Lifeboat Foundation

Should interest those into links on aging/longevity and neuroscience.

The mammalian center for learning and memory, hippocampus, has a remarkable capacity to generate new neurons throughout life. Newborn neurons are produced by neural stem cells (NSCs) and they are crucial for forming neural circuits required for learning and memory, and mood control. During aging, the number of NSCs declines, leading to decreased neurogenesis and age-associated cognitive decline, anxiety, and depression. Thus, identifying the core molecular machinery responsible for NSC preservation is of fundamental importance if we are to use neurogenesis to halt or reverse hippocampal age-related pathology.

While there are increasing number of tools available to study NSCs and neurogenesis in mouse models, one of the major hurdles in exploring this fundamental biological process in the human brain is the lack of specific NSCs markers amenable for advanced imaging and in vivo analysis. A team of researchers led by Dr. Mirjana Maletić-Savatić, associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine and investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Louis Manganas, associate professor at the Stony Brook University, decided to tackle this problem in a rather unusual way. They reasoned that if they could find proteins that are present on the surface of NSCs, then they could eventually make agents to “see” NSCs in the human brain.

Continue reading “A novel marker of adult human neural stem cells discovered” »

Following on in the vein of my recent topics, this week I am looking at mTOR. A crucial protein that performs the function of an enzyme that is critical for day to day function. There are so many terms and words, subjects and strategies, abound, and so many talk in terms where a basic understanding of the subject is necessary to benefit fully, that I decided to create a kind of library, or resource where you can brush up on all the core fundamentals. Should you stimulate mTOR or seek to restrict it? What will happen if I do? Is this a short term strategy or a lifestyle goal? And what is the real state of the science that underpins it all? These are all questions you, or friends, may have, or even may have heard but been unable to answer fully or concisely, hopefully these will help to reduce those issues. Next week I will be looking at its partner in crime, AMPK, together they exist in balance like a playground see-saw… Until then, have an amazing day…

In this video I will look at what mTOR is and how you can harness it to benefit your objectives. By controlling it we can achieve the balance we need which is to grow muscle to stay fit and strong, but also to not burn out too quickly, so we can live a long healthy life, with a long health span. Maximising anti aging to aid in longevity is delicate balance unique to us all and which varies depending on our current goals and objectives.

Continue reading “Mammalian Target Of Rapamycin Kinase” »

ENERGY!!! — Jose Luis Cordeiro, Engineer, Economist, Futurist, Transhumanist, Author, “The Death Of Death”

Dr. José Luis Cordeiro is an engineer, economist, futurist, transhumanist and author.

Continue reading “Dr. José Luis Cordeiro — Engineer, Economist, Futurist, Transhumanist, Author — ENERGY!!!” »

“Whooshes of creation” may be producing multiverses at this moment, says astronomer.

The cosmic inflation credited with creating the homogeneous universe which we now enjoy was likely not a one-off event, University of California, Berkeley astronomer Alexei Filippenko, told me. In fact, these ‘whooshes of creation’ may be producing multiverses even at this moment, says Filippenko.

The idea of an exponential, faster-than-light expansion of the early universe, was first put forth by MIT astrophysicist Alan Guth in 1981. And today, Inflation theory is used to explain the Cosmos’ current size, expansion, homogeneity and the fact that it appears to be geometrically flat, I noted in a 2011 issue of Astronomy magazine.

Continue reading “Cosmic Inflation Was Likely Not A One-Off Event, Says Astronomer” »

Primeval sea creatures share genes with humans, suggesting that we’re more like ancient animals than previously thought.

Now uncocooned from its protective carbon-fiber shield, the helicopter is being readied for its next steps.

NASA is targeting no earlier than April 8 for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to make the first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. Before the 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) rotorcraft can attempt its first flight, however, both it and its team must meet a series of daunting milestones.

Continue reading “NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Prepares for First Flight Program” »