Lifeboat Foundation

Abstract: A scientific theory of consciousness could be merely descriptive, nothing more than a kind of empirical, statistical phenomenology. We already have a lot of data which fit into this kind of modest theorizing. Better would be a theory which reveals the nature of consciousness. Here a famous gap looms between any such theory of consciousness and a theory of the conscious brain, neither of which are actually in our possession. The gap is so serious and so immense that it has led to remarkable responses, such as the illusionist view that consciousness does not exist. I think the gap suggests there are lurking assumptions about the nature of both consciousness and matter which are fundamentally at odds with one another. A ‘neutral monist’ view may be able to avoid these assumptions to find a place in nature for consciousness and scientific theorizing about it.

It can go into extremely tricky spaces and stop humans from putting their lives in danger.

A student-founded startup, Revolute Robotics, from Arizona has built the Hybrid Mobility Robot (HMR) – a fully autonomous bot that can roll to its destination and even fly over obstacles in its path. If the concept sounds interesting, just wait till you see it in action. It’s mesmerizing.

Continue reading “This autonomous robot rolls to its destination and flies over obstacles” »

K. Miller, Caltech/IPAC

White dwarfs are the burnt-out cores of dead stars that may have once resembled our sun.

This interface can bridge the gap between theory and experiment by allowing researchers to conduct real-time quantum-in-the-loop experiments.

Power grid equipment can now be interfaced with quantum computers! Power grids.

But, quantum computers offer hope as they can handle a large number of computations in a short amount of time. Quantum computing research is happening at light speed, and there is a potential for their use to optimize power grids.

Continue reading “Quantum-in-the-loop: A new interface that connects power grids and quantum computers” »

New scans of the site have confirmed the existence of an ‘underground labyrinth’.

The discovery implies horse-drawn chariots were once used in the region, but none have been found.

The prime contractor for the memorial was Morrison Monuments which has experience creating large-scale civic memorials of various shapes and sizes. Based out of Bellbrook, Ohio, Morrison Monuments was responsible for producing the four individual aircraft obelisks with wording and graphics, the center dedication obelisk, the concrete pad on which the memorial stands, the aircraft models and poles, and installing the memorial at the NMUSAF. A subcontractor, Spradlin Brothers of Springfield, Ohio, made the aircraft models.

In total, the project cost The Pioneers of Stealth $254,350, which the group was able to raise via internal fundraising. $234,850 of that total went towards the Morrison Monuments contract, while the remaining $19,500 has been paid to the Air Force Museum Foundation for “perpetual care” of the monument.

Plans for the memorial have been several years in the making. Back in early 2021, The Pioneers of Stealth initiated the ‘concept exploration’ phase for the memorial — during which members’ design concepts and inscription ideas were submitted for review by a special memorial committee. While the location for the memorial was already agreed upon, the design, graphics, and aircraft models to feature still needed to be narrowed down. The deadline for the first round of members’ entries was July 4, 2021.

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has announced that three researchers associated with the UAH Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR) have discovered a gamma-ray burst (GRB) approximately 2.4 billion light-years away in the constellation Sagitta that ranks as the brightest ever observed. Believed to have been triggered by collapse of a massive star, it is accompanied by a supernova explosion, giving birth to a black hole.

Dr. Peter Veres, an assistant professor with CSPAR, Dr. Michael S. Briggs, CSPAR principal research scientist and assistant director, and Stephen Lesage, a UAH graduate research assistant, collaborated on the discovery and analysis of the gamma-ray burst. The researchers operate the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) at UAH, a part of the University of Alabama System.

The GBM is an instrument in low-Earth orbit aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope that can see the entire gamma-ray sky not blocked by the Earth and hunts for GRBs as part of its main program.

Astronomers from the University of Washington in Seattle and elsewhere have conducted Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of the nearby Fireworks Galaxy. Results of the observational campaign, presented July 10 on the preprint server arXiv, yield crucial insights into the recent star formation history of this galaxy.

Discovered in 1,798, the Fireworks Galaxy (also known as NGC 6946) is a nearby face-on star forming spiral galaxy located some 25.5 million light years away. The galaxy has a size of 87,300 light years and its name was coined due to an unusually large number of supernovae observed in it—about ten times more than in the Milky Way.

Although many studies of the Fireworks Galaxy have been conducted to date, its star formation rate (SFR) is not well constrained, estimated to be between three and 12 solar masses per year. This discrepancy is mainly due to the diverse methods of measuring star formation rate and the wide range of different distances used.