Lifeboat Foundation

Are you — is every person you’ve ever loved, every incredible sight you’ve ever witnessed — part of a hologram? Some scientists think so.

They argue that all the information in the universe may be stored on some sort of two-dimensional object. In this video, NASA astronomer Michelle Thaller delves into frontier science — an unchartered territory that may require a new level of physics to better understand.

First selfie in space.

We’ve already heard about flexible so-called “electronic tattoos,” which are a more comfortable and longer-wearing alternative to the rigid electrodes traditionally used to monitor cardiac patients’ hearts. A new one is claimed to be more accurate than others, however, as it tracks heart health in two ways.

Sonoluminescence is one of those strange phenomenon that many would never encounter outside an academic environment. For those who have never heard of it, Sonoluminescence is when tiny bubbles suspended in a liquid emit light while being vibrated at certain frequencies. We were pleased to see that some plans are out there on how to build your own device to produce it.

[via io9].

The future of medicine is not fixing what is broken, it’s preventing things from getting broken in the first place.

The leading cause of death in Texas is heart disease, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, accounting for more than 45,000 deaths statewide in 2017. A new wearable technology made from stretchy, lightweight material could make heart health monitoring easier and more accurate than existing electrocardiograph machines—a technology that has changed little in almost a century.

Developed by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin and led by Nanshu Lu in the Cockrell School of Engineering, this is the latest incarnation of Lu’s electronic tattoo technology, a graphene-based wearable device that can be placed on the skin to measure a variety of body responses, from electrical to biomechanical signals.

Continue reading “New e-tattoo enables accurate, uninterrupted heart monitoring for days” »

More than three decades ago, scientists discovered that a chemical found in a synthetic opioid, MPTP, induced the onset of a form of Parkinson’s disease. In a new study led by scientists from the School of Veterinary Medicine, researchers found that an enzyme in the body can metabolize compounds formed in the brain from alkaloids present in certain foods and tobacco into MPTP-like chemicals, triggering a neurodegenerative condition in mice.

The researchers, led by Narayan Avadhani and Mrittika Chattopadhyay, suggest that the enzyme, mitochondrial CYP2D6, presents a potentially powerful new target for Parkinson’s treatment.

“Over the past two or three decades, researchers have tried inhibiting the process by which they believed MPTP was metabolized, with mixed success,” says Avadhani. “We believe that mitochondrial CYP2D6 is the more direct drug target, which might prove better in treating idiopathic Parkinson’s disease.”

Scientists at Lancaster University have announced that they have invented an electronic memory device that realises the dream of universal memory – a previously hypothetical technology long considered to be revolutionary for the industry.

Universal memory is a computer data storage technology that until now has been purely conceptual, combining the speed and low cost of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and the stability of flash memory. This also would result in significantly lower power consumption.

It had been considered impossible by some in the field, but scientists at Lancaster University say that the electronic memory device they have invented and patented is the realisation of the universal memory dream.

Gravity has no quantum properties and it drives physicists crazy.

By adulthood, the heart is no longer able to replenish injured or diseased cells. As a result, heart disease or an event like a heart attack can be disastrous, leading to massive cell death and permanent declines in function. A new study by scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM), however, shows that it may be possible to reverse this damage and restore heart function, even after a severe heart attack.

The study, published June 21 in the print edition of the journal Circulation Research, is the first to show that a very small RNA molecule known as miR-294, when introduced into heart cells, can reactivate heart cell proliferation and improve heart function in mice that have suffered the equivalent of a heart attack in humans.

“In previous work, we discovered that miR-294 actively regulates the cell cycle in the developing heart,” said Mohsin Khan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Physiology at the Center for Metabolic Disease Research at LKSOM. “But shortly after birth miR-294 is no longer expressed.”