Lifeboat Foundation

In a new study from the University of Illinois at Chicago, researchers examining post-mortem brain tissue from people ages 79 to 99 found that new neurons continue to form well into old age. The study provides evidence that this occurs even in people with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease, although neurogenesis is significantly reduced in these people compared to older adults with normal cognitive functioning.

They publish their results in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

The idea that new neurons continue to form into middle age, let alone past adolescence, is controversial, as previous studies have shown conflicting results. The UIC study is the first to find evidence of significant numbers of neural stem cells and newly developing neurons present in the hippocampal tissue of older adults, including those with disorders that affect the hippocampus, which is involved in the formation of memories and in learning.

Continue reading “New neurons form in the brain into the tenth decade of life, even in people with Alzheimer’s” »

The electronic Barnett effect, first observed by Samuel Barnett in 1915, is the magnetization of an uncharged body as it is spun on its long axis. This is caused by a coupling between the angular momentum of the electronic spins and the rotation of the rod.

Using a different method from that employed by Barnett, two researchers at NYU observed an alternative version of this effect called the nuclear Barnett effect, which results from the magnetization of protons rather than electrons. Their study, published in Physical Review Letters (PRL), led to the first experimental observation of this effect.

“I was a graduate student at NYU where a group of colleagues were involved in a project related to brain imaging,” Mohsen Arabgol, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Phys.org. The fundamental idea behind the project was polarizing the brain molecules by inducing rotation using the Barnett effect and then applying the MRI-type imaging. I became interested and decided to work on the detection of the nuclear Barnett effect as my Ph.D. dissertation.”

Continue reading “The first observation of the nuclear Barnett effect” »

A recent study has outlined the relationship between B cells, atherosclerosis, and the transcription factor c-Myb. While this factor is necessary for hematopoiesis, the formation of new blood cells, it has been shown to affect B cells, a type of lymphocyte, in a way that makes atherosclerosis more severe.

A new look at inflammaging

Inflammation can have beneficial effects in the short term, but chronic, long-term inflammation is known to exacerbate serious diseases. With age, the immune system falters and constantly reacts to things that it sees as threats, thus leading to the rise in chronic inflammation known as inflammaging. In the case of atherosclerosis, the relationship between cholesterol and immune cells plays a major role in making things worse [1].

Continue reading “The Transcription Factor c-Myb Worsens Atherosclerosis” »

A technique to stabilise alkali metal vapour density using gold nanoparticles, so electrons can be accessed for applications including quantum computing, atom cooling and precision measurements, has been patented by scientists at the University of Bath.

Alkali metal vapours, including lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium and caesium, allow scientists to access individual electrons, due to the presence of a single electron in the outer ‘shell’ of alkali metals.

This has great potential for a range of applications, including logic operations, storage and sensing in quantum computing, as well as in ultra-precise time measurements with atomic clocks, or in medical diagnostics including cardiograms and encephalograms.

Continue reading “Quantum computing boost from vapour stabilising technique” »

Biologists don’t call them “the hidden kingdom” for nothing. With an estimated 5 million species, only a mere 100,000 fungi are known to scientists. This kingdom, which includes molds, yeasts, rusts and mushrooms, receives far less attention than plants or animals. This is particularly true for fossils of fungi, most of which are discovered while hunting for more charismatic, at least to the eyes of some, plant fossils.

Fungi were key partners of plants during their colonization of land approximately 500 million years ago – an important and well-documented evolutionary transition. Therefore, it is unsurprising that the earliest fungal fossils, found in 450 million-year-old rocks, resemble modern species associated with the roots of plants. But that conflicts with DNA-based estimates, which suggest that fungi originated much earlier – a billion or more years ago. It’s a riddle in the tree of life that evolutionary biologists like me have long been puzzled about.

Fossils Versus DNA

Continue reading “Fossil Discovery Pushes Back the Origin of Fungi” »

This cool little robot will help doctors see the inside of your guts.

The US government quietly resumed funding experiments on the deadly H5N1 avian flu — research that makes the virus more easily transmissible to mammals.

The researchers say making new strains of the H5N1 flu virus in a secure lab can help them see what might happen naturally in the real world. Sounds logical, but many scientists oppose it because the facts show most biosafety labs aren’t really secure at all, and experts say the risks of a mutated virus escaping outweigh whatever public health benefit comes from creating them.

Continue reading “Hey, let’s fight global pandemics by maybe starting one… Say WHAT?” »

DARPA, the Department of Defense’s research arm, is paying scientists to invent ways to instantly read soldiers’ minds using tools like genetic engineering of the human brain, nanotechnology and infrared beams. The end goal? Thought-controlled weapons, like swarms of drones that someone sends to the skies with a single thought or the ability to beam images from one brain to another.

This week, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) announced that six teams will receive funding under the Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (N3) program. Participants are tasked with developing technology that will provide a two-way channel for rapid and seamless communication between the human brain and machines without requiring surgery.

“Imagine someone who’s operating a drone or someone who might be analyzing a lot of data,” said Jacob Robinson, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Rice University, who is leading one of the teams. [DARPA’s 10 Coolest Projects: From Humanoid Robots to Flying Cars].

Continue reading “The Government Is Serious About Creating Mind-Controlled Weapons” »

Belgian research groups from the VIB, Ghent University, Ghent University Hospital, and the biotech company Argenx have solved a century-long puzzle about the presence of protein crystals in asthma. Normally, proteins do not crystallize in the body, but there are some instances when this process does occur. Charcot-Leyden crystals are made from the protein galectin-10 and were discovered in the airways of asthmatics as early as 1853.

However, the crystals have been largely ignored by scientists, and their actual link to disease remained unknown. The Belgian research groups have now established that the crystals are highly abundant in airway mucus, stimulate the immune system and promote the inflammation and altered mucus production that is often seen in the airways of asthmatics. Together, the academic and company scientists also developed antibodies that can dissolve these crystals to reduce key asthma features. Such antibodies could be first-in-class therapeutics that reverse protein crystals and treat asthma and other chronic inflammatory diseases of the airways. The study is published in the leading journal Science.