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Archive for the ‘innovation’ category: Page 141

Mar 1, 2020

NASA issues a Venus rover design challenge

Posted by in categories: innovation, space

Artist’s concept of the AREE Venus rover. The rover would be wind-powered and able to last on Venus’ hellish surface much longer than previous landers. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech.

There’ve been missions to Venus over the past decades, but Venus is a tough place to visit, with temperatures on its surface hot enough to melt lead. The last probe that landed on Venus’ hellish surface was part of the Vega 2 mission in 1985; it transmitted data from Venus’ surface for 57 minutes. Now NASA wants to visit Venus’ surface again, not with just another lander … but with a rover.

On February 21, 2020, NASA announced a public challenge to help design a future Venus rover called Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments (AREE). The challenge – Exploring Hell: Avoiding Obstacles on a Clockwork Rover – is specifically to develop an obstacle-avoidance sensor for the rover. The concept is being funded by a grant from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program.

Feb 28, 2020

Trauma stays in the body, it can have long term consequences on our baselines nervous system, it can make us hyper-vigilant and wired for anxiety

Posted by in categories: innovation, neuroscience

We call this PTSD. The question is whether we can reprogram our nervous system? In Stealing Fire, authors Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal discussed advances in psychology, technology, neurobiology and pharmacology — and whether they help us map healthy nervous systems? Can we then use that data and create new designer compounds to recalibrate the nervous systems of those suffering from PTSD? Can we tweak our nervous systems for human flourishing? I hope so. Recent breakthrough in MDMA psychotherapy might be only a taste of what’s to come. Filmed and toned by @j.elon.goodman ||@mapsnews @mapscanada @meetdelic @psychedelicsocietysf #psychedelics @synthesisrtrt #mentalhealth #creativity #depression #anxiety #psychotherapy #therapy #inspiration #motivation

Feb 27, 2020

Type 1 diabetes cured in mice using stem cells

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, innovation

According to new research, an innovative stem cell technique ‘rapidly cured’ severe type 1 diabetes in mice. The benefits lasted for at least 9 months.

Feb 25, 2020

Musk Reads: Why SpaceX’s Mars city could become a beacon of innovation

Posted by in categories: innovation, space travel

Starship could host entertainment and SpaceX is worth more than you think. What happened to last week’s Falcon 9? It’s Musk Reads: SpaceX Edition #145.

A version of this article appeared in the “Musk Reads” newsletter. Sign up for free here.

Feb 25, 2020

Sony’s PS5 DualShock 5 controller patent includes a creepy feature

Posted by in categories: entertainment, innovation

Sweaty palms are an inherent side effect of every intense gaming session, but the PlayStation 5’s DualShock 5 controllers might be able to sense your white-knuckling and alter the game you’re playing on the next-gen system. Is this an innovative and helpful new feature, or the next invasive step towards compromising the privacy of gamers?

Feb 25, 2020

Huge loss for mankind 😞

Posted by in categories: innovation, space travel

Great woman.


Her impeccable calculations had already helped plot the successful flight of Alan B. Shepard Jr., who became the first American in space when his Mercury spacecraft went aloft in 1961. • • Johnson’s work over 33 years propelled many of America’s breakthroughs in space exploration, including Neil Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind” on the Moon. • • Rest in Peace Ma’am 😓.

Feb 23, 2020

Scientists finally confirm a 50-year-old theory in mechanics

Posted by in categories: energy, innovation

An experiment by EPFL researchers has confirmed a theory that has been used in mechanics for over half a century—despite never having been fully validated. The team could now use the theory in bolder and more innovative ways in their quest to develop ever better energy systems.

Some theories are widely used even though they have never been experimentally validated. One example is the so-called narrow groove theory, or NGT, which explains how air-lubricated bearings work in .

The theory was proposed in 1965 but, until recently, it had only been tested partially or indirectly. Researchers at EPFL’s Laboratory for Applied Mechanical Design (LAMD), based at Microcity in Neuch tel, have now closed a gap that has persisted in the scientific literature for over 50 years. The team has published its findings in the journal Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing.

Feb 23, 2020

Protein breakthrough for degenerative eye disease

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, innovation

Scientists discover a new link between a protein and an eye condition which affects 1.5 million people.

Feb 22, 2020

Coronavirus vaccine breakthrough in Australia

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, innovation

Australian scientists have made a key breakthrough in a desperate bid to develop a vaccine for the killer coronavirus.

Researchers at the University of Queensland are making a fast-tracked attempt to make a cure for the disease, which has killed more than 2,200 people worldwide.

Continue reading “Coronavirus vaccine breakthrough in Australia” »

Feb 21, 2020

Fusion Startup Claims Breakthrough Will Provide “Unlimited” Energy

Posted by in categories: innovation, nuclear energy

The process even skips the “need for a heat exchanger or steam turbine generator” and can feed an electrical flow “almost directly into an existing power grid,” according to the company’s statement.

No nuclear waste, no steam, zero chance of a nuclear meltdown. It almost sounds too good to be true — but the startup still has a lot to prove. McKenzie admitted himself he doesn’t know if or when the startup’s idea could be turned into a commercial reality.

“I don’t want to be a laughing stock by promising we can deliver something in 10 years, and then not getting there,” he told New Atlas.