Why do some animals live longer than others?
Is aging inevitable, like the rusting of a tin can, or in some sense preprogrammed?
The answers to these questions could drastically improve human health. My latest piece for BioViva Sciences is a concise overview of the comparative biology of aging.
An Israeli company has launched a clinical trial to determine if its innovative microbiome-based therapeutic could increase the responsiveness of some cancer patients to immunotherapy.
The microbiome is gut bacteria – trillions of microorganisms that live in the intestinal tract and play a role in digestion, immunity and many other aspects of health.
Rehovot-based Biomica, a subsidiary of Evogene, dosed its first patients in a Phase I clinical trial at Rambam Health Care Campus last month with a new drug – BMC128 – that is expected to help patients who do not respond to immunotherapy. Specifically, the company hopes the trial will demonstrate the safety, tolerability and preliminary clinical effectiveness of its BMC128 microbiome-based immuno-oncology drug candidate in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) immunotherapy.
Hubble, you’ve still got it!
A new image captures a startling star-forming region in the iconic constellation.
This could be us, but you’re taking the picture 5 billion years too early.
These two merging galaxies are locked in a cosmic death spiral similar to the one that binds us to the Andromeda Galaxy.
A surgical tool currently in clinical trials will slice fake flesh in space — providing groundbreaking new tech for space-based medical emergencies.
The biggest Internet service providers and their trade groups spent $234.7 million on lobbying and political donations during the most recent two-year congressional cycle, according to a report released yesterday. The ISPs and their trade groups lobbied against strict net neutrality rules and on various other telecom and broadband regulatory legislation, said the report written by advocacy group Common Cause.
Of the $234.7 million spent in 2019 and 2020, political contributions and expenditures accounted for $45.6 million. The rest of it went to lobbying expenditures.
Comcast led the way with $43 million in lobbying and political contributions and expenditures combined during the 2019–2020 cycle, the report said. The highest-spending ISPs after Comcast were AT&T with $36.4 million, Verizon with $24.8 million, Charter with $24.4 million, and T-Mobile with $21.5 million. “The dollar amounts are shocking,” the report said. “In total, these corporations spent more than $234 million on lobbying and federal elections during the 116th Congress—an average of more than $320,000 a day, seven days a week!”
Continue reading “ISPs spent $235 million on lobbying and donations, ‘more than $320,000 a day’” »
The 45.22-tesla magnet sits just shy of the record for the world’s most powerful magnet.
China started using the world’s most powerful magnet for scientific research. The magnet is roughly the size of a coin, but creates an impressive 45.22-tesla magnetic field.
NASA/MSFC
The momentous launch has been years in the making. NASA finally means to send its Orion capsule on its journey to the moon and back this month after a long string of delays exacerbated by concerns that the project had gone wildly over budget.
