Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 3,521

One of the most surrealist anc controversial science fiction writers.

We are living in strange times. Politics. Society. Culture wars. Things have gone weird. We’re looking for knowledge and wisdom to guide us in strange times.

I can think of no better guide to the year 2022 than Philip K Dick.

The author of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the inspiration for Blade Runner, is best known as a science fiction writer. But after his infamous spiritual awakening and the events of 2−3−74, Philip K Dick became something more…a visionary prophet for the age we’re all now living in.

00:00 Welcome to strange times.

Continue reading “The 9 prophetic visions of Philip K Dick” | >

A team of geneticists and systems biologists at Stanford University has associated 169 genes that with the production of melanin in the skin, hair and eyes. In their study, reported in the journal Science, the group conducted a flow cytometry analysis and genome-wide CRISPR screen of cell samples.

Prior research has shown that the production and distribution of melanin in the body is responsible for , and eye pigmentation. Such characteristics are important for more than appearance’s sake; skin with more melanin, for example, is better able to protect against . In this new effort, the researchers noted that while many of the genes responsible for melanin production have been identified, many more have not.

The researchers began with an effort to differentiate high and low melanin melanocytes—the cells that make melanin. They used the light-reflecting properties of melanin to sort cells in a lab dish by aiming a fluorescent lamp at them. Once they had the cells sorted, they edited them using CRISPR-Cas9. Genes were systematically mutated to switch them off and then tested to see how well the cell continued to produce melanin.

Read more | >

India’s moon rover is now also on the moon, moving around and leaving its imprint on the soil, said a senior official of the Indian space agency.

“The rover rolled down onto the moon surface from the lander sometime around 12.30 a.m. Thursday. It is moving around. It is leaving its imprint on the moon’s surface,” Dr. S. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) told IANS.

The logo of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the national emblem have been engraved on the wheels of the rover to leave the imprint when it moves around.

Read more | >

Scientists have created one of the most detailed 3D images of the synapse.

A synapse is a specialized junction between nerve cells that allows for the transfer of electrical or chemical signals, through the release of neurotransmitters by the presynaptic neuron and the binding of receptors on the postsynaptic neuron. It plays a key role in communication between neurons and in various physiological processes including perception, movement, and memory.

Read more | >