Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 7

Get the latest international news and world events from around the world.

Log in for authorized contributors

MethAgingDB: a comprehensive DNA methylation database for aging biology

Scientific Data — MethAgingDB: a comprehensive DNA methylation database for aging biology. MethAgingDB includes 93 datasets, with 11,474 profiles from 13 distinct human tissues and 1,361 profiles from 9 distinct mouse tissues. The database provides preprocessed DNA methylation data in a consistent matrix format, along with tissue-specific DMSs and DMRs, gene-centric aging insights, and an extensive collection of epigenetic clocks. Together, MethAgingDB is expected to streamline aging-related epigenetic research and support the development of robust, biologically informed aging biomarkers.

Four-day work week benefits workers, employers, study says

A four-day work week can lead to happier and more productive, dedicated employees, a new global study found.

Workers at companies that instituted a four-day work week—essentially working 80% of their regular hours for the same pay—reported less burnout and better job satisfaction along with improved mental and physical health, researchers report in Nature Human Behavior.

“Across outcomes, the magnitude (of improvement) is larger for the two work-related measures—burnout and job satisfaction—followed by mental health, with the smallest changes reported in ,” wrote the research team co-led by Juliet Schor, an economist and sociologist at Boston College.

Why the Psychopathic Brain Struggles With Emotion and Control

At its core, psychopathy is not simply a matter of bad choices or poor upbringing — growing evidence suggests it has a biological foundation, shaped by the intricate wiring of the human brain.

Now, a new study offers fresh insights into how structural brain connectivity patterns are linked to psychopathic traits and the externalizing behaviors that often accompany them.

Suppressing tumor cell stemness might help colon cancer management

Colon cancer remains a major global health concern, ranking third among the most diagnosed cancers and the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. One critical factor that makes treating colon cancer challenging is the presence of cancer stem cells.

Though typically present in , these powerful cells drive tumor growth, resist standard treatments, and often contribute to relapse. They achieve this through their “stemness,” a set of properties that enable these cells to self-renew and differentiate into other cell types. Thus, understanding how stemness might be controlled at the is essential for developing effective therapies for colon cancer.

Over the past two decades, researchers have identified several key molecules involved in both the development of the colon and the progression of colon cancer. Among them are CDX1 and CDX2, two homeobox transcription factors that help establish and maintain the identity of intestinal epithelial cells.

Antarctic isolation causes temporary gray matter loss with lingering thalamic changes

Brain researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have detailed temporary reductions in gray matter following prolonged isolation in Antarctica. Structural losses were most apparent in regions governing memory and spatial processing. Longer sleep durations and higher sleep efficiency corresponded with smaller changes in brain volume.

Findings may have implications for how astronauts’ brains adapt under the psychological and environmental pressures of deep space missions, where prolonged isolation, limited movement, and disrupted sleep are inherent to the experience.

Chronic stress alters the brain. Not through a single trauma, but through sustained environmental pressures of extreme temperatures, social confinement, monotony, hypoxia, and irregular sleep. Such conditions converge in spaceflight, where astronauts endure prolonged exposure to isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments.