Lifeboat News: The Blog – Safeguarding Humanity

Rapid genetic evolution linked to lighter skin pigmentation in a southern African population

Posted by Genevieve Klien in evolution, genetics

Dec 11
2018

Populations of indigenous people in southern Africa carry a gene that causes lighter skin, and scientists have now identified the rapid evolution of this gene in recent human history.

The gene that causes lighter skin pigmentation, SLC24A5, was introduced from eastern African to southern African populations just 2,000 years ago. Strong positive selection caused this gene to rise in frequency among some KhoeSan populations.

UC Davis anthropologist Brenna Henn and colleagues have shown that a gene for lighter skin spread rapidly among people in southern Africa in the last 2,000 years.

Scientists identify vast underground ecosystem containing billions of micro-organisms

Posted by Derick Lee in chemistry, physics

Dec 11
2018

The team combines 1,200 scientists from 52 countries in disciplines ranging from geology and microbiology to chemistry and physics. A year before the conclusion of their 10-year study, they will present an amalgamation of findings to date before the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting opens this week.

Global team of scientists find ecosystem below earth that is twice the size of world’s oceans.

OSIRIS-REx spacecraft already found water on its target asteroid

Posted by Genevieve Klien in space travel

Dec 11
2018

The NASA explorer’s initial discoveries might provide some insight into the early Solar System.

The Top 8 Things to Know About Anti-Aging Research Right Now

Posted by Montie Adkins in life extension

Dec 11
2018

“The prospect of intervening in a profound way in human aging is still not seen as credible by the vast majority of thoughtful people around the world,”

Here’s the Inside Scoop from an Icon in the Longevity Field.

Watch scientists make and explode lava to study volcanoes

Posted by Genevieve Klien in futurism

Dec 10
2018

When water and lava collide, you’d better get out of the way.

Jackson Ryan

An Oklahoma High Schooler Changed the Rules of Organic Chemistry

Posted by Genevieve Klien in chemistry

Dec 10
2018

We thought we knew everything about carbon. We were wrong.

Researchers say coffee may combat two devastating brain diseases

Posted by Genevieve Klien in biotech/medical, neuroscience

Dec 10
2018

The past few years have brought lots of good news for anyone who considers coffee a vice. Scientists have discovered that various compounds in coffee can help fight a number of diseases including Alzheimer’s, and now a new study is putting even more weight behind the notion that coffee is very good for you.

The work, which was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that not only does coffee battle Parkinson’s but also another incurable brain disease called Lewy body dementia. Conducted by scientists at Rutgers, the study points to the combined effects of caffeine and a fatty acid present in coffee called EHT as potentially playing key roles in disease fighting.

The Future of Tech Will Change Everything From Food to Healthcare

Posted by Genevieve Klien in biological, computing, food

Dec 10
2018

Advancement in technology will continue to impact the way we work, eat, and even take care of ourselves. A new report from Scientific American takes a look at some of the top emerging technologies that range from the field of biology to computer science. The publication’s chief science editor Seth Fletcher talked to Cheddar about what’s next when it comes to tech.

WATCH NEXT

Google’s New AI Is a Master of Games, but How Does It Compare to the Human Mind?

Posted by Genevieve Klien in entertainment, robotics/AI

Dec 10
2018

After building AlphaGo to beat the world’s best Go players, Google DeepMind built AlphaZero to take on the world’s best machine players.

Two research rockets successfully launched over the Norwegian Sea early Dec. 8 carrying an experiment to study the explosive process that allows charged particles from space to stream into Earth’s atmosphere

Posted by Michael Lance in particle physics, space travel

Dec 10
2018

The results promise to shed light on this and, in the long run, help us better predict how and when Earth’s magnetic shield can suddenly become porous to let outside particles in. Details: https://go.nasa.gov/2G8lTeX&h=AT0CScAabrNYUB0DKGANhglZ-EihhF…51Yf7jUjKw