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In this important conversation on health, David Gornoski sits down with Jim O’Neill, CEO of the SENS Research Foundation and former managing director of Thiel Capital. How do we effectively fight viruses such as COVID-19? O’Neill brings attention to the urgency of strengthening our immune systems. Why should we look into anti-aging? Anti-aging research, O’Neill says, looks into the possibility of targeting senescent cells where many diseases take hold. How soon can we see the results of this research? Given our societal norms, is overcoming death through scientific means something that we should look into? How does Christian teaching relate to the idea of overcoming death in time and space?

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I think I want non-gene hacked pigs for my supper. 😃

For the second time ever, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a gene-hacked animal for human consumption.

In this case, it’s the GalSafe pig, CNN reports, a genetically modified swine that’s safe even for people with allergies to eat. All in all, it’s a fresh sign that genetically-altered animals and sophisticated gene-hacking technology are now becoming commercially viable and entering the mainstream.

“Today’s first ever approval of an animal biotechnology product for both food and as a potential source for biomedical use represents a tremendous milestone for scientific innovation,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a press release.

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“While astronauts in space need to get creative with their water supply, that’s not to suggest that people ought to start drinking pee to access clean water. Rather, Aquaporin, the company behind the new system, suggests that the same kind of technology could be used to clean up other types of wastewater or filter existing drinking water supplies to the point that they could be used.”

As Above

Roughly 2 billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water, according to CNN, and a system like Aquaporin could help remove pollution and plastics from the supply.

“It has an enormous potential,” Dines Thornberg, innovation manager at BIOFOS, Denmark’s largest state-owned wastewater facility, told CNN. “I think the Aquaporin system could lead the way in actually creating clean, affordable drinking water from wastewater in the future. I am really optimistic that we can meet the challenges of water scarcity in many parts of the world with technologies like this.”

Continue reading “Scientists Say Pee-Drinking Machine Could Save Lives” | >

Is ADHD actually a superpower that goes out of control from time to time? Can it be turned into an advantage?

Unclench. Mary is just an urban legend—a case example of how people with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder can hyperfocus on a task for hours, losing all awareness of their surroundings. Hers is a story that people in the ADHD community tell themselves so we will feel less alone.

“We all hate the name ADHD,” says Elaine Taylor-Klaus, cofounder of Atlanta consultancy group ImpactADHD. Because the word “deficit” is in the name, many incorrectly assume having ADHD means you can’t pay attention. Instead, ADHDers often pay more attention to certain tasks than we should. It’s called hyperfocus.

Kimberly Gordon, a psychiatrist at Sheppard Pratt Health System in Baltimore, explains the symptom as “an intense, deep concentration on a specific task.” Like our mythological Mary, Gordon says, “When individuals with ADHD hyperfocus on one thing, they tend to block out everything else going on around them. The brain sends off signals of activity, pleasure, and engagement as they are immersed in a task while hyperfocused.”

Continue reading “People With ADHD Can Actually Focus So Hard it’s Scary” | >

The United States generates seven million tons of sewage sludge annually, enough to fill 2, 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools. While a portion of this waste is repurposed for manure and other land applications, a substantial amount is still disposed of in landfills. In a new study, Texas A&M University researchers have uncovered an efficient way to use leftover sludge to make biodegradable plastics.

In the September issue of the journal American Chemical Society (ACS) Omega, the researchers report that the bacterium Zobellella denitrificans ZD1, found in mangroves, can consume sludge and wastewater to produce polyhydroxybutyrate, a type of biopolymer that can be used in lieu of petroleum-based plastics. In addition to reducing the burden on landfills and the environment, the researchers said Zobellella denitrificans ZD1 offers a way to cut down upstream costs for bioplastics manufacturing, a step toward making them more competitively priced against regular plastics.

“The price of raw materials to cultivate biopolymer-producing bacteria accounts for 25–45% of the total production cost of manufacturing bioplastics. Certainly, this cost can be greatly reduced if we can tap into an alternate resource that is cheaper and readily obtainable,” said Kung-Hui (Bella) Chu, professor in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “We have demonstrated a potential way to use municipal wastewater-activated sludge and agri-and aqua-culture industrial wastewater to make biodegradable plastics. Furthermore, the does not require elaborate sterilization processes to prevent contamination from other microbes, further cutting down operating and production costs of bioplastics.”

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