Lifeboat Foundation

Under normal temperature and pressure conditions, the reactor could efficiently convert plastic bottles and CO₂ into CO, syngas, and glycolic acid.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge developed a first-of-its-kind system that can simultaneously convert plastic waste and greenhouse gases into two chemical products by drawing energy from the sun.

The results are reported in the journal Nature Synthesis.

Continue reading “In a first, a solar-powered reactor converted plastic and greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels” »

Is AI coming for voice artists now?

Researchers at technology major Microsoft have unveiled their latest text-to-speech (TTS) generator, VALL-E that can be trained to mimic anybody’s voice in just three seconds. Unlike previous voice generators that sounded robotic, VALL-E sounds naturally human, and that may not be a very good thing.

Text-to-speech generators that gave voice to one of the greatest minds on the planet, Stephen Hawking, have come a long way. From reading messages on your smartphone to reading out pages from a book, these services are now everywhere and used by everyone.

It is also looking at a possible investment from Microsoft.

OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research company, is building an iOS app powered by its globally popular chatbot ChatGPT which helps users search for answers using an iMessage like interface. A beta version of the app is being tested currently, and a demo version was shared on the professional networking site LinkedIn.

Launched in November last year, ChatGPT made global news for its ease of answering even complex questions in a conversational manner. The algorithm that powers the chatbot, GPT3.5 is built by Open AI and is trained to learn what humans mean when they ask a question.

This is “an inspirational example of how the world can come together to address global challenges.”

The ozone layer may be recovered within a few decades thanks to human intervention, a report from the United Nations reveals.

The report shows that the 1987 international agreement to ban the use of harmful chemicals damaging the ozone layer has been a success, according to the BBC.

The finding that these “hidden” memories can be accessed once more, at least in mice, throws up a world of intriguing possibilities.

Neuroscientist Robbert Havekes and his team at the University of Groningen found that learning while sleep-deprived does not result in memory loss; rather, it is more difficult to recall.

“We previously focused on finding ways to support memory processes during a sleep deprivation episode,” says Havekes.

Continue reading “Researchers successfully bring mice’s memory back with an asthma medicine” »

Depending on how bright C/2022 E3 (ZTF) becomes, it could even be visible to the naked eye.

Scientists recently discovered a green comet that was last visible in the night sky 50,000 years ago — that’s so long ago that the Earth was in the midst of the Ice Age.

Now, a NASA blog post points out the fact that the comet will make its closest approach to the sun on January 12. It will be close enough to Earth that it may be visible to the naked eye.

Continue reading “A green comet will soon be visible from Earth for the first time in 50,000 years” »

Galactic shock is changing Stephan’s Quintet in enigmatic ways, according to ALMA and JWST.

New observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) allowed researchers to see the complex interactions within the multi-galaxy collision event known as Stephan’s Quintet.

Stephan’s Quintet is a group of five galaxies-NGC 7,317, NGC 7318a, NGC 7318b, NGC 7,319, and NGC 7,320, located about 270 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus.

Naeblys/iStock.

Also known as lecanemab, Leqembi is the second drug of its kind – a medication that has been approved for treating Alzheimer’s disease. This type of medication targets the fundamental pathophysiology of the disease and is considered a significant development in the effort to successfully treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Time to reverse your age and restore youth.

Scientists at a San Diego-based biotech company Rejuvenate Bio claim to have increased the age of mice by reprogramming their genes. They believe their gene therapy actually works like a reverse aging technique that one day might be used for rejuvenating humans.

Continue reading “Scientists reprogrammed mice’s genes to live longer, and it worked!” »