Lifeboat Foundation

China’s improved glass for space.

Chinese scientists developed a method to create a transparent, glass-based material with the power and lifespan to absorb ultraviolet rays. The metal oxide-based special glass is expected to not break down under prolonged UV radiation exposure. (Photo : John T. Clarke (University of Michigan), ESA, NASA | Wikimedia Commons)

Chinese scientists have discovered a special glass that can absorb and block dangerous ultraviolet rays.

Continue reading “New Metal Glass Oxide Can Protect Living Cells From Ultraviolet Rays” »

Mind Blowing Facts posted this photo on 2016/01/20.

Read more

A lithium-ion battery that self heats if the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit has multiple applications, but may have the most impact on relieving winter “range anxiety” for electric vehicle owners, according to a team of researchers from Penn State and EC Power, State College.

Read more

Chrome is about to load web pages a lot faster than you’ve experienced up until now. Thanks to a new compression algorithm called Brotli, which Google introduced last September, Chrome will be able to compress data up to 26 percent more than its existing compression engine, Zopfli, which is an impressive jump.

According to Google’s web performance engineer Ilya Grigorik, Brotli is ready to roll out, so Chrome users should expect to see a bump in load times once the next version of Chrome is released. Google also says Brotli will help mobile Chrome users experience “lower data transfer fees and reduced battery use.” The company is hailing Brotli as “a new data format” that Google hopes will be adopted by other web browsers in the near future, with Firefox seemingly next in line to adopt it. But for now, expect to notice your web pages loading a bit faster in the coming weeks.

Update: January 20th 10:30AM: Updated to note that Firefox will also adopt Brotli in a future update.

Read more

Microsoft technical evangelist Bruce Harris has unveiled new details for Microsoft’s augmented reality headset, HoloLens. At an event in Tel Aviv, Harris was recorded (via Petri) saying that that any universal Windows 10 app will run natively on the device, as we’ve already heard, and that developers will naturally need to create 3D apps to realize the HoloLens’ full potential.

But Harris also talked about how the device features Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, describing it as “totally wireless.” In fact, he said a wired version of the HoloLens would not be available.

Continue reading “Microsoft’s HoloLens will be ‘totally wireless’ with up to 5.5 hours of battery life” »

Gerd predicts that machines will have the same power of a human brain by 2025.

By the year 2025, machines will have the same power as the human brain and in 2051 they will have the power of the entire global population. Does is sound far-fetched? It is certainly a grand claim, but who better to make these kinds of observations than Gerd Leonhard, Futurist, Keynote Speaker, Author and CEO of The Futures Agency.

This was one of the many observations Mr Leonhard spoke to The Malta Independent about ahead of his Keynote Address for The Economist at their ‘The World in 2016 Gala Dinner’ tonight at the Hilton, St Julian’s; where every year they invite experts and innovators from all over the world to share their ‘predictions’ for the coming year.

Continue reading “Machines ‘will have the power of a human brain by 2025’ — Gerd Leonhard” »

It truly takes more than 10 year products and services roadmap to retain a company’s competitive edge these days especially with the current sophisticated and high demand consumers. Futurists truly are the NextGen Disrupters.

In the first quarter of 2015, Millennials finally overtook Generation X as the largest cohort in the workplace — there are more than 53.5 million of them working today. Their massive size and economic power has had marketers and business leaders tracking the “Millennial mindset” for years.

And yet, nipping at their heels, here comes Generation Z, the oldest of who are just starting to come of age. The U.S. Census estimates that Generation Z will include close to 80 million members — a number that eclipses the conversation-dominating Millennials.

Continue reading “Think Like a Workplace Futurist” »

Since a gas leak erupted outside LA on October 23rd, over 83,000 metric tons of methane have escaped to the atmosphere, prompting public officials to evacuate the neighboring community of Porter Ranch. But as a disturbing new analysis shows, a much broader swath of LA is now drowning in methane.

The Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) is a Cambridge-based nonprofit that’s been shedding light on leaky natural gas infrastructure for years. Last week, HEET sent Boston University Professor Nathan Phillips and Bob Ackley of Gas Safety out to LA to measure pollution in the air surrounding Porter Ranch.

Continue reading “The LA Gas Leak Is Scarier Than We Thought” »

This battery technology could potentially end the hassles of overheating tech (so say “goodbye” to battery fires).

Read more