Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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A team of scientists led by Northwestern Medicine investigators has created an implant capable of reversing an opioid overdose, according to findings published in Science Advances.

More than 100,000 people died from an opioid overdose in 2022, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Synthetic opioid drugs including fentanyl have accelerated the rise in overdose deaths in the U.S. and are responsible for roughly 70 percent of all overdose deaths.

Although naloxone, sold as an over-the-counter nasal spray or injectable, can reverse an overdose, administering the medication requires a knowledgeable bystander, limiting its lifesaving potential.

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I love the analogy they use here of space flight — a deeply impressive human accomplishment that has, nevertheless, primarily relied on engineering solutions because the science behind it is relatively well understood. It’s a great reminder that BCIs are not “rocket science” because, unlike rocket science, we don’t yet have the science to underpin the engineering that advances will rely on.

Yet despite this, Gordon and Seth throw a bone to engineers who can’t wait for the science to catch up. And they do this by suggesting that artificial intelligence may “soften” if not completely eliminate the science challenges facing the development of successful BCIs.

At this point it’s hard to tell how far AI-driven engineering solutions might support BCIs designed to enhance performance — and Gordon and Seth suggest that near term technologies may be “limited to controlling apps on phones or other similarly prosaic activities”. But they also acknowledge that, in spite of the considerable challenges, BCIs still hold promise for human enhancement in the future.

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Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and their collaborators have discovered a new way in which RAS genes, which are commonly mutated in cancer, may drive tumor growth beyond their well-known role in signaling at the cell surface.

Mutant RAS, they found, helps to kick off a series of events involving the transport of specific nuclear proteins that lead to uncontrolled , according to a study published November 11, 2024, in Nature Cancer.

RAS are the second most frequently mutated genes in cancer, and mutant RAS proteins are key drivers of some of the deadliest cancers, including nearly all , half of colorectal cancers, and one-third of lung cancers.

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Transparent ceramic infinite speed computer.

Jiang, WX. Highly homogeneous zero-index metamaterials make devices more compact and perform better. Light Sci Appl 13, 104 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-024-01458-6

Download citation.

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Dutch astrophysicists have observed the collision of two neutron stars, capturing unprecedented data that offers new insights into the formation of black holes.

The team, based at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, documented the birth of the smallest black hole ever recorded through their observations. Their findings, published in Astronomy and Astrophysics, illuminate the immense cosmic forces at play and how such events have shaped the universe and the creation of atoms.

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