Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Blog – Page 4

They say that change takes time. Well, that’s not the case for RNA. The small biological molecule acts like a switchboard operator, capable of changing its shape every few milliseconds so it can manipulate biological functions in the body. It has big jobs to carry out, after all, like copying genetic information into every living cell and activating the immune response.

A new multidisciplinary study from biophysicists and virologists at the UNC School of Medicine challenges this idea of shape-shifting RNA. Helen Lazear, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology, and Qi Zhang, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and biophysics, have discovered that a type of RNA in Zika virus, a mosquito-borne virus, can essentially freeze itself in time in an effort to make more copies of itself and further its spread in the body.

Their findings have not only sent ripples through the field of virology, but it has also given researchers new ammunition in the fight against RNA viruses. Their study, which was published in Nature Chemical Biology, paves the way for new therapies that can “unfreeze” these RNA structures to combat other mosquito-borne RNA viruses.

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Traditional black holes, as predicted by Albert Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, contain what are known as singularities, i.e., points where the laws of physics break down. Identifying how singularities are resolved in the context of quantum gravity is one of the fundamental problems in theoretical physics.

Now, a team of experts from the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) has described for the first time the creation of regular black holes from gravitational effects and without the need for the existence of exotic matter required by some previous models.

This discovery, published in the journal Physics Letters B, opens up new prospects for improving our understanding of the quantum nature of gravity and the true structure of space-time.

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The trihydrogen cation (H3+) plays a key role in the interstellar chemistry. Here the authors, using state of the art experiments and computation, identify factors that govern H3+ formation from doubly ionized small organic molecules, offering guidelines for examining alternative sources of H3+ in the universe.

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Their new stabilization method overcomes disruptions, keeping the network running smoothly and securely.

Quantum Breakthrough: First Entangled Signal Over Commercial Network

Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), EPB of Chattanooga, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga have successfully transmitted an entangled quantum signal over a commercial fiber-optic network. This achievement marks the first time multiple wavelength channels and automatic polarization stabilization have been used together — without any network downtime.

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The Department of Energy is investing in next-gen microelectronics to curb skyrocketing energy demands. SLAC and other top institutions are developing innovative materials, AI-powered sensing, and brain-inspired computing to push efficiency to new levels. Powering the Future: The Energy Demand o.

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Gaining insight could help understand the timing and process of life’s emergence. A research team led by a Rutgers-New Brunswick scientist has found that water arrived on Earth later in its formation than previously believed. This discovery has important implications for understanding when life first emerged on the planet.

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For decades, people believed absolute pitch was an exclusive ability granted only to those with the right genetics or early music training. But new research from the University of Surrey proves otherwise. It’s been a long-held belief that absolute pitch — the ability to identify musical notes without a reference — is a rare talent limited to those with specific genetic traits or early musical training. However, new research from the University of Surrey challenges this idea, showing that adults can develop absolute pitch through dedicated training.

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Water isn’t just liquid, ice, or vapor — under extreme conditions, it can transform into exotic phases, such as the newly observed plastic ice VII.

This hybrid phase, predicted years ago but only recently confirmed using cutting-edge neutron spectrometers, exhibits both solid-like structure and liquid-like molecular motion.

Beyond the familiar: water’s many phases.

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Scientists have found a way to achieve negative refraction, using carefully arranged atomic arrays instead of engineered metamaterials. VERY GOOD!

Ask the researchers: Do you understand the spacetime background of atomic arrays interactions?

Scientific research guided by correct theories can enable researchers to think more.

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High-energy particles rain down on Earth constantly, but scientists have now detected a doozy: a neutrino blasting in from deep space with an energy far greater than anything we’ve seen before.

On 13 February 2023, an undersea detector off the coast of Sicily picked up a record-breaking neutrino event. The particle’s energy was estimated to be a whopping 220 petaelectronvolts (PeV) – for reference, the previous record-holder is a paltry 10 PeV.

Only a handful of astronomical objects are capable of accelerating particles to such extreme energies, such as supernovae or black holes. One possible culprit could be a blazar – a particularly active supermassive black hole that’s firing a jet of radiation almost directly at Earth.

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