Lifeboat Foundation

High-intensity exercise induces brain-protective effects that have the potential to not just slow down but possibly reverse the neurodegeneration associated with Parkinson’s disease, a new pilot study suggests.

Prior research has shown that many forms of exercise are linked to improved symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. But there has been no evidence that hitting the gym could create changes at the brain level. Now, a small proof-of-concept study involving 10 patients showed that high-intensity aerobic exercise preserved dopamine-producing neurons, the brain cells that are most vulnerable to destruction in patients with the disease.

In fact, after six months of exercise, the neurons actually had grown healthier and produced stronger dopamine signals. Dopamine is a chemical that helps brain cells communicate with one another. The researchers published their findings in npj Parkinson’s Disease on February 9.

“There’s a muon right there,” says Tioukov, pointing to a squiggly line he’s blown up using a microscope.

After months of painstaking analysis, Tioukov and his team are able to put together a three-dimensional model of that hidden burial chamber, closed to human eyes for centuries, now opened thanks to particle physics.

What seems like science fiction is also being used to peer inside the pyramids in Egypt, chambers beneath volcanoes, and even treat cancer, says Professor Giovanni De Lellis.

Knowing your “oldest organ” might also tell you more about your health trajectory — and the age-related diseases you could develop — than your biological age. The study found that individuals with accelerated heart aging, for example, have a 250% higher risk of heart failure. Every additional four years of age increased an individual’s risk of developing heart disease by almost 2.5-fold over 15 years, the study noted. It also found that accelerated brain and vascular aging in an individual can predict the progression of Alzheimer’s disease as strongly as the best biomarker test for the disease.

The technology to measure age organ-by-organ is far from ready to mainstream. Still, the concept has attracted the interest of those in longevity circles, according to The Wall Street Journal. Some researchers told the Journal that there may be a day when patients can test the age of their organs through a simple blood test. It’s not a far-off idea, given that there are already blood tests that can test for cancer.

However, some scientists believe there’s little merit in providing patients with these details before we devise interventions for them.

UC Riverside unveils real-time visibility and 10x sensitivity. These could revolutionize chronic back pain treatment.

Hospital workers face fatigue from beeping noise. A new study proposes musical timbres that reduce annoyance without compromising alarms.

Organic computers are based on living, biological “wetware”. This video reports on organic computing research in areas including DNA storage and massively parallel DNA processing, as well as the potential development of biochips and entire biocomputers. If you are interested in this topic you may enjoy my book “Digital Genesis: The Future of Computing, Robots and AI”. You can download a free pdf sampler, here: http://www.explainingcomputers.com/ge… purchase “Digital Genesis” on Amazon.com here: http://amzn.to/2yVKStK Or purchase “Digital Genesis” on Amazon.co.uk here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1976098068… Links to specific research cited in the video are as follows: Professor William Ditto’s “Leech-ulator”: http://www.zdnet.com/article/us-scien… Development of transcriptor at Stanford: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-new… Harvard Medical School DNA storage: https://hms.harvard.edu/news/writing–… Yaniv Erlich and Dina Zielinski DNA storage: http://pages.jh.edu/pfleming/bioinfor… Manchester University DNA parallel processing: http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.or… All biocomputer and other CG animations included in this video were produced by and are copyright © Christopher Barnatt 2017. If you enjoy this video, you may like my previous report on quantum computing: • Quantum Computing 2017 Update More videos on computing-related topics can be found at: / explainingcomputers You may also like my ExplainingTheFuture channel at: / explainingthefuture.

For the survival of life on Earth, the process where plants perform photosynthesis to generate oxygen and chemical energy using sunlight is crucial. Scientists from Göttingen and Hannover have now achieved a breakthrough by creating a high-resolution 3D visualization of the chloroplasts’ copying mechanism, the RNA polymerase PEP, for the first time. This intricate structure offers fresh perspectives on the operation and evolutionary history of this vital cellular apparatus, instrumental in interpreting the genetic blueprints for proteins involved in photosynthesis.

Without photosynthesis, there would be no air to breathe – it is the basis of all life on Earth. This complex process allows plants to convert carbon dioxide and water into chemical energy and oxygen using light energy from the sun. The conversion takes place in the chloroplasts, the heart of photosynthesis. Chloroplasts developed in the course of evolution when the ancestors of today’s plant cells absorbed a photosynthetic cyanobacterium. Over time, the bacterium became increasingly dependent on its “host cell”, but maintained some significant functions such as photosynthesis and parts of the bacterial genome. The chloroplast therefore still has its own DNA, which contains the blueprints for crucial proteins of the “photosynthesis machinery”

Imagine wearing a thin flexible sticker that can turn your hand or finger movement into communication without you having to say a word or tap a touch screen. Researchers have developed a new type of wearable sensor that can accomplish this futuristic feat and could open new possibilities for rehabilitation applications and help those with disabilities to communicate more easily.

The new sensor combines a soft and flexible material called polydimethylsiloxane, or PDMS, with an optical component known as a fiber Bragg grating (FBG). The researchers designed it to be comfortable for long-term wear while also having the ability to detect movements with high accuracy.

A paper describing this technology is published in the journal Biomedical Optics Express.

Varda Space Industries’ W-1 capsule landed in Utah Wednesday (Feb. 21) after nearly eight months in orbit.