Lifeboat Foundation

Four MIT graduates have just opened a restaurant where a robotic kitchen prepares the meals.

NOTE FROM TED: This talk, which was filmed at a TEDx event, contains several assertions about diet that come from the speaker’s own understanding of nutrition. While some viewers may find advice provided in this talk to be helpful, please do not look to this talk for medical advice. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/tedx_content_guidelines.pdf

Can you cure your self from life threatening health problems? Can you reverse ageing? Darryl D’Souza, an expert in natural therapy and pioneer in integrated wellness and spirituality talks about how he reversed ageing by following simple laws of nature about food and nutrition. How the food that we eat today has become our poison and how we can reclaim our lives and good health. Darryl is the author of “Become Healthy or Extinct”, a book about reversing chronic illnesses with integrated natural therapy. The book has followers in over 150 countries. An engineer by profession, but drawn into the world of natural therapies after failed attempts by modern medicine to cure him of some serious illnesses at a young age. Darryl is a pioneer in Integrated Wellness & Spirituality and conducts life-transforming talks & workshops that expose the real causes of widespread sickness in society and he gives you breakthrough ideas on how to become part of the solution instead of being part of the problem. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Bacteria, fungi, and viruses can enter our gut through the food we eat. Fortunately, the epithelial cells that line our intestines serve as a robust barrier to prevent these microorganisms from invading the rest of our bodies.

A research team led by a biomedical scientist at the University of California, Riverside, has found that simulated microgravity, such as that encountered in spaceflight, disrupts the functioning of the epithelial barrier even after removal from the microgravity environment.

“Our findings have implications for our understanding of the effects of space travel on intestinal function of astronauts in space, as well as their capability to withstand the effects of agents that compromise intestinal epithelial barrier function following their return to Earth,” said Declan McCole, a professor of biomedical sciences at the UC Riverside School of Medicine, who led the study published today in Scientific Reports.

Biochemical makeover allows Escherichia coli to use carbon dioxide as a building block for its cells.

On a farm near Moscow, the cows are walking around with VR goggles strapped to their heads in an effort to improve their living conditions, relax them, with the ultimate goal for them to produce more milk.

Scientists have solved the structure of one of the key components of photosynthesis, a discovery that could lead to photosynthesis being ‘redesigned’ to achieve higher yields and meet urgent food security needs.

The study, led by the University of Sheffield and published today in the journal Nature, reveals the structure of cytochrome b6f — the protein complex that significantly influences plant growth via photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis is the foundation of life on Earth providing the food, oxygen and energy that sustains the biosphere and human civilisation.

Most clams are happy to make their burrow in a nice, soft bed of sand or mud. Not this mollusc. A recently uncovered relative of the shipworm puts the hard into hardcore, chewing holes into rocks and excreting the debris as sand.

Lithoredo abatanica joins a short list of freshwater animals capable of literally weathering the landscape and creating real estate for other species to hide in, while potentially affecting the course of their river ecosystem.

Continue reading “These Bizarre Wormlike Creatures Eat Rock, Poop Sand, And May Even Redesign Rivers” »

Sugar poses one of the most pressing health problems in the modern world – not least because it’s just so delicious. Rather than quitting sweets cold turkey, low-calorie alternatives to sucrose could make tasty treats that are at least less bad for us. And now, researchers from Tufts University have developed a more efficient method for producing one such sweetener, using farms of bacteria.

The sugar in question is called tagatose, which the FDA says is “generally regarded as safe.” It’s 92 percent as sweet as sucrose – regular old table sugar – but because the human digestive system doesn’t metabolize as much of it, it only has 38 percent of the calories. That, in turn, means tagatose has a much smaller effect on blood glucose and insulin, making it safe for diabetics. And to cap it off, tests show that it doesn’t contribute to cavities or tooth decay.

But, of course, there’s a catch – tagatose is a little complicated to produce. Normally, it’s done by hydrolyzing lactose to make galactose, which is then isomerized into tagatose, which then needs to be purified and crystallized into a solid, usable form. Yields from this process are low, at less than 30 percent.

New research highlights the importance of a diet rich in fruit, vegetables, and whole grains for preventing cognitive decline later in life.