Lifeboat Foundation

This will be the last invention humanity needs, says Ben Goertzel.

The Breakthrough Starshot is an effort backed by US$100 million from Russian investor Yuri Milner to vastly accelerate research and development of an interstellar space probe.

Leaders of the mission plan to start funding technology-development projects within months, with the aim of launching a fleet of tiny, laser-propelled probes in the next 20 years. The effort would ultimately cost about $10 billion, leaders hope, and take another 20 years to reach Alpha Centauri.

The first truly challenging step in any mission such as Breakthrough Starshot is to accelerate the spacecraft to interstellar velocities.

Continue reading “$100 million Breakthrough Starshot small interstellar probe project will start funding technological development in a few months” »

To learn more about Breakthrough Starshot, visit http://breakthroughinitiatives.org.

On the fifty-fifth anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s great leap into space, April 12, 2016, Yuri Milner was joined by Stephen Hawking at New York’s One World Observatory to announce Breakthrough Starshot, which will lay the foundations for humanity’s next great leap: to the stars. It was also announced that Mark Zuckerberg joined the board of the initiative.

Continue reading “Stephen Hawking Discusses Breakthrough Starshot” »

Pterostilbene showing some interesting potential for treating cancer.

One of the most common forms of cancer in the hematologic system is Multiple myeloma (MM) which affects plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that produces antibodies. With advanced symptoms bone pain, bleeding, frequent infections, and anemia may occur.

In studies, Pterostilbene has shown anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogenic properties which has led to the improved function of healthy cells and the inhibition of malignant cells. So far its anticarcinogenic action has been reported for lung, breast and prostate cancers. Today we will look at the latest research showing how it could be used to treat cancer patients.

Continue reading “Pterostilbene an anticarcinogenic breakthrough” »

Microsoft’s cofounder vows to change the “supply side” for breakthrough energy technologies by investing billions of his and his friends’ dollars.

What does the New Year have in store for #CRISPR? This blog presents 5 CRISPR-enabled breakthroughs to look for in 2017. (Partner content via Synthego)

Orcs? 😁

The breakthrough could one day lead to farm-grown organ transplants.

DURHAM, N.C. — Mechanical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated a tiny whirlpool that can concentrate nanoparticles using nothing but sound. The innovation could gather proteins and other biological structures from blood, urine or saliva samples for future diagnostic devices.

Early diagnosis is key to successfully treating many diseases, but spotting early indicators of a problem is often challenging. To pick out the first warning signs, physicians usually must concentrate scarce proteins, antibodies or other biomarkers from small samples of a patient’s body fluid to provide enough of a signal for detection.

While there are many ways to accomplish this today, most are expensive, time-consuming or too cumbersome to take to the field, and they might require trained experts. Duke engineers are moving to develop a new device that addresses these obstacles.