Lifeboat Foundation

More than three times as many people may have died worldwide as a result of the pandemic than official COVID-19 death records suggest, according to an analysis published in The Lancet.

While the official COVID-19 death toll was 5.9 million between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, the new study estimates 18.2 million excess deaths occurred over the same period, suggesting the full impact of the pandemic may have been far greater.

Excess deaths—the difference between the number of recorded deaths from all causes and the number expected based on past trends—are a key measure of the true death toll of the pandemic. While there have been several attempts to estimate excess mortality from COVID-19, most have been limited in geographical scope by the availability of data.

Moore’s Law is dead, right? Not if we can get working photonic computers.

Lightmatter is building a photonic computer for the biggest growth area in computing right now, and according to CEO Nick Harris, it can be ordered now and will ship at the end of this year. It’s already much faster than traditional electronic computers a neural nets, machine learning for language processing, and AI for self-driving cars.

Continue reading “Beating Moore’s Law: This photonic computer is 10X faster than NVIDIA GPUs using 90% less energy” »

Photonic computing processes information using light, whilst neuromorphic computing attempts to emulate the human brain. Bring the two together, and we may have the perfect platform for next generation AI, as this video explores.

If you like this video, you may also enjoy my previous episodes on:

Continue reading “Photonic Neuromorphic Computing: The Future of AI?” »

Researchers created a mathematical framework to examine the genome and detect signatures of natural selection, deciphering the evolutionary past and future of non-coding DNA.

Despite the sheer number of genes that each human cell contains, these so-called “coding” DNA sequences comprise just 1% of our entire genome. The remaining 99% is made up of “non-coding” DNA — which, unlike coding DNA, does not carry the instructions to build proteins.

One vital function of this non-coding DNA, also called “regulatory” DNA, is to help turn genes on and off, controlling how much (if any) of a protein is made. Over time, as cells replicate their DNA to grow and divide, mutations often crop up in these non-coding regions — sometimes tweaking their function and changing the way they control gene expression. Many of these mutations are trivial, and some are even beneficial. Occasionally, though, they can be associated with increased risk of common diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, or more life-threatening ones, including cancer.

Sometimes, a hobbled mission is a setback. Other times, the consequences can run deep.

In cases like a rover or a space telescope, it might not be a big deal. But losing the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter or International Space Station leaves more at stake.

A totipotent cell is a single cell that can give rise to a new organism, if given appropriate maternal support. Totipotent cells have many properties, but we do not know all of them yet. Researchers at Helmholtz Munich have now made a new discovery.

“We found out that in totipotent cells, the mother cells of stem cells, DNA replication occurs at a different pace compared to other more differentiated cells. It is much slower than in any other cell type we studied,” says Tsunetoshi Nakatani, first-author of the new study.

DNA replication, in fact, is one of the most important biological processes. Throughout the course of our lives, each time that a cell divides it generates an exact copy of its DNA so that the resulting daughter cells carry identical genetic material. This fundamental principle enables faithful inheritance of our genetic material.

InWith Corporation says it’s created the world’s first soft electronic contact lens that could work with smartphones or other external devices to show its wearer augmented reality.

Andy on Twitter : @theandyaltman.

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There’s a hallmark of incurable neurodegenerative diseases – misfolded proteins that clump together to form sticky plaques or tangles called fibrils.

Now, new research has discovered that a protein normally tasked with clearing cells of molecular debris might be a common feature of a cluster of common and rare neurodegenerative diseases, including two distinct forms of dementia.

The finding was “both unexpected and surprising” and “raises many intriguing questions”, according to the team behind the study, who made 3D-reconstructions of a twisted protein they found in “copious amounts” in some brain tissue samples.