Lifeboat Foundation

Consuming a diet high in sugar and fat is a known risk factor for a number of health problems, including obesity and type-2 diabetes. A new study from the University of Illinois has found that consuming caffeine from coffee, tea, and other sources may help protect against some of the health consequences often resulting from poor dietary habits. Similar benefits were also associated with consuming synthetic caffeine.

Methylation clocks are far and away the most accurate markers of a person’s age, and so are a promising tool for evaluating anti-aging interventions, but they are a bit of a black box. We know from statistics that certain places on chromosomes become steadily methylated ( or demethylated ) with age, but we often don’t know what effect that has on expression of particular genes.

For the first time, a clock has been devised based on proteins in the blood that is comparable in accuracy to the best methylation clocks. This has the advantage of being downstream of epigenetics, so it is less of a black box. What can we learn from the proteins that are increased ( and decreased ) with age?

I’ve written often and enthusiastically about the utility of methylation clocks for evaluation of anti-aging interventions [ blog, blog, blog, journal article ]. This technology offers a way to promptly identify small age-reversal successes (perhaps not in individuals, but averaged over a cohort of ~50 to 100 subjects). Before these tests were available, we had no choice but to wait — usually 10 years or more — for enough experimental subjects to die that we could be sure the intervention we were evaluating affected life expectancy. (This is the plan of the worthy but ridiculously expensive TAME trial promoted by Nir Barzilai.)

Promising news- very primitive proof of concept for cryonics.

Scientists (and sci-fi fans) have been talking about suspended animation for years. The idea that the functions of the human body can somehow be put on “pause” while life-saving medical procedures are performed (or a person is sent into space, a la Alien) has long seemed untenable — until now. According to New Scientist, doctors have successfully placed humans in suspended animation for the first time, in a trial that could have an enormous influence on the future of emergency room surgery.

Continue reading “Researchers have placed humans in suspended animation” »

Some scientists think so.

They argue that all the information in the universe may be stored on some sort of two-dimensional object. In this video, NASA astronomer Michelle Thaller delves into frontier science — an unchartered territory that may require a new level of physics to better understand.

We are thrilled to announce the findings of the latest research study from Amsterdam Medical Center about the impact of the Wim Hof Method on auto-immune disease. The results are truly impressive. A new milestone has been reached! Shedding light on our human potential. Stay Happy, Strong and Healthy & Make sure to check out the FULL VIDEO and learn all about this latest study at the link below: http://ow.ly/kcSg50xtwfW… #iceman #wimhof #science #research #study #inflammation #immunesystem #breath #cold #mindset #wimhofmethod #stronghappyhealthy

2019 was nuts for neuroscience. I said this last year too, but that’s the nature of accelerating technologies: the advances just keep coming.

There’re the theoretical showdowns: a mano a mano battle of where consciousness arises in the brain, wildly creative theories of why our brains are so powerful, and the first complete brain wiring diagram of any species. This year also saw the birth of “hybrid” brain atlases that seek to interrogate brain function from multiple levels—genetic, molecular, and wiring, synthesizing individual maps into multiple comprehensive layers.

Brain organoids also had a wild year. These lab-grown nuggets of brain tissue, not much larger than a lentil, sparked with activity similar to preterm babies, made isolated muscles twitch, and can now be cloned into armies of near-identical “siblings” for experimentation—prompting a new round of debate on whether they’ll ever gain consciousness.

A Chinese hacking group believed to operate on behalf of the Beijing government has learned how to bypass two-factor authentication (2FA) in attacks on government and industry targets, ZDNet reported on Monday.

The group, known as APT20, has reportedly sought to compromise VPN credentials that would grant them heightened levels of access across their victims’ networks, according to ZDNet, citing a new report from Dutch cyber-security firm Fox-IT.

This new “digital highway” centered on 5G will give rise to new industries and services previously unimagined. The United States must redouble its efforts to build such a digital infrastructure and make the commercialization of the Internet of Things a reality.

We’re on the verge of another industrial revolution. We can’t let the U.S. miss out.

Still with the galactic good guys, as “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” opened with a massive estimated take of $175.5 million in North America, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

The Disney film scored the third biggest December debut ever, behind only the two earlier chapters in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi,” according to Variety.

“Rise of Skywalker,” directed by J.J. Abrams and starring Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac, blew away the weekend’s competition.