Lifeboat Foundation

Summary: New research delves into the distinctive human trait of sequential memory, setting us apart from bonobos. A recent study has also highlighted the joy in chasing passions over accomplishments. Groundbreaking discoveries show the human brain’s computational prowess, mirroring high-powered computers.

Additionally, the footprint of Big Tobacco is evident in the modern American diet through the promotion of hyperpalatable foods. Lastly, understanding the range of mind’s visualization abilities, from hyperphantasia to aphantasia, opens avenues for innovative treatments.

Research led by the Department of Anthropology and School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Ohio, has investigated neuropeptide Y innervation in an area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens of various primate species, including humans. The research was focused on understanding its role in brain evolution and any implications for human health, particularly regarding addiction and eating disorders.

In a paper, “Hedonic eating, obesity, and addiction result from increased neuropeptide Y in the nucleus accumbens during human brain evolution,” published in PNAS, the researchers suggest that the combination of increased neuropeptide Y (NPY) and dopamine (DA) within the human nucleus accumbens (NAc) may have allowed for enhanced brain development. This same configuration may have also made humans exceptionally vulnerable to eating disorders and substance abuse, hinting at addictive traits having a deep evolutionary origin.

NPY plays a role in the reward system, emotional behavior and is associated with increased alcohol use, drug addiction and fat intake. The NAc brain region is central to motivation and action, exhibiting one of the highest densities of NPY in the brain and is of great interest to researchers investigating brain-related promoters of addiction.

Vertical farming saves water, land, and energy — and it could be how we grow food on Mars.

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As salt encroaches on productive agricultural land, a handful of startups are finding ways to make crops grow in seawater with genetic modification and transforming solar saltwork.

Artificial intelligence experiments with artificial sweeteners.

Revo Foods.

This is according to a press release acquired by Interesting Engineering on Tuesday.

Digesting a crunchy critter starts with the audible grinding of its rigid protective covering — the exoskeleton. Unpalatable as it may sound, the hard cover might be good for the metabolism, according to a new study, in mice, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers, led by Steven Van Dyken, PhD, an assistant professor of pathology & immunology, found in mice that digesting chitin, an abundant dietary fiber in insect exoskeletons and also mushrooms and crustacean shells, engages the immune system. An active immune response was linked to less weight gain, reduced body fat and a resistance to obesity. “Obesity is an epidemic,” Van Dyken said. “What we put into our bodies has a profound effect on our physiology and on how we metabolize food. We’re investigating ways to counteract obesity based on what we learn about how the immune system is engaged by diet.”

Findings, in mice, suggest engaging immune system with such fiber to counteract obesity.

When you think about it, it seems impossible: a microscope so small and lightweight you can carry it like a keychain. But enter the Make-roscope, an invention of Jeremy De Leon, a 28-year-old Manufacturing Engineering graduate of Mapua University.

Used with a smartphone or tablet—simply place the Make-roscope on top of the gadget’s front camera—the invention can magnify organisms up to 400 times. And because it is made of food-grade silicone and a special type of lens, it is also handy, waterproof, and will be good to use for a very long time. While the principles behind pocket microscopes already exist, Jeremy’s new design innovation provides better ease of use.

Jeremy’s Make-roscope kit, which includes an information card, tweezers, keychain, cleaning cloth, blank glass slides, prepared specimen, pipette, specimen tubes, and cotton swabs, won the biggest prize in the Philippine leg of the James Dyson Award out of 47 entries from 12 universities. Jeremy says he will use the P330,000 prize money to further develop his invention.

Farmers across the United States will be able to monitor their crops in real time, thanks to a novel algorithm from researchers in South Dakota State University’s Geospatial Sciences Center of Excellence.

Two years ago, Yu Shen, research assistant in the GSCE, and Xiaoyang Zhang, professor in the Department of Geography and Geospatial Sciences and co-director at the GSCE, began investigating if it would be possible to make crop monitoring more efficient.

“Previously, crop progress was monitored by visually looking at the plants,” Shen explained.