Lifeboat Foundation

Get this: The renowned paleontologist who inspired ‘Jurassic Park’ is attempting to recreate dinosaurs by reversing the evolution of the modern-day chicken.

Theoretical physicists have confirmed that it’s not just the information coded into our DNA that shapes who we are — it’s also the way DNA folds itself that controls which genes are expressed inside our bodies.

That’s something biologists have known for years, and they’ve even been able to figure out some of the proteins responsible for folding up DNA. But now a group of physicists have been able to demonstrate for the first time through simulations how this hidden information controls our evolution.

Let’s back up for a second here, because although it’s not necessarily news to many scientists, this second level of DNA information might not be something you’re familiar with.

Continue reading “Physicists confirm there’s a second layer of information hidden in our DNA” »

The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution, Book Trailer, more info: www.ecstadelic.net

More news on Google’s AI kill switch — I am glad that it exist.

Developers are pondering on methods to prevent catastrophe in case an Artificial Intelligence, or AI, got ahead of its designated programming.

Theoretical scientist Stephen Hawking, entrepreneur for Tesla Motors Elon Musk, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates mentioned that AIs have a high learning curve regarding self-awareness, and anytime soon, AIs might surpass human knowledge and become sentient. In a 2014 interview, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking stated that the evolution of humans is slower compared to the rapid improvement of robots.

Continue reading “Google Proposes ‘Kill Switch’ For Rouge AIs” »

Just more proof of the evolution of tech.

http://www.imedicalapps.com/2016/06/medtronic-virtual-realit…ardboard/#

Medtronic has launched the Aortic AR app, a virtual reality medical app for their abdominal aortic aneurysm repair stent.

Continue reading “Medtronic launches virtual reality app for stents using Google Cardboard” »

So, all of this nextgen technology is wonderful; I truly see the vision and how to make it happen over time. However, what about the native people of the countries where this innovation and advancement is occurring? Are they getting the opportunity to be a part of the innovation story? Or, are they being left behind?

At Microsoft, we established many programs and outreach programs to engage many of the Native Americans across the US; I would like to encourage others to think about how can more be done to include the indigenous people of your countries to be part of the innovation/ evolution story. It truly is rewarding to so many.

The first Native Youth My Brother’s Keeper Hackathon saw students produce several games, apps.

Continue reading “New Mexico hackathon provides template for Native STEM engagement” »

The human genome contains more than 20,000 protein-coding genes, which carry the instructions for proteins essential to the structure and function of our cells, tissues and organs. Some of these genes are very similar to each other because, as the genomes of humans and other mammals evolve, glitches in DNA replication sometimes result in extra copies of a gene being made. Those duplicates can be passed along to subsequent generations and, on very rare occasions, usually at a much later point in time, acquire additional modifications that may enable them to serve new biological functions. By starting with a protein shape that has already been fine-tuned for one function, evolution can produce a new function more rapidly than starting from scratch.

Pretty cool! But it leads to a question that’s long perplexed evolutionary biologists: Why don’t duplicate genes vanish from the gene pool almost as soon as they appear? After all, instantly doubling the amount of protein produced in an organism is usually a recipe for disaster—just think what might happen to a human baby born with twice as much insulin or clotting factor as normal. At the very least, duplicate genes should be unnecessary and therefore vulnerable to being degraded into functionless pseudogenes as new mutations arise over time.

An NIH-supported team offers a possible answer to this question in a study published in the journal Science. Based on their analysis of duplicate gene pairs in the human and mouse genomes, the researchers suggest that extra genes persist in the genome because of rapid changes in gene activity. Instead of the original gene producing 100 percent of a protein in the body, the gene duo quickly divvies up the job [1]. For instance, the original gene might produce roughly 50 percent and its duplicate the other 50 percent. Most importantly, organisms find the right balance and the duplicate genes can easily survive to be passed along to their offspring, providing fodder for continued evolution.

Continue reading “Gene Duplication: New Analysis Shows How Extra Copies Split the Work” »

Interesting.

The cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman believes that evolution and quantum mechanics conspire to make objective reality an illusion.

Researchers recently made an important discovery in protein science that will advance our understanding of the inner workings of cells. In an article published in Scientific Reports, the team said they found a critical evolutionary link between a protein’s structure and its function.

Like tiny molecular machines, proteins handle a variety of functions from transporting chemicals to breaking food down into nutrients. The vast range of protein function is possible because of their unique gene-encoded sequence of amino acids, which affects the three-dimensional shape that folded protein chains adopt.

To better understand them, researchers have sequenced and resolved a huge number of protein structures. Currently, the Protein Data Bank includes 110,000+ structures—far more than the number with known functions. Powerful bioinformatics tools assist in making correlations between the shape and purpose of a protein, but what’s been missing is a direct structure-function link, tantamount to a Rosetta stone-like key.

Continue reading “Scientists Unearth Key Evolutionary Link in Proteins” »