Lifeboat Foundation

In Gwalior, a congested city in the centre of the India, an 8th-Century fort rises with medieval swagger on a plateau in the town’s heart. Gwalior Fort is one of India’s largest forts; but look among the soaring cupola-topped towers, intricate carvings and colourful frescoes and you’ll find a small, 9th-Century temple carved into its solid rock face.

This is ground zero for zero

Chaturbhuj Temple is much like many other ancient temples in India – except that this is ground zero for zero. It’s famous for being the oldest example of zero as a written digit: carved into the temple wall is a 9th-Century inscription that includes the clearly visible number ‘270’.

Continue reading “India’s impressive concept about nothing” »

By studying frogs’ eggs, researchers have measured the rate at which cells kill themselves off for an organism’s greater good

They’re based in Berkeley but spreading across the country.

Guess what will they it use it for? #SolarSails

While Elon Musk owns 20% of Tesla, more than $60 billion would be needed to buy the business from public shareholders.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in talks that could see it becoming a significant investor in Tesla as part of Elon Musk’s plan to take the electric car maker private, according to a person with direct knowledge of the fund’s plans.

The Public Investment Fund, which has built up a stake just shy of 5 percent in Tesla in recent months, is exploring how it can be involved in the potential deal, the person said on condition of anonymity. Discussions began before the controversial Aug. 7 tweet by Musk, who is Tesla’s co-founder and chief executive officer, saying he was weighing a plan to take the company private.

#mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) Inhibiting TORC1 has been shown to increase lifespan.

Today, we are pleased to announce that the results are in from a human trial that targets the aging immune system and that an immune system-boosting drug appears to be effective.

Targeting TORC1 to boost the immune system

Continue reading “ResTORbio Announces Results in Phase 2b Human Trial” »

Our #ParkerSolarProbe spacecraft lifted off at 3:31 a.m. EDT aboard a United Launch Alliance #DeltaIV Heavy rocket for its journey to our closest star. Throughout its seven-year mission, our the spacecraft will swoop through the Sun’s atmosphere 24 times, getting closer than any spacecraft has gone before. Details: https://www.nasa.gov/…/nasa-ula-launch-parker-solar-probe-o…

The success shows that advances in artificial intelligence aren’t the sole domain of elite programmers.

Denis Aabo Sørensen lost his left hand nine years ago, while handling fireworks. Since then, he has used prosthetic hands, but never one like this. Last year, a team of European engineers created for him a prosthetic hand that connects directly to the remaining nerves in his upper arm. That means the hand is able to send sensations of touch back through his arm and into his brain. Plus, when Sørensen wanted to grab something, he could move the hand by simply thinking about it.