Lifeboat Foundation

Breast milk is not simply sustenance. It also is rich in micronutrients that are critical for healthy brain development in infants.

Now, researchers have identified a component of breast milk that promotes how neurons form connections in infants’ brains. Myo-inositol is a small cyclic sugar molecule in breast milk that also is found in a typical adult diet, including in fruits and grains. The study emphasizes the powerful role that what we eat plays in brain function. It was published in PNAS on July 11.

“The effects of micronutrients on the brain are really under-appreciated,” says Thomas Biederer, Ph.D., associate professor of neurology and principal investigator. “As a neuroscientist, our findings were stunning to me.”

Lymphoma is often thought of as a cancer of lymph nodes, but it’s actually a cancer of the lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are white blood cells that manage inflammation in the body.

Chronic inflammation can sometimes lead to a lymphoma known as marginal zone lymphoma.

Marginal zone lymphoma is a rare, slow-growing B-cell lymphoma. Because it’s so rare, marginal zone lymphoma is often treated like other subtypes of B-cell lymphomas, and new treatment options are often explored through clinical trials that group marginal zone lymphoma with other B-cell lymphoma subtypes.

Mozilla Firefox has finally added support for NVIDIA’s upscale technology for video content known as the RTX Video Super Resolution (VSR).

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll.
Blog post with audio player, show notes, and transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2022/06/06/200-…ultiverse/

The 200th episode of Mindscape! Thanks to everyone for sticking around for this long. To celebrate, a solo episode discussing a set of issues naturally arising at the intersection of philosophy and physics: how to think about probabilities and expectations in a multiverse. Here I am more about explaining the issues than offering correct answers, although I try to do a bit of that as well.

Continue reading “Mindscape 200 | Solo: The Philosophy of the Multiverse” »

As we continue the search for evidence of dark energy, one scientist proposes a radical new idea about what’s going on in the cosmos.

Summary: A new study reveals that individuals with stronger ‘mindreading’ abilities, or the capacity to understand others’ feelings and intentions, are more successful in cooperative tasks. This trait, also known as ‘theory of mind,’ is not directly tied to intelligence and can potentially be improved through training programs.

The research demonstrated that those with high theory of mind were more effective in cooperation, particularly when paired with individuals with similar abilities. The study underlines the potential to foster enhanced cooperation in various settings like schools, workplaces, or colleges by improving these abilities.

In this talk we introduce Shivon Zilis, Project Director at Neuralink, to her team’s work and the ethical impacts of implanting technology into the brain. We learn about the latest developments in Neuralink’s technology and the goals the team keeps in mind when designing and implementing technology that could change the way humans interact and understand technology.

Visit https://cucai.ca/ to learn more.

Continue reading “The Future of Brain Machine Interfaces — Shivon Zilis, Project Director at Neuralink | CUCAI 2021” »

Researchers have managed to decode an ancient script that scholars have been unable to understand for decades.

In a study published in the journal Transactions of the Philological Society, a team of scientists describe how they partially deciphered the “unknown” Kushan script, an ancient writing system that was once in use in parts of Central Asia between around 200 B.C. and 700 A.D.

It has been associated with early nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppe, such as the Yuèzhī, and one of their ruling dynasties, the Kushans, who founded a large empire encompassing much of what is now Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India.

Summary: A new study suggests that ChatGPT’s healthcare-related responses are hard to distinguish from those provided by human healthcare providers.

The study, involving 392 participants, presented a mix of responses from both ChatGPT and humans, finding participants correctly identified the chatbot and provider responses with similar accuracy.

However, the level of trust varied based on the complexity of the health-related task, with administrative tasks and preventive care being more trusted than diagnostic and treatment advice.