Lifeboat Foundation

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common ailments of an aging population, but there aren’t many treatment options besides taking pain killers or getting a full joint replacement. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute have found that a combination of two experimental drugs appears to reverse the symptoms of the disorder, with successful tests conducted in rats and in human cells in the lab.

As we age, our bodies gradually lose the ability to repair damage as fast as it needs to. That means that tissues subjected to high-intensity long-term use, such as cartilage in joints, are especially prone to wearing out. That manifests itself in the common condition of osteoarthritis, resulting in pain when that joint moves.

In the past, two molecules have been identified as having decent potential for treating the disease – alpha-KLOTHO (αKLOTHO) and TGF beta receptor 2 (TGFβR2). Previous tests only showed moderate success, so the researchers on the new study decided to see if they fared any better when used together.

Very interesting, researches probably already know.

You awake in the middle of the night from a nightmare.

In the nightmare, you are standing in a room that is completely full, floor to ceiling, of balloons. There are red ones, purple ones, yellow ones and green ones.

Continue reading “Fit to burst: How cancer-exploding viruses are changing the game” »

A team of engineers has figured out how to take a single drop of rain and use it to generate a powerful flash of electricity.

The City University of Hong Kong researchers behind the device, which they’re calling a droplet-based electricity generator (DEG), say that a single rain droplet can briefly generate 140 volts. That was enough to briefly power 100 small lightbulbs and, while it’s not yet practical enough for everyday use, it’s a promising step toward a new form of renewable electricity.

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Important research happening. thank you SENS. if you don’t know what SENS is, take a moment to check them out.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Neuroscientists-can-now-design-false-memories-and-plant-them-into-animal-brains.

Jake Anderson, The Mind Unleashed Waking Times

Continue reading “Neuroscientists Can Now Design False Memories and Plant Them Into Animal Brains” »

Featured Image Source: David Stokes

SpaceX aims to launch NASA Astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time this year aboard their updated Dragon spacecraft, known as Crew Dragon. The spacecraft successfully conducted the most important safety test last month during an uncrewed In-Flight Abort (IFA) mission which tested the craft’s launch escape system capabilities. During the IFA test, engineers mimicked a real flight to space except that they purposely caused their Falcon 9 rocket to “malfunction” by shutting down its 9 Merlin 1D engines in order to trigger Dragon’s launch escape countdown. Falcon 9 aerodynamically exploded mid-air, as Dragon successfully ignited its 8 SuperDraco engines to escape the danger.

A new medical robot created specifically to take blood samples outperformed human health-care professionals in a clinical trial.