Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Blog – Page 7654

Circa 2018

Measuring one million times less than the width of a human hair, graphene is harder than diamonds and 200 times stronger than steel. Small, strong, and flexible, it is the most conductive material on earth and has the potential to charge a cell phone in just five seconds or to upload a terabit of data in one. It can be used to filter salt from water, develop bullet-stopping body armor, and create biomicrorobots.

These incredible properties have captured the attention of scientists and industry specialists around the world, all seeking to harness graphene’s potential for applications in electronics, energy, composites and coatings, biomedicine, and other industries.

Derived from graphite, the same graphite used in pencils and many other common use products, graphene is, ironically, one of the most expensive materials on the planet. This is because the process of chemically peeling off, or exfoliating, a single layer of graphene from graphite ore is cost-prohibitive on an industrial scale.

Continue reading “A Wood Product Stronger than Steel that Could Change the World” | >

It seems a fusion shield could survive a supernova explosion.

“That’s what makes this white dwarf unique — it did undergo nuclear burning, but stopped before it got to iron,” Gänsicke told Space.com.

“This star is unique because it has all the key features of a white dwarf but it has this very high velocity and unusual abundances that make no sense when combined with its low mass,” Boris Gänsicke, physics professor at the University of Warwick, UK, and lead author of a paper about the research published the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, said in a statement.

“It would have been a type of supernova, but of a kind that that we haven’t seen before,” he added.

Continue reading “This Star Appears to Have Survived a Supernova” | >

Quantifications are produced by several disciplinary houses in a myriad of different styles. The concerns about unethical use of algorithms, unintended consequences of metrics, as well as the warning about statistical and mathematical malpractices are all part of a general malaise, symptoms of our tight addiction to quantification. What problems are shared by all these instances of quantification? After reviewing existing concerns about different domains, the present perspective article illustrates the need and the urgency for an encompassing ethics of quantification. The difficulties to discipline the existing regime of numerification are addressed; obstacles and lock-ins are identified. Finally, indications for policies for different actors are suggested.

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“Observations of metastasising cells revealed something intriguing—a high level of something called methylmalonic acid (MMA), a metabolic byproduct that appears to accumulate as we get older.”

“So how does MMA induce these changes in cancer cells? The key seems to be in a sort of reprogramming that “switches on” a gene called SOX4.

Prior research has shown SOX4 encourages cancer cells to become more aggressive and prone to metastasis.

To test whether it was indeed SOX4 that was altering the qualities of the cancer cells, the team blocked expression of the gene, and found that MMA no longer appeared to have the same effect.

Blocking SOX4 also stopped the process by which the cancer cells were able to resist two cancer treatments.”

Continue reading “Study finds cancer-boosting culprit that multiplies with age” | >

Research is showing a strong link between handgrip strength, walking speed, and cognition, indicating how improved physical health could boost elderly minds.

Based at Barwon Health, in the heart of Geelong’s clinical precinct, researchers are working to identify the —such as changes in , muscle strength and physical performance—for developing sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass, strength and function with advancing age) across the lifespan.

This testing involves the Geelong Osteoporosis Study (GOS) which began in the early 1990s, gathering adult participants from the electoral roll in the Barwon Statistical Division. During recent follow-up testing, researchers also measured cognitive function through a computer-based program, in tandem with evaluations.

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