Anti-Diarrhoea Drug Drives Cancer Cells to Cell Death
December 23rd, 2020Via: Goethe University:
In cell culture, loperamide, a drug commonly used against diarrhoea, proves effective against glioblastoma cells. A research team at Goethe University has now unravelled the drug’s mechanisms of action of cell death induction and – in doing so – has shown how this compound could help attack brain tumours that otherwise are difficult to treat.
The research group led by Dr Sjoerd van Wijk from the Institute of Experimental Cancer Research in Paediatrics at Goethe University already two years ago found evidence indicating that the anti-diarrhoea drug loperamide could be used to induce cell death in glioblastoma cell lines. They have now deciphered its mechanism of action and, in doing so, are opening new avenues for the development of novel treatment strategies.
In certain types of tumour cells, administration of loperamide leads to a stress response in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the cell organelle responsible for key steps in protein synthesis in the body. The stress in the ER triggers its degradation, followed by self-destruction of the cells. This mechanism, known as autophagy-dependent cell death occurs when cells undergo hyperactivated autophagy. Normally, autophagy regulates normal metabolic processes and breaks down and recycles the valuable parts of damaged or superfluous cell components thus ensuring the cell’s survival, for example in the case of nutrient deficiency. In certain tumour cells, however, hyperactivation of autophagy destroys so much cell material that they are no longer capable of surviving.
A Communist Christmas
December 22nd, 2020Update: In Pandemic America’s Tent Cities, a Grim Future Grows Darker
The pandemic did this. The pandemic did that.
Wrong.
Governments caused this disaster.
Via: Reuters:
Phoenix is just one example of a slow-motion disaster unfolding in many large U.S. cities as homeless numbers, already growing in recent years, spike during the global pandemic.
The virus presents a compounding threat. Not only are these populations some of the most vulnerable to the coronavirus, but by destroying millions of jobs, the pandemic threatens a wave of evictions that experts warn could lead to a catastrophic housing displacement and even more people living on the streets.
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Via: Awaken with JP:
U.S. Army’s Long-Range Cannon Hits Target 43 Miles Away
December 22nd, 2020Via: Defense News:
The Army’s Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) system under development hit a target 43 miles away — or 70 kilometers — on the nose at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, Dec. 19, using an Excalibur extended-range guided artillery shell, according to the general who is overseeing the service’s Long-Range Precision Fires modernization.
Microplastics Revealed in the Placentas of Unborn Babies
December 22nd, 2020Via: Guardian:
Microplastic particles have been revealed in the placentas of unborn babies for the first time, which the researchers said was “a matter of great concern”.
The health impact of microplastics in the body is as yet unknown. But the scientists said they could carry chemicals that could cause long-term damage or upset the foetus’s developing immune system. The particles are likely to have been consumed or breathed in by the mothers.
The particles were found in the placentas from four healthy women who had normal pregnancies and births. Microplastics were detected on both the foetal and maternal sides of the placenta and in the membrane within which the foetus develops.
A dozen plastic particles were found. Only about 4% of each placenta was analysed, however, suggesting the total number of microplastics was much higher. All the particles analysed were plastics that had been dyed blue, red, orange or pink and may have originally come from packaging, paints or cosmetics and personal care products.
The microplastics were mostly 10 microns in size (0.01mm), meaning they are small enough to be carried in the bloodstream. The particles may have entered the babies’ bodies, but the researchers were unable to assess this.
“It is like having a cyborg baby: no longer composed only of human cells, but a mixture of biological and inorganic entities,” said Antonio Ragusa, director of obstetrics and gynaecology at the San Giovanni Calibita Fatebenefratelli hospital in Rome, and who led the study. “The mothers were shocked.”
Tesla Megapack Energy Storage System at Moss Landing Could Be World’s Largest ‘Battery’
December 21st, 2020Via: Electrek:
The massive new Tesla Megapack project at the Moss Landing substation in California is starting to take shape as we can see in a new flyover of the construction site.
