Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine believe that the health and longevity benefits seen in animals on sulfur amino acid-restricted diets could also work in humans. The concept of dietary sulfur amino acid restriction has been of interest to researchers for almost 30 years when the first studies showed health benefits in animals placed on methionine-restricted diets.

Amino acids are the building blocks of all proteins in our body, and methionine and cysteine both belong to a subgroup known as the sulfur amino acids. These help the body to create various proteins and are involved in metabolism.

Hot rain? Not quite, but one of the unique characteristics of the soaker aimed at the Bay Area on Friday and Saturday is its warmth.

Forecasters are calling this “atmospheric river” with a moisture plume stretching back to the Hawaiian Islands “remarkable,” and saying it’s likely to be the warmest storm of the season.

“The reason for this warmth is the subtropical origins of the air in this system,” says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA. “It won’t be unusually warm for April, per se, when most days are rain-free, but it will certainly be warm for a rainy day at any time of the year.

Continue reading “Flood warnings issued in Sierra as storm forecast calls for warm rain, limited snow” »

Our known universe may end the same way it was created: With a big, sudden bang.

That’s according to new research from a group of Harvard physicists, who found that the destabilization of the Higgs Boson — a tiny quantum particle that gives other particles mass — could lead to a huge explosion of energy that would consume everything in the known universe.

The energy released by the event would destabilize the laws of physics and chemistry.

Continue reading “A second ‘Big Bang’ could end our universe in an instant — and it’s all because of a tiny particle that controls the laws of physics” »

New research — conducted both in space and on Earth — suggests that simulated microgravity could be used to boost stem-cell therapy for cardiac repair.

Associated Press historical news archive articles dating back to 1985.

Poorly regulated stem cell treatments have blinded some macular degeneration patients. But a new technique is showing therapeutic promise.

Astronomers have long predicted that as many as 20,000 black holes could be hiding in our galaxy’s center, but so far no one has been able to spot them. Until now.

A Columbia University-led team of scientists dug through data taken with the Earth-orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory to find the objects. They managed to find a dozen characteristic x-ray sources spewing energy from the galaxy’s inner three light-years. This is the first time anyone has observed these black holes.

“It’s the confirmation of several theories that predicted this ought to be the case,” study author Chuck Hailey, Columbia University astrophysics professor, told Gizmodo. “But it’s strange to have had this many and not really see them.”

Continue reading “Astronomers Find Evidence of Thousands of Black Holes at the Center of Our Galaxy” »

Artificial intelligence can create jobs, too. How else do we manage the robots?

Engineering and construction is behind the curve in implementing artificial intelligence solutions. Based on extensive research, we survey applications and algorithms to help bridge the technology gap.

The engineering and construction (E&C) sector is worth more than $10 trillion a year. And while its customers are increasingly sophisticated, it remains severely underdigitized. To lay out the landscape of technology, we conducted a comprehensive study of current and potential use cases in every stage of E&C, from design to preconstruction to construction to operations and asset management. Our research revealed a growing focus on technological solutions that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI)-powered algorithms. These emerging technologies focus on helping players overcome some of the E&C industry’s greatest challenges, including cost and schedule overruns and safety concerns.