Lifeboat Foundation

Circa 2019

This study assessed the safety and efficacy of deep tissue laser therapy on the management of pain, functionality, systemic inflammation, and overall quality of life of older adults with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

The effects of deep tissue laser therapy (DTLT) were assessed in a randomized, double-masked, sham-controlled, interventional trial. Forty participants were randomized (1:1) to receive either DTLT or sham laser therapy (SLT). In addition to the standard-of-care treatment, participants received either DTLT or SLT twice weekly for 4 weeks and then once weekly for 8 weeks (a 12-week intervention period). The two treatments were identical, except that laser emission was disabled during SLT. Assessments for pain, functionality, serum levels of inflammatory biomarkers, and quality of life (QOL) were performed at baseline and after the 12-week intervention period. The results from the two treatments were compared using ANOVA in a pre-test-post-test design.

Continue reading “Effect of deep tissue laser therapy treatment on peripheral neuropathic pain in older adults with type 2 diabetes: a pilot randomized clinical trial” »

Clijsen, R., Brunner, A., Barbero, M., Clarys, P. & Taeymans, J. Effects of low-level laser therapy on pain in patients with musculoskeletal disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 53, 603–610 (2017).

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Meatable has become the latest company to reveal a new cultured food product – lab-grown sausages, which could offer a more sustainable and ethical choice for consumers in the near future.

An aerial view of the NELHA facilities in Kona, Hawaii. Makai has installed undersea pipelines that descend to 915 m (3,002 ft) water depth at a temperature of 4° C (39° F).

Seawater Air Conditioning (SWAC) takes advantage of available deep cold water from the ocean, a river, or lake, to replace conventional AC systems. Such a system can also utilize cold lake or river water as the cold source.

Continue reading “Sea Water Air Conditioning” »

Are we alone?

We are two scientists who study exoplanets and astrobiology. Thanks in large part to next-generation telescopes like Webb, researchers like us will soon be able to measure the chemical makeup of atmospheres of planets around other stars. The hope is that one or more of these planets will have a chemical signature of life.

Life might exist in the Solar System where there is liquid water — like the subsurface aquifers on Mars or in the oceans of Jupiter’s moon Europa. However, searching for life in these places is incredibly difficult, as they are hard to reach, and detecting life would require sending a probe to return physical samples.

Continue reading “The best ways to find life using the Webb telescope, according to two astronomers” »

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Engineers are developing mobile, floating nuclear desalination plants to help solve water shortages.

By Industry And Sector.

Are there low-hanging fruit opportunities to cut CO₂ emissions while recognizing the necessity of continuing to use fossil fuels?

The July issue of Scientific American magazine has a terrific review of the Voyager space mission that details the trips Voyagers 1 and 2 have made through the Solar System. The article is titled “Record-Breaking Voyager Spacecraft Begin to Power Down.” Both spacecraft have now entered interstellar space and are the first human artifacts to do so. Tim Folger wrote the article for Scientific American. Towards the end of the article, Folger points out that Voyagers 1 and 2 were designed before the advent of the microprocessor and that the mission has lasted 44 years, so far, which is about 40 years longer than the planned design life for the spacecraft.

The article then quotes Stamatios Krimigis, a PhD physicist and space scientist who’s spent more than half a century at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Krimigis says, “The amount of software on these instruments is slim to none. On the whole, I think the mission lasted so long because almost everything was hardwired. Today’s engineers don’t know how to do this. I don’t know if it’s even possible to build such a simple spacecraft [now]. Voyager is the last of its kind.”

Continue reading “Voyagers 1 and 2 Take Embedded Computers into Interstellar Space” »

This week our guest academic philosopher, Susan Schneider, who is the founding director for the Center for the Future Mind at Florida Atlantic University, as well as the author of the 2019 book, Artificial You: AI and the Future of Your Mind. In this episode we focus heavily on Susan’s thoughts, hopes, and concerns surrounding the current conversations regarding artificial intelligence. This includes, but is certainly not limited to, the philosophical and ethical questions that AI presents in general, the feasibility of mind uploading and machine consciousness, the ways we may end up outsourcing our decision making to machines, how we might merge with machines, and how these potential tech futures might impact identity and sense of self. You can learn more about Susan at schneiderwebsite.com, and find out how to get involved with her work at fau.edu/future-mind ** Host: Steven Parton — LinkedIn / Twitter Music by: Amine el Filali.

41 MINS