Lifeboat Foundation

Optogenetics, a tool for controlling neurons with light, has given neuroscientists the ability to flip brain cells on and off more or less at will, revolutionizing neuroscience.

Yet the technique faces a fundamental challenge: To study all but the outermost part of the brain, researchers need to implant fiber optics or other invasive devices to deliver light deep into the brain.

Now, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Stanford researchers report that they’ve found a less invasive way to do so: injectable nanoparticles that convert sound waves, which can easily penetrate into the brain, into light.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine report today in the journal Neuron evidence that refutes the link between increased levels of herpes virus and Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, the researchers provide a new statistical and computational framework for the analysis of large-scale sequencing data.

About 50 million people worldwide are affected by Alzheimer’s disease, a type of progressive dementia that results in the loss of memory, cognitive abilities and verbal skills, and the numbers are growing rapidly. Currently available medications temporarily ease the symptoms or slow the rate of decline, which maximizes the time patients can live and function independently. However, there are no treatments to halt progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

“Like all types of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by massive death of brain cells, the neurons. Identifying the reason why neurons begin and continue to die in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients is an active area of research,” said corresponding author Dr. Zhandong Liu, associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital.

A host of new platforms are joining hands to change the way patients are treated.

You are invited to Perpetual Life for The Remembrance of the Resurrectables and Age Reversal & Cryonics by Bill Faloon.

Before and After the service, we will celebrate the Remembrance of the Resurrectables in the Sanctuary, A ceremony of remembering all of the patients that are in Cryonic Suspension.

Continue reading “Remembrance of the Resurrectables and Age Reversal & Cryonics” »

As you read this line, you’re bringing each word into clear view for a brief moment while blurring out the rest, perhaps even ignoring the roar of a leaf blower outside. It may seem like a trivial skill, but it’s actually fundamental to almost everything we do. If the brain weren’t able to pick and choose what portion of the incoming flood of sensory information should get premium processing, the world would look like utter chaos—an incomprehensible soup of attention-hijacking sounds and sights.

Meticulous research over decades has found that the control of this vital ability, called selective attention, belongs to a handful of areas in the brain’s parietal and frontal lobes. Now a new study suggests that another area in an unlikely location—the temporal lobe—also steers the spotlight of attention.

The unexpected addition raises new questions in what has long been considered a settled scientific field. “The last time an attention controlling area was discovered was 30 years ago,” says Winrich Freiwald, head of Rockefeller’s Laboratory of Neural Systems, who published the findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “This is a fundamental discovery that might require a rethinking of old concepts about attentional control.”

Scientists have created contact lenses which allow the wearer to shoot lasers from their eyes like Superman.

The ultra-thin membranes are placed on the iris and produce a green beam which can shine up to 20 inches from the eye.

Scientists said the beam of light could be used to help in a medical setting or to check for counterfeit banknotes.

Somehow, the Universe began with just the right mix of cosmic ingredients to make life possible. It sure doesn’t seem likely.

O.o.

If L.A. succeeds, a hydrogen-burning Intermountain Power Plant could become a model for governments and electric utilities around the world.

Huawei has already confirmed that its new P40 series phones will be unveiled next March in Paris, France, revealing that we’re in for a never-before-seen design for the new handset. That’s a wild claim considering that you can’t really do much more with phone design nowadays. Foldable phones are already a thing, and the first prototypes of devices that feature in-display cameras were revealed months ago — the latter is the holy grail we need for perfect all-screen designs. Huawei didn’t explain what design novelties it has in mind for the upcoming P40 series, but the phone seemingly just leaked and we might have an answer for you.