Lifeboat Foundation

During the winter months, renewable energy is in short supply throughout Europe. An international project is now considering an unconventional solution: Renewable hydrogen and carbon dioxide are pumped into the ground together, where naturally occurring microorganisms convert the two substances into methane, the main component of natural gas.

Underground Sun Conversion technology, patented by the Austrian energy company RAG Austria AG, offers a way to seasonally store renewable energy on a large scale and make it available all year round. In summer, this involves converting surplus renewable energy—solar power, for instance—into hydrogen (H₂). This is then stored together with carbon dioxide (CO₂) in natural underground storage facilities—for example, former natural gas deposits—at a depth of over 1000 meters.

This is where little helpers come into play: Microorganisms from prehistoric times, so-called archaea, convert hydrogen and CO₂ into renewable methane (CH₄) via their metabolism. Archaea are found all over the world, mainly in anaerobic, i.e. low-oxygen environments; they were responsible for converting biomass into natural gas millions of years ago. By feeding hydrogen and CO₂ into suitable porous sandstone deposits, this process can be started all over again. The methane “produced” in the depth can then be withdrawn from the reservoirs during winter and used in a variety of ways as CO₂-neutral natural gas.

Engineers at Duke University have devised a system for manipulating particles approaching the miniscule 2.5 nanometer diameter of DNA using sound-induced electric fields. Dubbed “acoustoelectronic nanotweezers,” the approach provides a label-free, dynamically controllable method of moving and trapping nanoparticles over a large area. The technology holds promise for applications in the fields ranging from condensed matter physics to biomedicine.

The research appears online on June 22 in Nature Communications.

Precisely controlling nanoparticles is a crucial ability for many emerging technologies. For example, separating exosomes and other tiny biological molecules from blood could lead to new types of diagnostic tests for the early detection of tumors and neurodegenerative diseases. Placing engineered nanoparticles in a specific pattern before fixing them in place can help create new types of materials with highly tunable properties.

Before we send out missions to red dwarf stars, we need to double check their ability to sustain life.

Red dwarf stars are the most abundant in the universe and at the top of the list when searching for habitable planets. Why we don’t live around one?

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Cellular senescence, a state of permanent growth arrest, has emerged as a hallmark and fundamental driver of organismal aging. It is regulated by both genetic and epigenetic factors. Despite a few previously reported aging-associated genes, the identity and roles of additional genes involved in the regulation of human cellular aging remain to be elucidated. Yet, there is a lack of systematic investigation on the intervention of these genes to treat aging and aging-related diseases.

How many aging-promoting genes are there in the human genome? What are the molecular mechanisms by which these genes regulate aging? Can gene therapy alleviate individual aging? Recently, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have shed new light on the regulation of aging.

Continue reading “Scientists Develop New Gene Therapy Strategy to Delay Aging and Extend Lifespan” »

BOSTON (PRWEB) November 18, 2020

What does it mean for multiplying cells in the body to be immortal? The cell DNA is being replicated over and over again while being divided equally between new cells produced by cell divisions. All the new cell components produced by the DNA code are mixing with the old cell components and being divided between the new cells. So, every cell is a new cell. There is nothing really immortal about any of them. Right?

Not quite. Stem cells responsible for renewing other mature body cells are different. For a long time, tissue cell scientists had a somewhat nebulous idea that stem cells had a special longevity in organs and tissues – that they were immortal cells, lasting for as long as the human lifespan. However, no one had a molecular concept for this idea of stem cell immortality until John Cairns, a pioneer of DNA replication, started thinking about DNA mutations and cancer in the 1970’s.

Circa 2013 henrietta lacks unlimited cell division sequenced allowing for immortality.

The HeLa cell genome is riddled with errors, raising questions about its continued use.

A total of 26 high-severity vulnerabilities affect NVIDIA Jetson chipsets.

Circa 2018

CRISPR will realize its potential in plastic and reconstructive surgery only if plastic surgeons gain familiarity with this disruptive technology and become active contributors and leaders in applying CRISPR to their respective areas of expertise.

New method based on double-curvature effect described by Gauss nearly 200 years ago.