Lifeboat Foundation

An interview with SENS research Dr. Haroldo Silva and his work with ALT Cancer.

As you might have noticed, the SENS Research Foundation is presently asking for your support in a crowdfunding campaign that aims to close in on a universal therapy capable of effectively treating all types of cancer, one based on blocking telomere lengthening. As is often the case, the SENS network is here using philanthropic donations to pick up necessary work that hasn’t been taken on by the rest of the community, so as to unblock progress. The scientist who will lead the work is Haroldo Silva; he has been focused on this particular branch of cancer research for some years now, and below you’ll find a short interview that covers some of his thoughts on the field and on this effort in particular.

I should emphasize that this SENS initiative is an important component in efforts to completely change the way in which the research community approaches the treatment of cancer. The cancer research community suffers from a high level strategy problem: the majority of treatments are only applicable to a small number of cancer types, out of the hundreds of known types, and the majority of new technology platforms under development will be just as expensive to adapt to a different type of cancer as to build in the first place. A much more efficient approach is needed, as there are only so many researchers and only so much funding in the world. As Silva describes below, blocking telomere lengthening is the most efficient of possible better approaches: all cancers must lengthen their telomeres in order to grow, and abuse a small number of target mechanisms in order to do so.

Continue reading “Crowdfunding Progress Towards a Universal Therapy for All Cancers: an Interview with SENS Research Foundation Scientist Haroldo Silva” »

Great news!

Moon Express gets federal OK to try first private flight to moon in 2017.

O primeiro totalmente reconfigurável e programável módulo de computador qu ntico.

Joint Quantum Institute http://goo.gl/dc6z4a

The Russian Nerekhta-2 combat robot’s new capabilities will be showcased at a proving ground in late 2016, Deputy Director General for Advanced Research Fund told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Nerekhta-2 will be equipped with a new type of ammunition and will be capable of tackling enemies larger and stronger than itself, according to Igor Denisov.

“We have chosen the Nerekhta platform as the most suitable for making a number of changes, this is a ‘lab’ for testing the most promising solutions for ground robots supporting combat operations, including in the city. I think we will show the Nerekhta’s new capabilities at a proving ground at the end of the year. It will have an air component, there will be additional automation elements,” Denisov said.

Continue reading “Russia’s Nerekhta-2 Combat Robot to Be Presented in 2016” »

Engenheiros da University of California, Berkeley construíram os primeiros, sensores sem fio do tamanho de poeira que podem ser implantados no organismo, trazendo mais perto o dia em que um dispositivo Fitbit poderia monitorar os nervos internos, músculos ou órgãos em tempo real.

If human beings are ever to colonise other planets – which might become necessary for the survival of the species, given how far we have degraded this one – they will almost certainly have to use generation ships: spaceships that will support not just those who set out on them, but also their descendants. The vast distances between Earth and the nearest habitable planets, combined with the fact that we are unlikely ever to invent a way of travelling that exceeds the speed of light, ensures that many generations will be born, raised and die on board such a ship before it arrives at its destination.

A generation ship would have to be a whole society in microcosm, with hospitals and schools, living quarters and perhaps entertainment districts, a security force, maybe even a judiciary. It would need to be able to provide food for its crew, and that might require agriculture or aquaculture, perhaps even domestic animals (which might also be needed for the colonisation effort). Its design therefore presents a major challenge: not just to engineers but also to social scientists. How should the crew be selected and the environment structured to minimise interpersonal conflict? What size of population is optimal for it to remain committed to the single overarching project of colonising a new planet without too much of a risk of self-destructive boredom or excessive narrowing of the gene pool? Does mental health require that a quasi-natural environment be recreated within the ship (with trees, grass and perhaps undomesticated birds and small animals)?

As well as the technological and social challenges confronting the designers of such ships, there are fascinating philosophical and ethical issues that arise. The issue I want to focus on concerns the ethics of a project that locks the next generation into a form of living, the inauguration of which they had no say over, and that ensures their options are extremely limited.

Continue reading “Would it be immoral to send out a generation starship?” »

“Gogoro is bringing 200 of its stylish all-electric scooters to Berlin. Starting today, anyone over 21 with a valid driver’s (or motorcycle) license will be able to rent one of the scooters as part of a new scooter-sharing program”

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This has been a top trending video on SF Gate (the San Francisco Chronicle’s main website) for a few days now: http://video.sfgate.com/Zoltan-Istvan-Transhumanist-Party-Pr…e-31214223 The story is here and was also shared by Drudge Report: http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Chip-en…694149.php

Biohacker says the U.S. Needs a Science Party Source: SFGate.com

Verily and GlaxoSmithKline have partnered to form Galvani Bioelectronics, a new company which will focus on the research, development, and commercialization of bioelectronics. One of the first projects will be to develop a precision device that can fix type 2 diabetes.

Verily, formerly known as Google Life Sciences, is partnering with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop bioelectronic medicines that can “harness electrical signals in the body to treat chronic disease.”

The collaboration marries GSK’s pharmaceutical expertise with Verily’s prowess in developing tiny low power electronics. The unification will result in a new company called Galvani Bioelectronics, after Italian scientist Luigi Aloisio Galvani who was an early pioneer of bioelectricity.

Continue reading “Google is Developing ‘Bioelectronic Medicines’ to Try And Cure Chronic Illnesses” »