It could soon become the world’s biggest battery.
We first learned of the project at PG&E’s Moss Landing substation when they submitted it to CPUC and the company was in talks with Tesla in 2017.
It involves four separate energy storage projects and two of them should become the world’s largest battery systems.
Dynegy is going to deploy a 300MW / 1,200MWh project on PG&E’s grid while the Tesla project will be 182.5MW / 730MWh, which could eventually go up to 1.1GWh.
“Sources”: Apple Targets Car Production by 2024, ‘Next Level’ Battery Technology
December 21st, 2020Via: Reuters:
Apple Inc is moving forward with self-driving car technology and is targeting 2024 to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Britain: New/Old COVID Strain, Christmas Cancelled… Borders Open?
December 21st, 2020Via: Paul Joseph Watson:
Related: The New Strain, Called ‘VUI – 202012/01’, Was First Identified in September
Russian Scientist Working on COVID-19 Vaccine Plummets to Death in St. Petersburg
December 21st, 2020Via: NY Post:
A prominent Russian scientist who was working on a COVID-19 vaccine was found dead with a stab wound after plummeting out his window in St. Petersburg, according to news reports.
Alexander “Sasha” Kagansky, 45, was in his underwear when he fell to his death from his 14th-floor apartment, according to the Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets.
The scientist also suffered a stab wound, police said.
Police believe there was a scuffle before Kagansky fell from the building, reports said.
Russian police say they are investigating Kagansky’s death as a possible homicide and questioning a 45-year-old man as a potential suspect, e2news.com said.
Emails Show Navy’s ‘UFO’ Patents Went Through Significant Internal Review, Resulted In A Demo
December 20th, 2020Via: The Warzone:
The War Zone continues to dig into the bizarre U.S. Navy patents authored by enigmatic inventor Dr. Salvatore Pais and the seemingly unusual circumstances of their approval by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As part of our investigation, we recently obtained a tranche of internal emails from Naval Air Systems Command, or NAVAIR, which appear to have been sent between Pais and personnel in different NAVAIR offices. While the Navy’s exotic energy production patents remain as mysterious as ever, these emails add to the backstory surrounding the inventions of Salvatore Pais and suggest that the patents went through a more rigorous internal evaluation process than was previously known. The emails also seem to indicate that the research program that emanated from the patents did in fact result in an experimental demonstration of some sort.
Last year, the publication of several unusual patents assigned to the U.S. Navy raised eyebrows due to the seemingly radical and unconventional claims found within them. These patents included bizarre technologies such as a “high temperature superconductor,” a “high frequency gravitational wave generator,” a force field-like “electromagnetic field generator,” a “plasma compression fusion device,” and a hybrid aerospace/underwater craft featuring an “inertial mass reduction device.” They truly sound like the stuff of science fiction and seem to describe the theoretical building blocks of a craft with UFO-like performance.
WHO (Finally) Admits PCR Tests Create False Positives
December 20th, 2020Via: Off Guardian:
So why has the WHO finally decided to say this is wrong? What reason could they have for finally choosing to recognise this simple reality?
The answer to that is potentially shockingly cynical: We have a vaccine now. We don’t need false positives anymore.
Notionally, the system has produced its miracle cure. So, after everyone has been vaccinated, all the PCR tests being done will be done “under the new WHO guidelines”, and running only 25-30 cycles instead of 35+.
Lo and behold, the number of “positive cases” will plummet, and we’ll have confirmation that our miracle vaccine works.
After months of flooding the data pool with false positives, miscounting deaths “by accident”, adding “Covid19 related death” to every other death certificate…they can stop. The create-a-pandemic machine can be turned down to zero again.
…as long as we all do as we’re told. Any signs of dissent – masses of people refusing the vaccine, for example – and the CT value can start to climb again, and they bring back their magical disease.
