Lifeboat Foundation

It shouldn’t be any secret that mitochondria can make their own fatty acids. The enzymes mitochondria use to do it were discovered decades ago. Unfortunately, only a few individuals among the biologically literate masses have come to appreciate this critical fact about mitochondrial behavior. Perhaps the bigger issue is why mitochondria would go to all the trouble when cells can already make all the fatty acids they need.

Wikipedia itself remains largely in the dark when it comes to mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis. It does contain several exhaustive entries for enzymatic players in the main cellular fatty acid processes, but it is hard pressed even to mention that mitochondria can do it, too. For years, the small cadre of devotees who studied it referred to it as FASII, for fatty acid synthesis type II. This was because it looked just like the pathways of the same name used by bacteria, from which mitochondria are derived. Eukaryotes, on the other hand, employ FAS type I (FASI) in the cytoplasm.

The main difference seems to be that the FASI enzymes have partially merged into large multifunctional conglomerates that carry out whole sequences of reactions together. Presumably, this makes for greater efficiency because the many enzymes and substrates needn’t slowly diffuse to find each other within a large cytoplasmic reaction space. In the fullness of time, something curious happened to the field: A trickle of more recent papers began using a new name for FASII as done by mitochondria: It was now mtFAS.

Veterans are spending thousands on retreats in central America where they take ayahuasca, a psychedelic drug one attendant called a “Hail Mary” for PTSD symptoms, according to The New York Times.

The psychedelic brew ayahuasca is being hailed as “a Hail Mary.”

In his keynote speech at Ending Age-Related Diseases 2020, Dr. Aubrey de Grey of SENS Research Foundation discusses the current state of the rejuvenation biotechnology industry in the context of the current pandemic. He mentions the failure of Unity Biotechnology’s Phase 2 clinical trial for osteoarthritis, COVID-19 and the elderly immune system, the current popularization of rejuvenation biotechnology, XPRIZE, and the steps that are currently being taken towards a world without age-related diseases.

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Continue reading “Aubrey de Grey | Keynote Speech” »

Intel’s Chief Architect, Raja Koduri, has presented a roadmap for increasing the number of transistors able to fit on a chip by a factor of 50.

During a keynote presentation at this year’s Hot Chips conference (held virtually), he described the ways in which computer technology can continue to shrink over the next 10 years – helping to sustain the famous trend known as Moore’s Law.

Continue reading “50-fold Increase in Transistor Density is Possible by 2030” »

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — A full moon with a special name given only once every three years will rise this week, according to the Farmer’s Almanac.

The Corn Moon is a full moon that rises in September. The September full moon is usually called the Harvest Moon because it is normally the closest full moon to the autumn equinox.

Every third year, however, a full moon comes in October that’s even closer, making the September full moon a Corn Moon.

While SpaceX didn’t pull off a doubleheader Sunday launch like it planned, the company still managed a rare feat. Instead of launching eastward like every other Cape Canaveral rocket, the Falcon 9 headed south toward Cuba, close to populated areas on Florida’s coast (via The Verge). The “SAOCOM 1B” mission marks the first such “polar launch” from Florida since 1969, made possible by a special Air Force exemption for SpaceX.

Satellites bound for polar orbits (where a satellite passes over both the North and South Poles), usually launch from Vandenberg Air Force base in California. That way, they can head due south directly over the ocean without passing over any populated areas. By contrast, flights from Florida always head east over open seas, as southbound flights have been off-limits due to the presence of cities like West Palm Beach below.

It was at this webcast that Musk unveiled the latest version of his company NeuraLink’s latest prototype, the Link VO.9 — a chip that would allow humans to control devices with their brains.

Musk said this could eventually help cure people with conditions like memory loss, hearing loss, paralysis, blindness, brain damage, depression and anxiety.

Viewers of the webcast met Gertrude, a pig that had the chip implanted in her brain two months ago. A graph shown onscreen showed the waves inside Gertrude’s brain, which fired when her brain communicated with her snout while she was eating.

Fifty years ago, few scientists believed a drug could fight viruses with low side effects. Then Gertrude Elion showed the doubters “what I could do on my own.”