Lifeboat Foundation

They might not work, but no one will know for sure unless they’re given a chance.

That’s the general idea behind the recent selection of five aviation-related technologies for vigorous study as part of NASA’s ongoing Convergent Aeronautics Solutions project during the next two years of so, which itself is now in its second year.

Researchers will study a new kind of fuel cell, increasing electric motor output with the help of 3D printing, use of Lithium-Air batteries to store energy, new mechanisms for changing the shape of a wing in flight and basing a new antenna design on the use of lightweight aerogel.

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Two analyses indicate that LIGO could have detected black holes that formed just after the Big Bang.

Through the lens of imagination, humankind has the ability to see far beyond the present. The strongest of these guiding visions tend to coalesce and together steer the trajectory of where we’re headed—even if we don’t arrive exactly where expected.

But what fuels the imagination? The information we consume paints a picture of the world we inhabit. Both sci-fi and forecasting offer fertile ground for stimulating thoughts about the future, while also helping us imagine the steps necessary to get us closer or further from the destination.

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IBM scientists have developed a new lab-on-a-chip technology that can, for the first time, separate biological particles at the nanoscale and could help enable physicians to detect diseases such as cancer before symptoms appear.

As reported today in the journal Nature Nanotechnology*, the IBM team’s results show size-based separation of bioparticles down to 20 nanometers (nm) in diameter, a scale that gives access to important particles such as DNA, viruses and exosomes. Once separated, these particles can be analyzed by physicians to potentially reveal signs of disease even before patients experience any physical symptoms and when the outcome from treatment is most positive. Until now, the smallest bioparticle that could be separated by size with on-chip technologies was about 50 times or larger, for example, separation of circulating tumor cells from other biological components.

IBM is collaborating with a team from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to continue development of this lab-on-a-chip technology and plans to test it on prostate cancer, the most common cancer in men in the U.S.

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Porsche concept electric Mission E car.

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The VASIMR engine being developed by Costa Rican physicist Franklin Chang Díaz is one step closer to proving itself the best technology for propelling the next generation of spacecraft.

It’s the feel good Autopilot story Tesla has been waiting for.

This pill could change treatment for type 2 diabetes forever.

The rapid growth of the world’s human population raises the issue of more efficient food production; one solution to the problem is “clean meat,” which is produced in the equivalent of meat fermenters, Bruce Friedrich, Executive Director of the Good Food Institute, told Radio Sputnik.

The world’s human population reached 7.4 billion in March 2016, having reached 7 billion in October 2011. In 2050, it is expected to reach 9.7 billion, raising the question of how to produce enough food for everybody.

Continue reading “How to Feed Ten Billion: Lab-Made ‘Clean Meat’ Burgers are Future of Food” »