Lifeboat Foundation

A new method enables researchers to test algorithms for spotting genes that contribute to a complex trait or condition, such as autism.

Researchers often study the genetics of complex traits using genome-wide association studies (GWAS). In these studies, scientists compare the genomes of people who have a condition with those of people without the condition, looking for genetic variants likely to contribute to the condition. These studies often require tens of thousands of people to yield statistically significant results.

GWAS have identified more than 100 genomic regions associated with schizophrenia, for example, and 12 linked to autism. Results are often difficult to interpret, however. Causal variants for a condition may be inherited with nearby sections of DNA that do not play a role.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) recorded at least 51 new cases of the Ebola virus since the beginning of the week, while two screening tents in Kasese, a Ugandan village that shares a border with the DRC, were burned after Ugandan workers detected a high fever in a Congolese boy trying to gain entry into Uganda.

Since the outbreak started nearly a year ago in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, DRC, neighboring countries have screened travelers through hundreds of points-of-entry (POE) screening sites.

On Wednesday, officials quoted in a Ugandan newspaper said the fires started after a teenage boy entering Uganda from the DRC tested positive for a high fever and was taken to a hospital in DRC.

Nestled amongst glaciers in one of the world’s most remote and volcanically active island ranges lies an incredibly rare lake of lava only now confirmed by scientists in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research.

Residing on Saunders Island in the South Sandwich Islands, measuring between 90 and 215 meters (295 and 700 feet) in diameter, and with temperatures soaring above 1,200°C (2,160°F), the lava lake of Mount Michel joins just seven other known features of this nature on Earth. Lava lakes are extremely rare with even the most persistent ceasing after just a century.

“We are delighted to have discovered such a remarkable geological feature in the British Overseas Territory,” said study author and geologist Alex Burton-Johnson in a statement. “Identifying the lava lake has improved our understanding of the volcanic activity and hazard on this remote island, and tells us more about these rare features, and finally, it has helped us develop techniques to monitor volcanoes from space.”

David Sinclair PhD is a biologist and Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging and author of the forthcoming book “Lifespan: The Revolutionary Science of Why We Age — and Why We Don’t Have To”.

This conversation is about the science behind aging and David’s research on the biology of lifespan extension, treating diseases of aging and extending human lifespan.

Continue reading “David Sinclair Is Extending Human Lifespan | Rich Roll Podcast” »

You don’t improve the body by breaking its parts. In the case of prostate cancer this might be a fair trade-off, but unless you have a specific medical condition that is serious and life-threatening you should not be poisoning yourself with metabolism breaking chemicals. They will have negative impacts all over the body as a rule.

• Prostate cancer patients who take a hormone-suppressing drug may be at an increased risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s, a study has found.
• The study of more than 150,000 men found a link between the degenerative diseases and a treatment drug called androgen deprivation therapy.
• Researchers cautioned doctors to further consider the risks of ADT before giving it to their patients to treat prostate cancer.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

A study of more than 150,000 men with prostate cancer found that a certain hormone treatment is linked with increased risks of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

There’s a 20-percent higher chance of having dementia for older men who have taken the prostate cancer treatment, according to the research study from JAMA Network. That drug treatment, called androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), is used to suppress male hormones (like testosterone) that can help to spread prostate cancer in the body.

Continue reading “A drug for treating prostate cancer has been linked with increased risk of dementia, study finds” »

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The public is encouraged to watch today’s first-ever virtual debate among Transhumanist primary candidates for President of the United States. We will have candidates Charles Holsopple, Rachel Haywire, and Johannon Ben Zion discussing the principles of transhumanism and Core Ideals of the U.S. Transhumanist Party, as well as a wide range of policy proposals that enables transhumanist candidates to stand apart from and above the conventional political fray.

The first virtual debate among U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party candidates for President of the United States will take place on Saturday, July 6, 2019, at 3 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time and will last approximately two hours.

Continue reading “First Virtual Debate Among U.S. Transhumanist Party Presidential Candidates” »

A new golden age of space exploration is upon us, with growing numbers of countries and private enterprises eager to establish themselves in space for the sake of scientific inquiry, national prestige, adventurous tourism, billionaires’ bragging rights, mineral riches, and even as a hedge against any future calamity that might devastate our home planet.

Our motivations for exploration may vary, but the spaceward rush raises questions about how we will govern ourselves beyond the bonds of Earth. Cold War-era space treaties, vague notions of how legal frameworks on Earth might migrate to settlements in space, and cautionary tales from both history and science fiction offer some guidance, but we could benefit from a larger conversation about how we want to govern them.

Continue reading “How Will We Govern Ourselves in Space?” »