Lifeboat Foundation

The idea that science skills are innate and great discoveries are made only by “lone geniuses” is losing traction in STEM.

Brain cancer kills more Australian children than other cancers; University of Melbourne research finds genetically engineered killer T-cells could change that.

Geologists first noticed something unusual in the Indian Ocean in November last year, when they detected a massive seismic event originating from a spot near to the French island of Mayotte. Now further research has revealed that the source of the seismic activity is an enormous underwater volcano.

The people living on Mayotte, located between Madagascar and Mozambique off the coast of Africa, had been worried by seismic tremors for months. They were experiencing small earthquakes daily, Laure Fallou, a sociologist with the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre in Bruyères-le-Ch tel, France, told Science. People “needed information,” she said. “They were getting very stressed, and were losing sleep.”

Maps of the seafloor showed a dramatic and recent change: a structure 800 meters high and 5 kilometers (3 miles) across had appeared on the ocean floor where there had been nothing before. A research team from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) were dispatched to investigate and placed six seismometers near the area of activity on the ocean floor, 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) beneath the surface.

Continue reading “Scientists Discover Unexpected Underwater Volcano off the Coast of Africa” »

PARTICLE physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) are tracking down elusive particles of dark matter with the aid of dark photons, CERN has spectacularly announced.

Microorganisms like bacteria and fungi are increasingly becoming resistant to our best drugs, which is hurtling us towards a terrifying future where once-easily-treated infections become potentially life-threatening again. In a new approach to this problem, researchers from the University at Buffalo and Temple University have tested an alternative to antibiotics that uses existing drugs to starve a fungal infection of vital nutrients.

An exciting new study from the University of Cambridge is demonstrating how a novel virtual reality navigation test can better predict which patients are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease compared to other currently used “gold standard” cognitive tests.

Researchers from Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg present a new method which can double the energy of a proton beam produced by laser-based particle accelerators. The breakthrough could lead to more compact, cheaper equipment that could be useful for many applications, including proton therapy.

Proton therapy involves firing a beam of accelerated protons at cancerous tumours, killing them through irradiation. But the equipment needed is so large and expensive that it only exists in a few locations worldwide.

Modern high-powered lasers offer the potential to reduce the equipment’s size and cost, since they can accelerate particles over a much shorter distance than traditional accelerators — reducing the distance required from kilometres to metres. The problem is, despite efforts from researchers around the world, laser generated proton beams are currently not energetic enough. But now, the Swedish researchers present a new method which yields a doubling of the energy — a major leap forward.

Continue reading “Colliding lasers double the energy of proton beams” »

Dr. Hale is a Highly Professional and Experienced Influencer, problem-solving educator and researcher. A multi-award-winning author and speaker on Autism and Aspergers. He is able to explain, design, and administer a wide range of strategies, coaching, and courses to levels in an effective and flexible manner within a broad spectrum of different environments.

His latest book can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Aspergers-Auti?tag=lifeboatfound-20…

Continue reading “Anything Goes Project: Dr. Hale author of Asperger’s, Autism and You” »

No matter how good a material is at conducting electricity, there’s usually some resistance – unless you use superconductive materials. Since they can conduct electricity with absolutely no loss, they could be revolutionary if not for one little problem: they only work if kept extremely cold. But now researchers at Max Planck have reported a new record high temperature for superconductivity, at a toasty −23° C (−9.4° F).