Lifeboat Foundation

Over the past several years, Northwestern Engineering’s Michael Jewett did the seemingly impossible. He overcame the critical barrier to making mutant ribosomes, the core catalyst in cells that are responsible for life.

Now, with funding from the Department of Defense’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI) program, Jewett is ready to take this research to the next level. Along with a multi-school team, he plans to use engineer and repurpose the ribosome to make new kinds of polymers for flow batteries.

“We are in a new era of biomaterial design,” Jewett said. “So far, the ribosome has been this untouchable biomolecular machine — one that we couldn’t engineer or modify. Now, armed with recent advances in our ability to construct new versions, new applications may only be limited by our imagination.”

Continue reading “Repurposing the ribosome for synthetic biology” »

Robotic glove doubles or triples the gripping force applied, reducing hand strain. Up next: full exoskeletons for more powerful workers.

Bio-engineered blood vessels.

These new technologies will be released in the market by the next 5 years.

Continue reading “5 New Technologies That Will Revolutionize Medicine” »

Experts at Adelaide’s Flinders University have made an Alzheimer’s breakthrough that may result in world’s first dementia vaccine. Developed by Australian and US scientists, this vaccine may not only prevent but also reverse early stages of Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia.

The Alzheimer’s vaccine may be tested on humans within the next two to three years after being bankrolled by the US Government. Scientists from Flinders University and America’s Institute of Molecular Medicine and University of California developed the vaccine by targeting proteins in the brain that block neurons.

The formula targets tau proteins and abnormal beta-amyloid that cause Alzheimer’s. The scientists are confident that the vaccine would eventually be used as preventative vaccine. According to Flinders University medicine professor Nikolai Petrovsky, the proteins must be removed from the brain as Alzheimer’s, and dementia sufferers have lots of these broken down proteins inside.

Continue reading “Alzheimer’s breakthrough: Vaccine developed” »

I knew about the hack; however, CIO covered it up is a new twist to this story.

Problems uncovered after employees walk off job with thousands of SSNs on flash drives.

Military bosses claim the engine for the craft has already been tested, and a prototype could take to the air in six years.

It would be able to travel anywhere in the world in two hours and drop a devastating nuclear warhead before returning to base, it is claimed.

Continue reading “Russian hypersonic bomber can launch nuclear attacks from space” »

Slate summary of the debate on AI Safety:

Fears about A.I. take a very different form depending on whom you ask.

Some researchers think that the benefits of developing an A.G.I. far outweighv the risks, and the question of control is a moot point. Intelligent systems will be developed by humans and controlled by humans, so there is nothing to worry about.

Continue reading “The Threats That Artificial Intelligence Researchers Actually Worry About” »

The SV trend.

Employees at San Francisco startup Nootrobox don’t eat on Tuesdays.

The weekly fast isn’t an extreme money-saving move by a scrappy, bootstrapping company. Instead, Nootrobox team members swear withholding food for 36 hours — they stop eating Monday night — improves their workplace focus and concentration.

Continue reading “Brain ‘hacking’: Entrepreneurs turn to fasting and ‘smart drugs’” »

Is it time for rehab for junk food junkies?

Apparently, all the burgers and smoothies you’re consuming cause your brain to forget to stop eating even when you’re full.

Can you relate to midnight cravings and the feeling of perpetual hunger? Do you resort to grabbing fast food on the fly or eating out of a tub of ice cream while you’re bored around the house?

Continue reading “Eating Sugar And Fatty Foods Is As Bad As Doing Drugs” »