Lifeboat Foundation

Israel’s Urban Aeronautics is the latest to enter the growing Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) airspace with an aircraft that, at the very least, has a pretty cool name.

The “CityHawk” has been referred by Autoevolution as the “world’s first wingless” eVTOL vehicle. The rotors of other flying EVs like the Volocopter 2X and New Future Transportation ASKA protrude from body. But the CityHawk’s “Fancraft” system features two, counter-rotating ducted rotors partially enclosed behind and in front of the cockpit.

The NASA VIPER rover – a precursor mission to human landings in the south polar region of the Moon, and a mission started in 2019 under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program – has had its landing site selected for its 2023 mission. The rover, known as the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, is now scheduled to land west of Nobile Crater in the lunar south polar region sometime in late 2023 after its launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

This mission, costing $660 million, is one of several that will launch to the Moon in the next two years and is notable for being the first NASA rover to launch as a customer aboard a commercial lander.

The golf cart-sized VIPER rover will be mounted onto a Griffin lunar lander built by Astrobotic, a Pittsburgh-based company developing various lunar spacecraft that can carry payloads into lunar orbit or onto the lunar surface. After landing, VIPER will roll out onto the lunar surface with the help of a pair of ramps mounted on the lander and conduct checkouts before starting its surface mission.

So much room for activities.

This void spans across nearly 500 light years.

Although space is vast, it mostly teems with gas, dust, rocky objects, or stars. But this region wedged between the star-forming clouds was bare, puzzling the astronomers.

Continue reading “A strange void found in space could solve an enduring mystery” »

Is an academic doctor and medical technology entrepreneur, working in the field of the computational biology of aging.

Dr. Radenkovic is also a Partner at the SALT Bio-Fund, and a co-founder of Hooke, an elite longevity research clinic in London.

Continue reading “Dr. Dina Radenkovic, MD — Longevity Physician, Med-Tech Entrepreneur, Thought Leader, Financier” »

SpaceX released its plans for the Starbase facility at Boca Chica Beach, Texas, in a 152-page draft document submitted to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The document is a Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA), that evaluates the potential impacts of SpaceX operations at the beach village. It provides an elaborate overview of the company’s Starship development plans and how spaceflight activities may affect the region. The FAA is accepting public comments about SpaceX’s proposed activities at Boca Chica, information linked below.

Please add your voice to the public comments. Support is greatly appreciated!

Humanity’s future on the moon, Mars & beyond depends upon it.

Bacteria may get a bad reputation in general, yet it’s actually generally healthy and serves an important role in many habitats, including human bodies. From supporting life on Earth to being employed in industrial and medicinal processes, bacteria have their figurative fingers in many pots — some varieties of bacteria can even filter tainted water and make it safe for human consumption.

A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU) has found a bacteria that can do just that — Named “microbacterium paraoxydans strain VSVM IIT (BHU)” by the scientists, it can separate toxic hexavalent chromium from water in an effective and eco-friendly manner, according to a research published in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering.

Hexavalent chromium is a heavy metal ion that is used in electroplating, welding, and chromate painting, among other things. It’s said to be responsible for health problems in humans like cancers, kidney and liver malfunctioning, and infertility. When compared to current approaches, the scientists believe that this bacterial strain, which can tolerate high amounts of hexavalent chromium, is particularly successful at eliminating the harmful substance from wastewater.

It turns out, Mars was always fated for a waterless destiny.

New observations from robotic explorers like NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity have revealed much about the ancient past of the Red Planet, where liquid water flowed throughout the planet’s surface. It used to have lakes, streams, rivers, and perhaps even a colossal ocean stretching around the horizon of Mars’ northern hemisphere. For decades, scientists have thought the weakening of the Martian magnetic field enabled charged particles from the sun to strip away the atmosphere, literally blowing away the bodies of water.

Continue reading “Alien Planets Are Even Less Habitable Than We Thought” »

Advocates of the fat-but-fit approach to obesity treatment argue that improving fitness, even in the absence of weight loss, can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality.

New research suggests that improving fitness is at least as effective as weight loss for staving off obesity-related cardiovascular disease and mortality risks.