Lifeboat Foundation

UK researchers from five major universities close in on a cure for HIV by reprogramming immune cells to recognize the virus and destroy it.

A British man could become the first person in the world to be cured of HIV using a new therapy designed by a team of scientists from five UK universities.

The 44-year-old is one of 50 people currently trialling a treatment which targets the disease even in its dormant state.

Continue reading “HIV cure close after disease ‘vanishes’ from blood of British man” »

I never get tired in circuitry thread and any new findings.

Tufts University engineers say that revolutionary health diagnostics may be hanging on a thread—one of many threads they have created that integrate nano-scale sensors, electronics and microfluidics into threads ranging from simple cotton to sophisticated synthetics. “We think thread-based devices could potentially be used as smart sutures for surgical implants, smart bandages to monitor wound healing, or integrated with textile or fabric as personalized health monitors and point-of-care diagnostics,” says Sameer Sonkusale, Ph.D., director of the interdisciplinary Nano Lab in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tufts School of Engineering, Medford/Somerville, Mass.

Researchers dipped a variety of conductive threads in physical and chemical sensing compounds and connected them to wireless electronic circuitry. The threads, sutured into tissues of rats, collected data on tissue health (pressure, stress, strain and temperature), pH and glucose levels. The data helps determine how wounds are healing, whether infection is emerging or whether the body’s chemistry is out of balance. Thread’s natural wicking properties draw fluids to the sensing compounds. Resulting data is transmitted wirelessly to a cell phone and computer.

Continue reading “Smarter thread” »

More progress in repairing damage to the cornea which could have implications for aging research as well as for injury.

Media Contacts: Suzanne Day Media Relations, Mass. Eye and Ear 617−573−3897 [email protected]

New findings may pave the way for the development of pharmaceutical therapies to reverse corneal scarring

Continue reading “Researchers shed light on repair mechanism for severe corneal injuries” »

By 2022, one million nurse jobs will be unfilled—leaving patients with lower quality care and longer waits. But what if robots could do the job?

What would happen if gene editing fell into the wrong hands?

Nice.

Researchers have come up with a way for making functional neurons directly from human skin cells, including those taken from patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s Reading Room Asa Abeliovich The new method may offer a critical short cut for generating neurons for replacement therapies of the future, according to research published in the August 5th …“Scientists Make Neurons Directly From Human Skin”

British scientists are optimistic that they might be on the way to finding a cure for HIV after a promising clinical trial, in which a test patient was shown to have no symptoms of the virus following treatment.

Nice POV read.

We know that emerging innovations within cutting-edge science and technology (S&T) areas carry the potential to revolutionize governmental structures, economies, and life as we know it. Yet, others have argued that such technologies could yield doomsday scenarios and that military applications of such technologies have even greater potential than nuclear weapons to radically change the balance of power. These S&T areas include robotics and autonomous unmanned system; artificial intelligence; biotechnology, including synthetic and systems biology; the cognitive neurosciences; nanotechnology, including stealth meta-materials; additive manufacturing (aka 3D printing); and the intersection of each with information and computing technologies, i.e., cyber-everything. These concepts and the underlying strategic importance were articulated at the multi-national level in NATO’s May 2010 New Strategic Concept paper: “Less predictable is the possibility that research breakthroughs will transform the technological battlefield … The most destructive periods of history tend to be those when the means of aggression have gained the upper hand in the art of waging war.”

As new and unpredicted technologies are emerging at a seemingly unprecedented pace globally, communication of those new discoveries is occurring faster than ever, meaning that the unique ownership of a new technology is no longer a sufficient position, if not impossible. They’re becoming cheaper and more readily available. In today’s world, recognition of the potential applications of a technology and a sense of purpose in exploiting it are far more important than simply having access to it.

Continue reading “Science, Technology, and the Future of Warfare” »

Still keeping my optics working looking for news to apply to your cyberpunk games and writings.

A way to defend against counterfeit drugs and maybe food too, miniature edible barcodes. Inexpensive, practical and readable with a slight modification of a smart phone.

For some reason, the idea of edible food wrappers just seems very cyberpunk to me. Full of advertising and nutrition!