Lifeboat Foundation

Space, the final frontier. The starship Enterprise pursues its mission to explore the galaxy, when all communication channels are suddenly cut off by an impenetrable nebula. In many episodes of the iconic TV series, the valiant crew must “tech the tech” and “science the science” within just 45 minutes of airtime in order to facilitate their escape from this or a similar predicament before the end credits roll. Despite spending a significantly longer time in their laboratories, a team of scientists from the University of Rostock has succeeded in developing an entirely new approach for the design of artificial materials that can transmit light signals without any distortions by means of precisely tuned flows of energy. They have published their results in Science Advances.

“When light spreads in an inhomogeneous medium, it undergoes scattering. This effect quickly transforms a compact, directed beam into a diffuse glow, and is familiar to all of us from summer clouds and autumn fog alike,” Professor Alexander Szameit of the Institute for Physics at the University of Rostock describes the starting point of his team’s considerations. Notably, it is the microscopic density distribution of a material that dictates the specifics of scattering. Szameit continues, “The fundamental idea of induced transparency is to take advantage of a much lesser-known optical property to clear a path for the beam, so to speak.”

This second property, known in the field of photonics under the arcane title of non-Hermiticity, describes the flow of energy, or, more precisely, the amplification and attenuation of light. Intuitively, the associated effects may seem undesirable—particularly the fading of a light beam due to absorption would seem highly counterproductive to the task of improving signal transmission. Nevertheless, non-Hermitian effects have become a key aspect of modern optics, and an entire field of research strives to harness the sophisticated interplay of losses and amplification for advanced functionalities.

A study of 1.3 million women in England has provided evidence to support the extension of cervical cancer screening intervals from three years to five years for those that have a negative screen result.

The study, published today in the British Medical Journal by researchers from King’s College London and funded by Cancer Research UK, provides reassurance to women and people with a cervix aged 24–49 years who test negative for the human papillomavirus (HPV), that screening at five-year intervals prevents as many cancers as screening at three-year intervals, even if they are not vaccinated against HPV.

The study confirms that women in this age group are much less likely to develop clinically relevant cervical lesions (high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, which are abnormal changes of the cells that line the cervix and are otherwise known as CIN3+) and cervical cancer, three years after a negative HPV screen compared to a negative smear test. This risk is more than halved.

Nanosheets are finely structured two-dimensional materials and have great potential for innovation. They are fixed on top of each other in layered crystals, and must first be separated from each other so that they can be used, for example, to filter gas mixtures or for efficient gas barriers. A research team at the University of Bayreuth has now developed a gentle, environmentally-friendly process for this difficult process of delamination that can even be used on an industrial scale. This is the first time that a crystal from the technologically attractive group of zeolites has been made usable for a broad field of potential applications.

The delamination process developed in Bayreuth under the direction of Prof. Dr. Josef Breu is characterized by the fact that the structures of the nanosheets isolated from each other remain undamaged. It also has the advantage that it can be used at normal room temperature. The researchers present their results in detail in Science Advances.

The two-dimensional nanosheets, which lie on top of each other in layered crystals, are held together by electrostatic forces. In order for them to be used for technological applications, the electrostatic forces must be overcome, and the nanosheets detached from each other. A method particularly suitable for this is osmotic swelling, in which the nanosheets are forced apart by water and the molecules and ions dissolved in it. So far, however, it has only been possible to apply it to a few types of crystals, including some clay minerals, titanates, and niobates. For the group of zeolites, however, whose nanosheets are highly interesting for the production of functional membranes due to their silicate-containing fine structures, the mechanism of osmotic swelling has not yet been applicable.

It’s a hot topic, at least on social media: tiny plastic particles allegedly end up not only in oceans and lakes, but also in drinking water—and, yes, even in bottled mineral water. Eawag and the Zurich Water Works launched a joint project in 2019 to find out whether the tiniest of particles, measuring less than a thousandth of a millimeter across, actually find their way from lake water into drinking water pipes and therefore into homes, hospitals and restaurants.

