Lifeboat Foundation

Scientists have recently reviewed the available literature to examine the critical roles played by mitochondria in maintaining homeostasis. The review summarized the involvement of mitochondria in age-related disease progression and highlighted its potential as a therapeutic target of these diseases. This review has been published in Experimental & Molecular Medicine.

Mitochondria is a cytoplasmic organelle in most eukaryotic cells and is enclosed by two phospholipid membranes: the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) and outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM). These membranes separate functionally compartmentalized structures, i.e., matrix and intermembrane space. Mitochondria contain a unique genetic code, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

During evolution, most mitochondrial genes were lost or translocated to nuclei. However, genes that remained in mtDNA encode for essential translational apparatus, i.e., ribosomal RNAs and transfer RNAs. In addition, these genes also encode proteins that are key components of oxidative phosphorylation system (OXPHOS) complexes embedded in the IMM.

We know that humans are an intelligent species. But this biologist breaks down the intelligence of each of our cells — and it will blow your mind.

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❍ Up next: An evolutionary history of the human brain, in 7 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGArM23mMNM

Continue reading “Can cells think? | Michael Levin” »

How would it feel to control objects with your mind? Or hear colors? Or maybe even live forever? Well, if you want to find out, all you have to do is become a cyborg. How would being part machine affect us? Would it cause a greater divide between the rich and the poor? And is this the next step in human evolution?

Transcript and sources: https://whatifshow.com/what-if-we-become-cyborgs/

Continue reading “What If We Became Cyborgs?” »

Proposal springs from an analysis of constraints imposed by life’s fluid motion.

What happened before the Big Bang? In two of our previous films we examined cyclic cosmologies and time travel universe models. Specially, the Gott and Li Model https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79LciHWV4Qs) and Penrose’s Conformal Cyclic Cosmology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVDJJVoTx7s). Recently Beth Gould and Niayesh Afshordi of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics have fused these two models together to create a startling new vision of the universe. In this film they explain their new proposal, known as Periodic Time Cosmology.

0:00 Introduction.
0:45 NIayesh’s story.
1:15 Beth’s story.
2:25 relativity.
3:26 Gott & Li model.
6:23 origins of the PTC model.
8:17 PTC periodic time cosmology.
10:55 Penrose cyclic model.
13:01 Sir Roger Penrose.
14:19 CCC and PTC
15:45 conformal rescaling and the CMB
17:28 assumptions.
18:41 why a time loop?
20:11 empirical test.
23:96 predcitions.
26:19 inflation vs PTC
30:22 gravitational waves.
31:40 cycles and the 2nd law.
32:54 paradoxes.
34:08 causality.
35:17 immortality in a cyclic universe.
38:02 eternal return.
39:21 quantum gravity.
39:57 conclusion.

Continue reading “Before the Big Bang 11: Did the Universe Create itself? The PTC model” »

Our lifespans might feel like a long time by human standards, but to the Earth it’s the blink of an eye. Even the entirety of human history represents a tiny slither of the vast chronology for our planet. We often think about geological time when looking back into the past, but today we look ahead. What might happen on our planet in the next billion years?

Written and presented by Prof David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas.

Continue reading “Earth Over The Next Billion Years” »

Does our increasing dependency on technology diminish our human potential? In this episode, visionary scientist Gregg Braden discusses the current transhuman movement – the merging of technology and human biology, often referred to as the singularity. He describes three levels of tech integration where the final level replaces our natural biology. In a time of rapid evolution, reflection and discernment are key. Braden highlights what we can do to release the conditioning of a technology-dependent society and how to follow the natural rhythms within ourselves.

The strange science experiment that blew a worm’s head off… and blew our minds.

This interview is an episode from @The-Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the @JohnTempletonFoundation.

Continue reading “The beauty of collective intelligence, explained by a developmental biologist | Michael Levin” »

An ancient relative of modern seals—known as Potamotherium valletoni—that had an otter-like appearance and lived over 23 million years ago likely used its whiskers to forage for food and explore underwater environments, according to a new study in Communications Biology. The findings provide further insight into how ancient seals transitioned from life on land to life underwater.

Although modern seals live in marine environments and use their whiskers to locate food by sensing vibrations in the water, ancient seal relatives mostly lived on land or in freshwater environments. Some species used their forelimbs to explore their surroundings. Prior to this study, it was unclear when seals and their relatives began using their whiskers to forage.

Alexandra van der Geer and colleagues investigated the evolution of whisker-foraging behaviors in seals by comparing the brain structures of Potamotherium with those of six extinct and 31 living meat-eating mammals, including mustelids, bears, and seal relatives. Brain structures were inferred from casts taken from the inside of skulls.