Lifeboat Foundation

According to a new study, aging hearts might find a new lease on life. Researchers have demonstrated that stem cells taken from young rats and given to aged rats rejuvenated their hearts, making them functionally younger in a number of ways.

Young at heart

The new study published in the European Heart Journal investigated the effects of cardiac stem cells on the function and structure of aged hearts[1]. There have been previous experiments using cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) that have delivered promising results, but they have never been tested in relation to aging.

Children with peanut allergies could finally overcome the life-threatening reaction for up to four years, Australian researchers say.

Following a major breakthrough that could lead to a cure, the small clinical trial found two-thirds of children who were given an experimental immunotherapy treatment were rid of their allergy.

The kids with peanut allergies were given a probiotic treatment called lactobacillus rhamnosus, with a peanut protein, once daily for 18 months.

Continue reading “Cure to deadly peanut allergy FINALLY found in Australian breakthrough” »

A new experiment at the Large Hadron Collider has confirmed one of the oldest predictions in quantum physics.

Physicists from the ATLAS experiment at CERN have revealed they’ve observed direct evidence of a process known as light-by-light scattering, in which light interacts with itself at high energy.

Continue reading “CERN finds ‘direct evidence’ of light interacting with ITSELF” »

Russia unveils new fleet of ‘invisible’ supersonic fighter jets — and boasts that they will be the envy of air forces around the world.

• Russia’s new Sukhoi-57 is said to rival America’s F-22 and China’s Chengdu J-20
• Kremlin officials say the stealth fighter jet will be hard to track on enemy radars
• Air force chief has boasted: ‘Every country probably wants planes such as this’
• Jet will undergo another year of testing before it enters military service in 2019

By Julian Robinson for MailOnline

Continue reading “Russia unveils new ‘invisible’ supersonic fighter jets” »

How our ideas about sex and service influence the personalities we give machines… Consider the artificially intelligent voices you hear on a regular basis. Are any of them men? Whether it’s Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa, or virtually any GPS system, chances are the computerized personalities in your life are women.

This gender imbalance is pervasive in fiction as well as reality. Films like “Her” and “Ex Machina” reflect our anxieties about what intelligent machines mean for humanity. But AI, in and of itself, is genderless and sexless. Why, then, are the majority of the personalities we construct for these machines female?

Is it about service? Assigning gender to these AI personalities may say something about the roles we expect them to play. Virtual assistants like Siri, Cortana, and Alexa perform functions historically given to women. They schedule appointments, look up information, and are generally designed for communication.

In the course of Assured Autonomy program, researchers will aim to develop tools that provide foundational evidence that a system can satisfy explicitly stated functional and safety goals, resulting in a measure of assurance that can also evolve with the system.

Learn more about the Assured Autonomy program: http://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2017-08-16

Made In Space has announced the completion of its three-part project focused on the additive manufacturing of radiation shields it launched earlier this summer, and tested them aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

TCT first reported the printing of the protective shields which are being used on NASA’s Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) – connected to the ISS – in May. Made In Space (MIS) used its Additive Manufacturing Facility to produce the shields, which grew in thickness as the testing phase went on. The first was made at 1.1mm thick, the second at 3.3mm and the third at 10mm, all in ABS plastic.

The shields include within them channels which hold Radiation Enclosure Monitors (REM), sensors being used on the BEAM to test for radiation, recording the measurements. Astronauts aboard the ISS would change these devices at regular intervals between April and end of June, when the project concluded.

Continue reading “Made In Space announces completion of 3D printed radiation shields project” »

Death, taxis and technology: titles in the running for this year’s Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year give a new twist to the old maxim about certainty.

The 17 books on the 2017 longlist include analyses of the implications of world-changing innovations, from the iPhone to drones; a lively account of the rise of Uber; and a sobering history of the role war, plague and catastrophe have played in shaping our economies.

Titles about the relentless march of technology dominate the FT/McKinsey annual prize.