Lifeboat Foundation

Consciousness.

More than 500,000 pieces of debris, or “space junk,” are tracked as they orbit the Earth. They all travel at speeds up to 17,500 mph, fast enough for a relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage a satellite or a spacecraft. If that sounds dangerous, that’s because it it is. The rising population of space debris increases the potential danger to all space vehicles, but especially to the International Space Station, space shuttles and manned spacecraft. NASA takes the threat of collisions with space debris seriously and has a long-standing set of guidelines on how to deal with each potential collision threat.

Want to imagine the soldier of the future? A look at video game super-soldiers gives you an ideal glimpse of the desired improvements.

As a US Army military veteran and a longtime gamer, I can attest that while being a soldier and playing one in a video game are very different experiences, there exist several functional overlaps in the goals and tools provided to achieve objectives.

For example, examine the differences and similarities between playing basic training in a game like America’s Army, and enduring an actual enlistment. America’s Army is designed to teach prospective soldiers what to expect both in training and actual combat. While the game version does not nearly prepare a player for the physical and psychological demands of actual basic training and participating in what Army operations entail, it does give an understanding of the objectives one would be expected to accomplish while in service and some of tools available to achieve those goals.

Continue reading “Video Games Predict Soldiers of the Future: The All-Seeing, Indomitable, Walking Tank” »

The new approach supports the development of quantum key distribution, a technology both businesses, and governments are very excited about.

Japan’s space agency wants to create a moon base with the help of robots that can work autonomously, with little human supervision.

The project, which has racked up three years of research so far, is a collaboration between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the construction company Kajima Corp., and three Japanese universities: Shibaura Institute of Technology, The University of Electro-Communications and Kyoto University.

Recently, the collaboration did an experiment on automated construction at the Kajima Seisho Experiment Site in Odawara (central Japan).

Continue reading “Can Robots Build a Moon Base for Astronauts? Japan Hopes to Find Out” »

This article opened with some fearful figures about cancer and its effect on people worldwide. But there’s reason to hope.

While the total number of new cancer cases and deaths continues to increase, the rates of cancer diagnoses and deaths decline each year — as absolute figures don’t account for rises in life expectancy, population growth, or aging populations. We’ve made great strides in understanding the disease and its various genetic and environmental origins. And events like Breast Cancer Awareness Month continue to educate the populace about the preventative measures available to them.

Thanks to scientists like those at the University of Basel in Switzerland, we may have more reasons to be hopeful very soon.

Continue reading “Will we win the battle against cancer?” »

“Why are we impatient? It’s a heritage from our evolution,” says Marc Wittmann, a psychologist at the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health in Freiburg, Germany. Impatience made sure we didn’t die from spending too long on a single unrewarding activity. It gave us the impulse to act.

Not long ago I diagnosed myself with the recently identified condition of sidewalk rage. It’s most pronounced when it comes to a certain friend who is a slow walker. Last month, as we sashayed our way to dinner, I found myself biting my tongue, thinking, I have to stop going places with her if I ever want to … get there!

You too can measure yourself on the “Pedestrian Aggressiveness Syndrome Scale,” a tool developed by University of Hawaii psychologist Leon James. While walking in a crowd, do you find yourself “acting in a hostile manner (staring, presenting a mean face, moving closer or faster than expected)” and “enjoying thoughts of violence?”

Continue reading “Why Your Brain Hates Slowpokes” »

The implant acted like scaffolding to bridge over spinal cord injuries.

These technologies sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but these companies are turning them into a reality.