Lifeboat Foundation

Scientists at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society have developed a revolutionary microscopy method that enables the direct visualization of nanostructures and their optical properties.

This breakthrough allows researchers to observe nanoscale materials, like metamaterials, in unprecedented detail by manipulating light in innovative ways. The method has taken over five years to develop and leverages the unique capabilities of the Free Electron Laser. The implications of this research are vast, offering the potential to advance flat optics, shrink 3D optics to 2D, and create more efficient optical devices.

Tailoring Light With Nanomaterials

Rice University researchers have developed a new implantable sensor, spinalNET, capable of recording the electrical activity of spinal neurons in freely moving subjects. This breakthrough could help unlock the complexities of how spinal neurons process sensory and motor functions, potentially leading to better treatments for spinal cord diseases and injuries.

Implantable technologies have significantly improved our ability to study and even modulate the activity of neurons in the brain. However, neurons in the spinal cord are harder to study in action.

“If we understood exactly how neurons in the spinal cord process sensation and control movement, we could develop better treatments for spinal cord disease and injury,” said Yu Wu, a research scientist who is part of a team of Rice University neuroengineers working on a solution to this problem.

We are made out of functions, and those functions are made out of functions, all the way down.

Even bacteria—the simplest life forms surviving today—are a product of many subsequent evolutionary steps.

IX. Ecology

Continue reading “In the Beginning, There Was Computation” »

AI is shaking up industries — and software engineering is no exception.

In a leaked recording of a June fireside chat obtained by Business Insider, Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman reportedly told employees that AI is changing what being a software engineer means —and essentially changes the job description.

“If you go forward 24 months from now, or some amount of time — I can’t exactly predict where it is — it’s possible that most developers are not coding,” Garman said, adding later that the developer role would look different next year compared to 2020.

What if our lifespan could be extended beyond its natural limits? Recently, scientists have made a significant leap towards this very real possibility with the discovery and study of an important longevity gene.

This gene has shown promise in promoting cellular repair and reducing the effects of aging, generating excitement in the scientific community about new methods for extending healthy lives, not just longer lives.

As we learn more about the mechanisms behind this particular longevity gene, we may soon uncover new strategies that could revolutionize how we approach human aging and lifespan, ultimately changing the way we live.

Research that began with a patient-driven discovery in the lab of YSM’s Carrie Lucas, PhD, could help in fighting autoimmune diseases.

Writing in Nature Immunology, Lucas and colleagues identify a signaling molecule found in immune cells that could be a target for future treatments.

A medical mystery served as the genesis for a Yale-led study that has promising implications for treating a range of autoimmune diseases.

Continue reading “Research Reveals Potential Target for Immune Diseases” »

Multivalent interactions are crucial in transcriptional regulation. Here, by integrating specific multivalent molecules into dCas9-based activators, the authors provide valuable strategies to refine CRISPRa applications and achieve highly efficient gene transcription.

New technique lets robots detect force and interpret touch without extra sensors.

Researchers used internal sensors and machine learning to give robots an innate sense of touch, bypassing expensive external sensors.

Continue reading “German scientists give robots a human touch feel with AI, sensors” »

The Dark Energy Camera has captured an image of the dazzling Coma Cluster, named after the hair of Queen Berenice II of Egypt. Not only significant in Greek mythology, this collection of galaxies was also fundamental to the discovery of the existence of dark matter.