Lifeboat Foundation

Traditionally, research showed tumor tissue to be free of microbes. In recent years, however, technology has advanced, allowing scientists to detect tiny numbers of bacteria that have taken up residence inside tumor tissue. For example, Shang Cai and his team detected 135,000 microorganisms in a gram of mouse breast tumor tissue, almost ten times more than in healthy tissue. (By comparison, a gram of feces has roughly 300 billion microbes.) Furthermore, nearly all the bacteria were living inside the mouse cells.

The biological significance of the intratumor microbiota remains largely unknown. However, scientists have found that the gut microbiota contributes to tumor progression. Cai wanted to know if these tumor-infesting intracellular bacteria are also involved in cancer progression.

The latest Planetary Science Decadal Survey has been published. The future mission recommendations include a Uranus orbiter in the mid-2040s (the first visit to the planet since 1986) and the Enceladus Orbilander (landing in the early 2050s).

Oxford University researchers have developed a sensor made of sapphire fiber that can tolerate extreme temperatures, with the potential to enable significant improvements in efficiency and emission reduction in aerospace and power generation.

The work, published in the journal Optics Express, uses a sapphire optical fiber —a thread of industrially grown sapphire less than half a millimeter thick—which can withstand temperatures over 2000°C. When light is injected onto one end of the sapphire fiber, some is reflected back from a point along the fiber which has been modified to be sensitive to temperature (known as a Bragg grating). The wavelength (color) of this reflected light is a measure of the temperature at that point.

The research resolves a 20-year-old problem with existing sensors—while the sapphire fiber seems very thin, in comparison to the wavelength of light it is huge. This means that the light can take many different paths along the sapphire fiber, which results in many different wavelengths being reflected at once. The researchers overcame this problem by writing a channel along the length of the fiber, such that the light is contained within a tiny cross-section, one-hundredth of a millimeter in diameter. With this approach, they were able to make a sensor that predominantly reflects a single wavelength of light.

He added that he would not be surprised if coronavirus cases increase over the next couple of weeks.

How China can boost its carbon neutrality efforts by ensuring renewables account for more than 50% of the power supply for aluminium production by 2045.

Decarbonizing the power supply for primary aluminium is critical for the sector to reach net zero. Electricity used during aluminium smelting – the process of extracting the metal from its ore – accounts for more than 60% of the industry’s carbon emissions.

It is particularly important to control the carbon emissions of China’s production of primary aluminium, which comes directly from mined ore rather than using recycled or alloy materials. Primary aluminium produced and consumed in China accounts for approximately 60% of the global market. Due to the high proportion of coal-fired energy used, 12.7 tonnes of carbon is emitted per tonne of aluminium produced in China, versus a global average of 10.3 tonnes, according to the latest figures, which cover the 2005 to 2019 period. This is why decarbonizing the power supply for Chinese primary aluminium production is critical.

Continue reading “Decarbonizing the electricity supply for aluminium production” »

The shift towards ML-driven efficiency is changing the way founders and creators think. Learn to embrace an ML-first mindset from day one.

Bart Blommaertsif it helps. But don’t cut internet cables with that thing!!

Andreas StürmerFinally. Is it going to be a rail or car tunnel?

Eric KlienAdmin.

Continue reading “A biological motor that consumes chiral fuel drives rotation in one direction around a single covalent bond” »

Instead of luxury private jets, some could opt in the future for a new generation of eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) jets. One of them, the Lilium eVTOL jet, is closer to certification.

CARMAT, the developer of the world’s most advanced completely artificial heart has successfully raised €40.5 million in funding. The raise is set to finance the production of their Aeson artificial heart, which the company hopes will provide an alternative treatment option for people with heart failure – a condition affecting around 6.2 million adults in the US alone [1].

Longevity. Technology: Beating around 100,000 times per day, your heart works around the clock to keep your circulatory system ticking. The steady sound of your heartbeat is a comforting constant throughout your life. Forming the centre of the circulatory system, the heart continuously pumps blood around the body to deliver oxygen and nutrients to cells. Due to this constant work, our hearts can unfortunately wear out as we age, with cardiovascular diseases continuing to be the leading causes of death globally [2].

End-stage heart failure is a serious condition that occurs when the heart can no longer transport blood throughout the body effectively. It most often affects the left chamber of the heart, which pumps oxygen-rich blood around the body, leading to biventricular heart failure. Vital organs like the brain, liver and kidney fail to get enough oxygen and nutrients to function properly. With few treatment options, end-stage heart failure sometimes requires serious intervention like heart transplantation – considered the gold standard therapy. However, due to the global shortage in organ donors, this is not always possible and there is a gap for a therapeutic alternative that could have huge implications for longevity globally.