Lifeboat Foundation

Scientists from the University of Southampton have reengineered the fundamental process of photosynthesis to power useful chemical reactions that could be used to produce biofuels, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals.

Photosynthesis is the pivotal biological reaction on the planet, providing the food we eat, the oxygen we breathe and removing CO₂ from the atmosphere.

Photosynthesis in plants and algae consists of two reactions, the light-reactions absorb light energy from the sun and use this to split water (H₂O) into electrons, protons and oxygen and the dark-reactions which use the electrons and protons from the light reactions to ‘fix’ CO₂ from the atmosphere into simple sugars that are the basis of the food chain. Importantly, the light reactions have a much higher capacity than the dark reactions resulting in much of the absorbed light energy being wasted as heat rather than being used to ‘fix’ CO₂.

A new tool to battle colon cancer.

Edible ginger-derived nano-lipids created from a specific population of ginger nanoparticles show promise for effectively targeting and delivering chemotherapeutic drugs used to treat colon cancer, according to a study by researchers at the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Wenzhou Medical University and Southwest University in China.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer among men and women in the United States, and the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men and women worldwide. The incidence of colorectal cancer has increased over the last few years, with about one million new cases diagnosed annually. Non-targeted chemotherapy is the most common therapeutic strategy available for colon cancer patients, but this treatment method is unable to distinguish between cancerous and healthy cells, leading to poor therapeutic effects on tumor cells and severe toxic side effects on healthy cells. Enabling chemotherapeutic drugs to target cancer cells would be a major development in the treatment of colon cancer.

Continue reading “Nano-lipid Particles From Edible Ginger Could Improve Drug Delivery for Colon Cancer, Study Finds” »

Silicon Valley, or the Greater Bay Area, is the 18^th largest economy in the world, more than half the size of Canada’s economy and bigger than Switzerland, Saudi Arabia or Turkey. This is because the region has become the world leader in research and development of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, software and virtual reality.

“Software is eating the world,” said Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen famously in 2011. It was controversial but prescient.

Five years later, software-driven machines and drones perform surgery, write news stories, compose music, translate, analyze, wage war, guard, listen, speak and entertain. The world’s biggest box office hits — animated films such as “Frozen” or special effects in Hollywood blockbusters like “Star Wars” — are made using software.

Continue reading “How robots, drones and artificial intelligence will change everything” »

Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have identified a brain circuit that’s indispensable to the sleep-wake cycle. This same circuit is also a key component of the reward system, an archipelago of interconnected brain clusters crucial to promoting behavior necessary for animals, including humans, to survive and reproduce.

It makes intuitive sense that the reward system, which motivates goal-directed behaviors such as fleeing from predators or looking for food, and our sleep-wake cycle would coordinate with one another at some point. You can’t seek food in your sleep, unless you’re an adept sleepwalker. Conversely, getting out of bed is a lot easier when you’re excited about the day ahead of you.

But until this study, no precise anatomical location for this integration of the brain’s reward and arousal systems has been pinpointed, said Luis de Lecea, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

Continue reading “Brain circuit that drives sleep-wake states, sleep-preparation behavior is identified” »

Autonomous Solutions Incorporated has revealed Case IH – the concept robo-tractor at The Farm Progress Show – showing off its nifty extras including cameras, radar and sensors that allow the farmer to control the tractor remotely using a tablet.

via GIPHY

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This one makes me to want to dig more into the reason especially since just last week Russia announced its distrust of Chinese tech being used to hack into Russia’s governmental systems, etc. And, one thing about Russia and China is their protection and involvement in commerce and financials.

New trade routes are expanding between Russia and China. That’s according to Russia’s Far East Development Fund, which said an agreement has been made with Chinese technology company LeEco to develop an eCommerce platform focused on increasing food exportation to China.

LeLive, the name of the new platform, will broaden and increase sales of Russian agricultural items and products in the Chinese market. Facilitated by LeEco’s online platform — called “Le Ecosystem,” which has a monthly connection with more than 800 million users — the goal of the platform is to meet Chinese customers’ needs. Russian goods that will be available through the platform range from basics, like flour, butter and honey, to assorted beverages, sweets, canned meats and nuts.

Continue reading “Russia, China Collaborate On New eCommerce Site” »

There’s been a lot of focus on consumer self-driving technology recently, but autonomy promises to shake things up in the agricultural world too. CNH Industrial’s latest concepts aim to demonstrate how self-driving tractors can deliver faster, more precise results than their human controlled counterparts.

Researchers genetically modify piglets to be resistant to an incurable disease plaguing hog farms, Porcine Reproductive Respiratory Syndrome (PRSS). The researchers cut out a specific gene to cure the pigs.