The results are now in, and they include some reassuring findings. In a report published today in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, the researchers show that even if untreated water contained considerable quantities of nanoplastics, these particles were retained in sand filters very efficiently during water treatment. Both in laboratory tests and in a larger test facility located directly on the premises of the Zurich Water Works, the biologically active slow sand filter was the most effective at retaining nanoparticles—achieving an efficacy level in the region of 99.9%.

So far, there has only been limited research into how exactly nanoplastics are formed. “But it would appear that the degradation of larger plastic particles in the environment eventually results in nanoplastics,” says Ralf Kägi, Head of Eawag’s Particle Laboratory. However, even the process of identifying nanoplastic particles is anything but easy. For this, the team of researchers from Eawag, ETH Zurich, EPFL and the Politecnico di Torino used labeled nanoplastic particles, whose route through—or final location in—the water treatment process could be tracked using a mass spectrometer. This process is similar to that used in medicine, where cancer cells are specifically labeled in order to monitor their potential distribution in the human body.

On May 31, 2012, a SpaceX Dragon capsule touched down to Earth after successfully launching into space and docking with the ISS. The private space industry would never be the same again.

Current organ preservation methods provide a narrow window (usually <12 hours) to assess, transport and implant donor grafts for human transplantation. Here we report the transplantation of a human liver discarded by all centers, which could be preserved for several days using ex situ normothermic machine perfusion. The transplanted liver exhibited normal function, with minimal reperfusion injury and the need for only a minimal immunosuppressive regimen. The patient rapidly recovered a normal quality of life without any signs of liver damage, such as rejection or injury to the bile ducts, according to a 1-year follow up. This inaugural clinical success opens new horizons in clinical research and promises an extended time window of up to 10 days for assessment of viability of donor organs as well as converting an urgent and highly demanding surgery into an elective procedure.

A human liver is transplanted successfully after preservation for 3 days via machine perfusion.

A novel algorithm developed by University of Washington researchers to discover asteroids in the solar system has proved its mettle. The first candidate asteroids identified by the algorithm — known as Tracklet-less Heliocentric Orbit Recovery, or THOR — have been confirmed by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center.

The Asteroid Institute, a program of B612 Foundation, has been running THOR on its cloud-based astrodynamics platform — Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping, or ADAM — to identify and track asteroids. With confirmation of these new asteroids by the Minor Planet Center and their addition to its registry, researchers using the Asteroid Institute’s resources can submit thousands of additional new discoveries.

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In response to a request from the province of British Columbia (BC), from January 31, 2023 to January 31, 2026, adults (18 and over) in BC will not be subject to criminal charges for the possession of up to 2.5 grams of certain illegal drugs for personal use.

The federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health granted the province of British Columbia (BC)’s request for a subsection 56 exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for adults (18 years of age and older) in the province to possess small amounts of certain illegal drugs for personal use. BC has referred to this as “decriminalization of personal possession of illegal drugs”.

What this means is that from January 31, 2023 to January 31, 2026, adults (18 and over) in BC will not be subject to criminal charges for the possession of a cumulative total of up to 2.5 grams of certain illegal drugs for personal use. Instead, all individuals found in possession of substances listed in the exemption of up to 2.5 grams for personal use will, at minimum, be provided with information on available local health and social services. They can also be provided with assistance to connect with those services if requested. The exemption only covers possession for personal use by adults (18 and over) in BC with no intent to traffic, produce or export.

British Columbia has been greatly impacted by overdose deaths and related harms, and declared the overdose crisis a public health emergency in 2016. As part of the province’s comprehensive public health response, BC requested a subsection 56 exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) so that adults in the province will not be subject to criminal charges for personal possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs.

Continue reading “Exemption from Controlled Drugs and Substances Act: Personal possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs in British Columbia (January 31, 2023 to January 31, 2026)” »

U.S. retail giant Walmart is bringing the convenience of drone delivery to four million households, in partnership with DroneUp.