Lifeboat Foundation

The technology underpinning the new bionic hand was developed in 2014, but at the time, the equipment necessary to support it was so big the prosthetic limb could not leave the lab.

For Dennis Aabo Sorensen, who lost his hand in 2004 in a firecracker explosion, regaining the experience of touch was “fantastic.” He told CattolicaNews that “being able to feel different textures, understanding whether objects were hard or soft and how I was holding them was just incredible.”

Researchers found that Dennis was able to distinguish between a hard, soft or medium object in 78 percent of cases. In 88 percent of cases, he could correctly describe the size and shape of specific objects such as a baseball, a glass, and a tangerine. Three years later, Almerina has been given the same ability just by carrying a small computer in a backpack.

Continue reading “Scientists Unveil the First Portable Bionic Hand With a Sense of Touch” »

You might think that being overweight may cause you health problems only until you finally shed those extra pounds, at which point everything will be fine again. It sounds reasonable, but it might be not so easy. According to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine on December 27, the negative effects of obesity might last even after that extra weight has been lost.

Yes, it appears that being overweight can have lasting consequences that persist long after the weight comes off. Damage to the hematopoietic stem cells can be caused by being overweight, making it all the more reason to try to maintain a healthy weight as part of your personal health and longevity strategy.

Next, the technology maturation process, unfolds in a linear fashion with the ultimate objective of transitioning to the NASA program that established the requirement. This process sacrifices science and the ability to iterate fast; does not incentivize providers to develop affordable and systematic capabilities, and the consideration of economic intelligence and market pull is anything but strategic (engagement model with industry is secondary, i.e “work for hire” contracts, and commercialization is serendipitous). As the sole customer, NASA/the government needs to maintain the unique infrastructure needed for these missions and maintains large per mission costs.

While science missions are largely competitive and outcome focused, human missions start by establishing a destination — the political choice of Moon or Mars — often becoming a solution in search of a problem. Since the Apollo era, the overall result of this “swing” approach has basically resulted in “grounding” the human space program, negatively affecting the morale of the working force, and making many feel that it is little more than a job welfare program.

From an HR perspective, NASA, like any other government organization, is a great example of Peter’s principle, structured and incentivized by the slogan “the hierarchy needs to be preserved by all costs”, frequently leading to the alienation or outright removal of highly competent people focused on problem solving and with a desire of seeing accelerated progress.

Continue reading “From ‘flags and footprints’ to having a routine presence in space” »

We have all seen it, the age-related loss of muscle mass and increasing frailty that generally accompanies advancing age. Recently the World Health Organization classified this age-related muscle wastage as a disease and thus sarcopenia entered official usage to describe it. There are a number of potential causes of sarcopenia and new research suggests that there is a nutritional link between the microbiota and development of the condition.

What is Sarcopenia?

Sarcopenia is the condition that causes the familiar, age-related loss of muscle strength and mass in older people, and it leads to ever-increasing frailty. Frailty makes everyday tasks difficult, affects balance, and can lead to falls, which can be very dangerous for older people.

Privately organize and backup photos with friends and family using the Moments by Facebook app.

The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, wanted to live forever.

Newly discovered documents reveal that 2,200 years ago, he even put out an executive order to search for a potion that would give him eternal life, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

Ancient texts reveal that China’s first emperor ordered an official search for the secret of eternal life.

Continue reading “China’s First Emperor Ordered Official Search for Immortality Elixir” »

Has anyone used the app?

The Department of Labor has released an innovative, business-focused mobile app that supports private-sector efforts to eradicate forced labor from global supply chains.

During National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we recommit ourselves to eradicating the evil of enslavement. Human trafficking is a modern form of the oldest and most barbaric type of exploitation. It has no place in our world. This month we do not simply reflect on this appalling reality. We also pledge to do all in our power to end the horrific practice of human trafficking that plagues innocent victims around the world.

Continue reading “President Donald J. Trump Proclaims January 2018 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month” »

For the more than 1 million Americans who live with type 1 diabetes, daily insulin injections are literally a matter of life and death. And while there is no cure, a Cornell University-led research team has developed a device that could revolutionize management of the disease.

In Type 1 diabetes, insulin-producing pancreatic cell clusters (islets) are destroyed by the body’s immune system. The research group, led by assistant professor Minglin Ma from the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, has devised an ingenious method for implanting hundreds of thousands of islet cells into a patient. They are protected by a thin hydrogel coating and, more importantly, the coated cells are attached to a polymer thread and can be removed or replaced easily when they have outlived their usefulness.

Transplantation of stem cell-derived, insulin-producing islet cells is an alternative to insulin therapy, but that requires long-term immunosuppressive drug administration. One well-researched approach to avoid the immune system’s response is to coat and protect the cells in tiny hydrogel capsules, hundreds of microns in diameter. However, these capsules cannot be taken out of the body easily, since they’re not connected to each other, and there are hundreds of thousands of them.

Continue reading “Spider’s web inspires removable implant that may control type 1 diabetes” »

https://youtube.com/watch?v=LHGVBTDDnKU

Engineers at The Ohio State University are developing technologies that have the potential to economically convert fossil fuels and biomass into useful products including electricity without emitting carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

In the first of two papers published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science, the engineers report that they’ve devised a process that transforms shale gas into products such as methanol and gasoline—all while consuming carbon dioxide. This process can also be applied to coal and biomass to produce useful products.

Continue reading “Scientists Develop Fossil-Fuel-Based Technology That Consumes Carbon Dioxide” »