Lifeboat Foundation

#microbiome

The microbiota can influence host behaviour through the gut–brain axis. In this Opinion, Johnson and Foster explore the evolution of this relationship and propose that adaptations of competing gut microorganisms may affect behaviour as a by‑product, leading to host dependence.

Weird.

Scientists have successfully created synthetic embryos from mouse stem cells. Could the advance help human infertility research?

This machine can smooth 10,000 square feet of concrete — the equivalent of a New York City block — in an hour.

Oculus Go is the Amazon Echo of VR headsets—there are better ways to explore virtual reality, but this one is cheaper and easier.

Facebook’s Oculus Go headset is really the first of its kind: an affordable, simple and powerful way to explore virtual reality.

China’s push into gene-editing crops sows unease in America’s heartland: Will U.S. farmers be shut out?

Chinese-owned Syngenta makes strides in new technologies to alter plant DNA, as U.S. farmers worry that cutting-edge agricultural science is shifting East.

A mission like no other.

NASA successfully launched its InSight lander Saturday, setting off its mission to Mars.

The InSight lander – short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport – is set to arrive on Mars in November 2018. It was launched attached to the Atlas V rocket from the Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California before it later detached to make its way over to the Red Planet.

Continue reading “NASA Just Launched a Mars Lander That Will Dig Deep into the Red Planet” »

This could be the key to exploring space at a low cost.

This pioneering mission to the farthest planet was done with 20% of the (inflation-adjusted) budget as the storied Voyager exploration, writes Alan Stern, the man who led the project.

Just about everyone agrees that America’s health care system is broken. Is better data—and the ability to harness it—the medicine we’ve been looking for?

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – A swarm of earthquakes has shaken southern El Salvador, and authorities say dozens of homes have been damaged. There are no immediate reports of serious injuries or deaths.

The U.S. Geological Survey says at least eight quakes of magnitude 4.3 or greater struck the region beginning Sunday morning. They include three of magnitude 5.2 to 5.6.

The Central American nation’s civil defense agency posted photos online of damaged roofs and rock slides.

Continue reading “Swarm of quakes hits El Salvador, damaging dozens of homes” »