Lifeboat Foundation

Experiments suggest that hydrogen bonding explains why a wet surface can have nearly twice as much friction as a dry surface.

A wet floor poses a risk for slipping, but in certain cases, water added to a surface can increase friction. Researchers have now found that this phenomenon is partly explained by hydrogen bonds between the water and the surface, an effect that was not previously thought to play an important role [1]. The team reached this conclusion by studying the friction between two silicon surfaces under a range of wetness conditions. The researchers showed that heavy water produces greater friction than normal water—evidence that hydrogen bonding has an influence. The results could lead to a deeper understanding of the effects of humidity on friction.

The earliest friction studies looked at relatively large objects, such as a wood block sliding down an inclined surface. More recent efforts have focused on the nanoscale, exploring the friction forces on needle-like probes. These latter experiments have identified the friction mechanisms that operate at a single microscopic bump, or “asperity,” on a surface. But a missing piece is how to relate the friction at nanoscales to that at macroscales, says Liang Peng from the University of Amsterdam.

Many of us are guilty of giving up on a game because of a long grind or seemingly insurmountable challenge, but Sony’s latest patent shows the company wants to change that.

Some masochists enjoy the pain of being repeatedly beaten in games like Dark Souls – it’s understandable, overcoming those challenges is a great feeling – but most of us have a breaking point where the power button gets hit and the game just ends up collecting dust on a shelf.

Biophysist and Biochemist Dr. Maximilian Plach talks about a groundbreaking new technology for editing genes, called CRISPR-Cas9. The tool allows scientists to make precise edits to DNA strands, which could lead to treatments for genetic diseases … but could also be used to create so-called “designer babies.” Max reviews how CRISPR-Cas9 works — and asks the scientific community to pause and discuss the ethics of this new tool. Max has earned his PhD in biophysics and computational biology at the University of Regensburg, Germany. He is now Chief Scientific Officer of 2bind, a dynamic and growing company focused on providing biophysical research services for biotech and pharma industries. It is therefore no wonder that Max closely follows the latest breakthroughs and developments in biotech and biomedical technology. He is a long viewer and listener of TED talks; the more exotic, the better. Or who doesn’t remember the talk about the world’s worst city flags? This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Year 2021 face_with_colon_three

Codex, from OpenAI, can turn normal, conversational commands into programming, taking text to code.

Awareness about aging and early symptom of disease can extend life to much more year.

There has been plenty going on here at Lifespan.io, so we thought it was time to give you a little update on what’s been happening.

Continue reading “Raising Awareness that Aging is a Problem Worth Solving” »

SFGATE columnist Drew Magary on why this isn’t the holy grail — but it’s still a cause for celebration.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University have engineered the first-ever “Vagina on a Chip” in the world that replicates the human vaginal tissue microenvironment in vitro, Scientific American reported on Wednesday.

It is composed of the human vaginal epithelium and underlying connective tissue cells and it replicates many of the physiological features of the vagina, according to Harvard.

Best of all, it can be inoculated with different strains of bacteria allowing researchers to study their effects on the organ’s health.

Danuri, South Korea’s first deep-space exploration mission, is finally arriving at the moon after a four-month voyage.

The Danuri spacecraft was expected to begin entering lunar orbit at on Friday (Dec. 17) at 2:45 p.m. EST (1945 GMT, 2:45 a.m. Dec. 17 in South Korea), according to a statement (opens in new tab) from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). The maneuver, the first of five planned engine burns through Dec. 28 to refine Danuri’s orbit around the moon, will clear the way for the probe to get started on its lunar science objectives.

Scientists have shown how three vortices can be linked in a way that prevents them from being dismantled. The structure of the links resembles a pattern used by Vikings and other ancient cultures, although this study focused on vortices in a special form of matter known as a Bose-Einstein condensate. The findings have implications for quantum computing, particle physics and other fields.

The study is published in the journal Communications Physics.

Postdoctoral researcher Toni Annala uses strings and water vortices to explain the phenomenon: “If you make a link structure out of, say, three unbroken strings in a circle, you can’t unravel it because the string can’t go through another string. If, on the other hand, the same circular structure is made in water, the water vortices can collide and merge if they are not protected.”