Lifeboat Foundation

In about 100 years, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku believes we’ll explore the universe as pure consciousness — traveling at the speed of light, looking at asteroids, comets, meteors, and eventually the stars. “All of this within the laws of physics,” he says.

Researchers from the Beijing Institute of Brain Disorders have discovered a new method of using exosomes to deliver aptamers that prevent the accumulation of α-synuclein aggregates, which are the cause of Parkinson’s disease [1].

α-Synuclein Aggregates

Like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease is characterized by protein aggregation caused by a loss of proteostasis, one of the hallmarks of aging. In order for the brain to function properly, non-aggregated α-synuclein proteins are needed in order to facilitate the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter, in nerve cell synapses. α-synuclein only becomes a problem when proteostasis fails and the proteins misfold, aggregate, and accumulate.

Scientists at work in laboratory. Photo: Public domain via Wikicommons.

CTech – When chemistry Nobel laureate Michael Levitt met his wife two years ago, he didn’t know it would lead to a wonderful friendship with a young Israeli scientist. When Israeli scientist Shahar Barbash decided to found a startup with the aim of cutting down the time needed to develop new medicine, he didn’t know that a friend’s wedding would help him score a meeting with a man many want to meet but few do. But Levitt’s wife is an old friend of Barbash’s parents, and the rest, as they say, is history.

One of the joys of being an old scientist is to encourage extraordinary young ones, Levitt, an American-British-Israeli biophysicist and a professor at Stanford University since 1987, said in a recent interview with Calcalist. He might have met Barbash because his wife knew his family, but that is not enough to make him go into business with someone, Levitt said. “I got on board because his vision excited me, even though I thought it would be very hard to realize.”

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Want to live a healthier, longer life? Try taking more prebiotics — also, don’t eat sometimes.

In this video, bestselling author Dave Asprey explains.

Is this new law anti-kemetic and anti-pagan as it implies only one “God”? And why should atheists put up with this public brainwashing? A new state law that took effect this month requires all public schools in the state’s 149 districts to paint, stencil or otherwise prominently display the national motto.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP)- When students return to public schools across South Dakota this fall, they should expect to see a new message on display: “In God We Trust.”

A new state law that took effect this month requires all public schools in the state’s 149 districts to paint, stencil or otherwise prominently display the national motto.

Continue reading “‘In God We Trust’ signs going up in South Dakota public schools” »

Patients are about to be enrolled in the first study to test a gene-editing technique known as CRISPR inside the body to try to cure an inherited form of blindness.

People with the disease have normal eyes but lack a gene that converts light into signals to the brain that enable sight.

The experimental treatment aims to supply kids and adults with a healthy version of the gene they lack, using a tool that cuts or “edits” DNA in a specific spot. It’s intended as a onetime treatment that permanently alters the person’s native DNA.

For the cells in our bodies to function as a unit, they must communicate with one another constantly. They secrete signalling molecules—ions, proteins and nucleic acids—that are picked up by adjacent cells, which in turn pass on the signal to other cells. Our muscles, digestive system and brain are only able to function thanks to this type of communication. And this is the only way in which our immune system can recognise pathogens or infected cells and react accordingly—again, by sending out signals to mobilise the immune defences. If something goes wrong with this signalling between cells, it can lead to diseases such as cancer or autoimmune disorders. “This is why it is important to research which signals the cells send out in which situations,” says Morteza Aramesh. The biophysicist, who works in the Laboratory of Biosensors and Bioelectronics at ETH Zurich, has developed a new method that does precisely that: it listens to communication between individual cells.

An innovative nanosensor

Although it has been possible to measure these signals in the past, it could only be done for entire populations of hundreds or thousands of cells. The methods were not sensitive enough to use on individual cells, meaning that the signalling molecules from individual cells were submerged into the average of the total cell population: “It was impossible to detect differences between cells in order to identify diseased cells, for instance,” says Aramesh.

Restless rapid eye movement (REM) sleep impedes emotional processing, which may contribute to mood and anxiety disorders, new research suggests.

A team of Dutch investigators used fMRI to scan the brains of participants who underwent a stressful experience — in this case, hearing themselves sing out of tune. Brain activity was measured using electroencephalography (EEG).

The next morning, after spending the night in a sleep laboratory, participants were subjected to the same unpleasant experience. Those who had experienced REM sleep were less distressed, whereas those with restless REM sleep were once again upset.