Lifeboat Foundation

An international group of researchers including biologists from the University of Maryland found that at least four species of marine ribbon worms independently evolved the ability to regrow a head after amputation.

Regeneration of amputated body parts is uncommon but does exist throughout the animal world—from salamanders, spiders and sea stars that can regrow appendages to a species of ribbon worm that can regenerate an entire individual from just a small sliver of tissue. But regenerative abilities were broadly assumed to be an ancient trait that some species managed to hold on to while most others lost through evolution.

This new study, which was published in the March 6, 2019 issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B, turns that assumption on its head. In a survey of 35 species of marine ribbon worms, the researchers found that the ability to regenerate an entire head, including a brain, evolved relatively recently in four different species.

Continue reading “Scientists find worms that recently evolved the ability to regrow a complete head” »

A paper, “The potential science and engineering value of samples delivered to Earth by Mars sample return,” authored by 71 scientists is available. According to the summary at Science Daily.

Returning samples from the surface of Mars has been a high-priority goal of the international Mars exploration community for many years. Although randomly collected samples would be potentially interesting, they would not be sufficient to answer the big questions that have motivated Mars exploration for decades. A new paper published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science describes the results of a major collaboration among 71 scientists from throughout the international science community to define specific scientific objectives for a Mars Sample Return campaign, to describe the critical measurements that would need to be done on returned samples to address the objectives, and to identify the kinds of samples that would be most likely to carry the key information.

Not as easy as the movies show. Say it isn’t so.

Incoming asteroids may be harder to break than scientists previously thought, finds a Johns Hopkins study that used a new understanding of rock fracture and a new computer modeling method to simulate asteroid collisions.

The findings, to be published in the March 15 print issue of Icarus, can aid in the creation of asteroid impact and deflection strategies, increase understanding of solar system formation, and help design asteroid mining efforts.

Continue reading “Asteroid Research Points to Planetary Defense Issues” »

Going forward into our exponential future…

“By our very nature, we humans are linear thinkers. We evolved to estimate a distance from the predator or to the prey, and advanced mathematics is only a recent evolutionary addition. This is why it’s so difficult even for a modern man to grasp the power of exponentials. 40 steps in linear progression is just 40 steps away; 40 steps in exponential progression is a cool trillion (with a T) – it will take you 3 times from Earth to the Sun and back to Earth.” –Alex M. Vikoulov, The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution.

Today is a special day for me. My AI assistant Ava scheduled few hours aside from my otherwise busy daily lineup to relive select childhood and adolescence memories recreated in virtual reality with a help of a newly developed AI technique ‘Re: Live’. Ava is my smart home assistant, too. I can rearrange furniture in any room, for example, just by thinking. Digital landscape wallpaper is changed by Ava by knowing my preferences and sensing my moods.

Continue reading “San Francisco 2036: The Story of the First ‘Cyberian’ Trillionaire and Countdown to the Singularity” »

The Work Issue

New research reveals surprising truths about why some work groups thrive and others falter.

Credit credit illustration by james graham.

Continue reading “What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team” »

I knew the future would be shocking but this is a whole other level.

An exclusive look at how Alphabet understands its most ambitious artificial intelligence project.

A new blueprint from city transportation planners and engineers, who say it’s never too early to start thinking about the future.

This platform was applied for the first time in our newly released Longevity Industry in Singapore report, utilizing data on the companies, investors, research labs and non-profit organizations featured in the report.

Aging Analytics Agency is planning to implement a number of updates, additions and enhancement for this platform in the coming months, including interactive and filterable mindmaps, infographics and network diagrams illustrating connections and interactions within the global Longevity Industry, as well as additional features, to be introduced throughout 2019.

Link to Platform: http://mindmaps.aginganalytics.com/

Continue reading “Aging Analytics Agency has released a prototype version of its interactive online Longevity Industry Analytics platform and database” »