Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 6243

“Jupiter ’s Great Red Spot, a storm that has been roiling for centuries, the speed in its ” outer lane” is moving faster than the inner lane – and continues to pick up speed. By analyzing long-term data in this high-speed ring, researchers found the winds have increased by up to 8 percent from 2009 to 2020. These findings could only be made with Hubble: The telescope has amassed more than 10 years of regular observations, acting like a ” storm watcher” for the planets in our solar system.

Like the speed of an advancing race car driver, the winds in the outermost lane of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot are accelerating – a discovery only made possible by NASA.

Read more | >

Now that we know that interstellar objects (ISOs) visit our Solar System, scientists are keen to understand them better. How could they be captured? If they’re captured, what happens to them? How many of them might be in our Solar System?

One team of researchers is trying to find answers.

We know of two ISOs for certain: ‘Oumuamua and comet 2I/Borisov. There must’ve been others, probably many of them. But we’ve only recently gained the technology to see them. We’ll likely discover many more of them soon, thanks to new facilities like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

Read more | >

Chipmakers are still catching up to demand following severe supply chain bottlenecks created by the pandemic. But manufacturing plants that were planned last year will likely start producing chips in the coming months, helping to alleviate shortages for PC parts and other microchips, Su said.

“We’ve always gone through cycles of ups and downs, where demand has exceeded supply, or vice versa,” Su said at the Code Conference in Beverly Hills, California. “This time, it’s different.”

The improvements will be gradual as more manufacturing capacity becomes available, Su said.

Read more | >

An inexpensive anti-seizure medication markedly improves learning and memory and other cognitive functions in Alzheimer’s patients who have epileptic activity in their brains, according to a study published in the Sept. 27th issue of JAMA Neurology.

“This is a drug that’s used for epilepsy,” says Keith Vossel, MD, MSc, director of the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research at UCLA, and the principal investigator on the clinical trial. “We used it in this study for Alzheimer’s who had evidence of silent , which is seizure-like brain activity without the associated physical convulsions.”

Alzheimer’s (AD) is the leading cause of dementia worldwide. Early symptoms include short-term memory loss, decline in problem solving, word-finding difficulties, and trouble with spatial navigation. Among Alzheimer’s patients, an estimated 10–22% develop seizures, while an additional 22–54% exhibit silent epileptic activity.

Read more | >

A large, UK-based study of genetics and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been suspended, following criticism that it failed to properly consult the autism community about the goals of the research. Concerns about the study include fears that its data could potentially be misused by other researchers seeking to ‘cure’ or eradicate ASD.

Study aimed at collecting DNA from 10,000 people with autism and their families has drawn criticism for failing to consult the autism community.

Read more | >