual assistant was first rolled out in 2018, under the same name.

In other advancements, Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI on Monday announced a new initiative that aims to make it easier for service members and veterans to use AI tools when they’re transitioning from military service to the workforce. The ChatGPT-maker announced that service members within 12 months of separation or retirement from, or any veteran within their first year of leaving military service, can access a free year of access to ChatGPT Plus, the company’s subscription-based tool.

Meanwhile, Neurodiverse professionals may see unique benefits from artificial intelligence tools and agents, research suggests. With AI agent creation booming in 2025, people with conditions like ADHD, autism, dyslexia and more report a more level playing field in the workplace thanks to generative AI. A recent study from the UK’s Department for Business and Trade found that neurodiverse workers were 25% more satisfied with AI assistants and were more likely to recommend the tool than neurotypical respondents.

And, San Francisco became a meme — a symbol of American urban decay. Between 2019 and 2024, the city lost 4 per cent of its population, one of the largest declines in America. But thanks to AI — and new “tough on crime” mayor Daniel Lurie — the vibe has, unquestionably, shifted. Since 2020, more than 2,400 AI companies have been founded in San Francisco, a city of just 830,000 people. “Hacker houses”, where bright-eyed coders live communally and build what they hope will be the next Google, have cropped up across the city.

In videos, Six of the most influential minds in artificial intelligence joined FT Live for an exclusive conversation on how their breakthroughs and the current state of AI are shaping our world. Jensen Huang, Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, Fei-Fei Li, Yann LeCun, and Bill Dally spoke with the FT’s AI editor, Madhumita Murgia at the FT Future of AI Summit in London. Together, they reflected on decades of pioneering work — from neural networks to generative AI and discuss the ethical, social, and economic implications of the technology they helped to create.

Then, Ellis Hamburger and Alex Heath chat about the Sources launch party, and living in late-stage extractionism. Then, they are then joined by Runway CEO Cristobal Valenzuela to discuss the hardest part about AI, why golf courses are a bigger problem than data centers, and how world models are changing our world forever.

And, David Sacks, White House AI and Crypto Czar, joins Marc, Ben, and Erik on the a16z podcast to explore what’s really happening inside the Trump administration’s AI and crypto strategy. They expose the regulatory capture playbook being pushed by certain AI companies, explain why open source is America’s secret weapon, and detail the infrastructure crisis that could determine who wins the global AI race.

Continue reading “DBS Rolls Out GenAI Chatbot, Southeast Asia’s Largest Bank Incorporates AI In Its Workflow” | >

2026 Technology and Cybersecurity Predictions

Please see attached a list of predictions for where technology and cybersecurity may transcend in 2026. Thanks for reading and sharing! Chuck Brooks.

Note AI enabled but derived entirely from a wide variety of my own published writings interviews, podcasts, and my book “Inside Cyber”

#2026predictions #tech #artificialintelligence #cybersecurity #quantum | on LinkedIn.

Doomsday Devices & Ontological Weaponry

From nuclear nightmares to reality-breaking weapons, we examine how science and fiction imagine the end of everything. What happens when weapons don’t just destroy worlds but unmake reality itself? Explore the science of apocalypse.

Checkout Scav: https://go.nebula.tv/scav?ref=isaacar… Watch my exclusive video Autonomous Space Industry: https://nebula.tv/videos/isaacarthur–… Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net Join Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a… Facebook Group: / 1,583,992,725,237,264 Reddit: / isaacarthur Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content. SFIA Discord Server: / discord Credits: Doomsday Devices & Ontological Weaponry Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur Editor: Lukas Konecny Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images Music by Epidemic Sound: http://nebula.tv/epidemic & Stellardrone Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:30 Classical Doomsday Devices 5:57 Cosmic-Scale Doomsday Devices 11:30 Ontological Weaponry – Breaking Reality 12:23 The Erasers of History 16:06 Weapons of Physics Editing 17:55 Mind and Meaning as Targets 20:06 Scavenger Hunt 21:30 Themes and Consequences 22:55 Practical Considerations & Paradoxes 24:07 Doomsday Devices vs. Ontological Weapons 26:48 The Fermi Paradox & Ultimate Destruction.
Watch my exclusive video Autonomous Space Industry: https://nebula.tv/videos/isaacarthur–…
Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur.

Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net.
Join Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur.
Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur.
Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a…
Facebook Group: / 1583992725237264
Reddit: / isaacarthur.
Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content.
SFIA Discord Server: / discord.
Credits:
Doomsday Devices & Ontological Weaponry.
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur.
Editor: Lukas Konecny.
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images.
Music by Epidemic Sound: http://nebula.tv/epidemic & Stellardrone.

Chapters.
0:00 Intro.
1:30 Classical Doomsday Devices.
5:57 Cosmic-Scale Doomsday Devices.
11:30 Ontological Weaponry – Breaking Reality.
12:23 The Erasers of History.
16:06 Weapons of Physics Editing.
17:55 Mind and Meaning as Targets.
20:06 Scavenger Hunt.
21:30 Themes and Consequences.
22:55 Practical Considerations & Paradoxes.
24:07 Doomsday Devices vs. Ontological Weapons.
26:48 The Fermi Paradox & Ultimate Destruction.

Scientists discover chameleon’s telephone-cord-like optic nerves once overlooked by Aristotle and Newton

Chameleons’ wandering eyes have fascinated and puzzled scientists since the days of ancient Greece. Now, after millennia of study, modern imaging has revealed the secret of their nearly 360-degree view and uncanny ability to look in two different directions at once. Behind their bulging eyes lie two long, coiled optic nerves—a structure not seen in any other lizard.

“Chameleon eyes are like security cameras, moving in all directions,” explained Juan Daza, associate professor at Sam Houston State University and author of a new study describing the trait. “They move their eyes independently while scanning their environment to find prey. And the moment they find their prey, their eyes coordinate and go in one direction so they can calculate where to shoot their tongues.”

The authors published their study in the journal Scientific Reports.

Machine learning automates material analysis and design using X-ray spectroscopy data

Understanding the properties of different materials is an important step in material design. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is an important technique for this, as it reveals detailed insights about a material’s composition, structure, and functional characteristics. The technique works by directing a beam of high-energy X-rays at a sample and recording how X-rays of different energy levels are absorbed.

Similar to how splits into a rainbow after passing through a prism, XAS produces a spectrum of X-rays with different energies. This spectrum is called as , which acts like a unique fingerprint of a material, helping scientists to identify the elements present in the material and see how the atoms are arranged. This information, known as the “electronic state,” determines the functional properties of materials.

Boron compounds have significant applications in semiconductors, Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, and energy storage. In these materials, atomic modifications, structural defects, impurities, and doped elements, each produce unique, complex variations in spectral data. Detailed analyses of these variations provides key insights into their electronic state and is crucial for rational material design. Traditionally, however, such analyses required extensive expertise and manual labor, especially when large datasets have to be examined visually.

The Remarkable Large-Scale Structure of Anti-Tail and Tail Jets from 3I/ATLAS

Today, a magnificent large-scale image of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, was reported here by Frank Niebling and Michael Buchner. The stacked image combines a series of 5 exposures, each lasting 3 minutes, from two telescopes (TEC 140/f5 and ASI 6200MM) between 5:08–5:22 UT on November 9, 2025.

The image shows two anti-tail jets out to 10 arcminutes towards the Sun accompanied by a longer collimated jet, extending away from the Sun out to an angular separation of 30 arcminutes, roughly the diameter of the Sun or the Moon.

At the current distance of 3I/ATLAS from Earth, 326 million kilometers, these angular extents correspond to spatial sizes of 0.95 million kilometers for the sunward anti-tail jets and 2.85 million kilometers for the tail jet away from the Sun. This enormous spatial scale is three orders of magnitude larger than the scale of the glowing halo around 3I/ATLAS in the Hubble Space Telescope image from July 21, 2025 (reported here).

/* */