Lifeboat Foundation

When Fortnite reached stratospheric popularity early last year, there were undoubtedly an awful lot of VCs on the sidelines looking enviously at the massive platform and wondering what opportunities could be gleaned from its rapid rise.

Epic Games went on to raise later that year at a nearly $15 billion valuation so some of those investors decided to invest directly in the Fortnite creator’s continued ascent, but others have been looking to get in on the ground floor of new operations that are aiming to rethink the line between video games and social networks.

Today, Andreessen Horowitz announced that it’s leading the $16.5 million Series A of a stealthy gaming startup called Singularity 6. The startup’s ex-Riot Games co-founders claim their venture is less focused on building a button-mashing competitive shooter than it is a “virtual society” where users can develop relationships with in-game characters powered by “complex AI”.

New research, published today in Nature, reveals how increasing brain stiffness as we age causes brain stem cell dysfunction, and demonstrates new ways to reverse older stem cells to a younger, healthier state.

The results have far reaching implications for how we understand the ageing process, and how we might develop much-needed treatments for age-related brain diseases.

As our bodies age, muscles and joints can become stiff, making everyday movements more difficult. This study shows the same is true in our brains, and that age-related brain stiffening has a significant impact on the function of brain stem cells.

The invention is an improved piston engine, either two stroke or four stroke. In one, two stroke, one cylinder embodiment, the improvement comprises two springs connecting between the piston and the base of the piston. These springs are relatively relaxed when the crank is at top dead center. Then during the power/intake stroke, some of the fuel’s energy is delivered to the crankshaft and some is used to compress the springs. The stored energy in the springs is delivered to the crankshaft during the exhaust/compression stroke while the springs return to their relatively relaxed condition. As a result, energy is delivered to the crankshaft during both strokes of the cycle, and the engine runs smooth.

In one, four stroke, two cylinder embodiment, each cylinder has springs as described above, the cranks of each cylinder are aligned, and the cam sets one cylinder in the power stroke while the other is in the intake stroke. As a result, the engine runs smooth because energy is delivered to the crankshaft during all four strokes of the cycle, during two of the strokes by the burning fuel and during the other two by the release of energy in the springs. In both embodiments, a heavy crankshaft is not needed because of the more uniform power delivery.

Ok, I saw this on Gizmodo (unexpectedly), and despite the fact that I’ve been blogging for five years now I’ve never actually seen something this amazing – the famous magnetic motor spinning by itself indefinitely, like this video shows.

Now, I don’t think there’s any trick involved, there couldn’t be, could it? Just watch the whole movie. If you see anything suspicious, let me know.

Continue reading “A REAL and WORKING Magnetic Motor Spinning Indefinitely” »

A Texas-based startup has raised US$4.5 million in seed funding to develop and commercialize a remarkable electric motor technology. The father/son team claims the design can massively reduce the size and complexity of electric powertrains while also significantly boosting efficiency and doubling the torque output.

A software engineer has built an impressive real-time counter-surveillance tool for Tesla vehicles on top of Sentry Mode.

It looks like something the CIA or James Bond would have in their car.

You’ll never have to buy gas again witht his human-powered car.

Polly takes a trip to Oregon USA to meet up with Charles Greenwood and take a spin in his human powered car.

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A breakthrough in understanding how the quasi-particles known as magnetic monopoles behave could lead to the development of new technologies to replace electric charges.

Researchers at the University of Kent applied a combination of quantum and classic physics to investigate how magnetic atoms interact with each other to form composite objects known as ‘magnetic monopoles’.

Basing the study on materials known as Spin Ices, the team showed how the ‘hop’ of a monopole from one site in the crystal lattice of Spin Ice to the next can be achieved by flipping the direction of a single magnetic atom.