Lifeboat Foundation

In the nearby Whirlpool galaxy and its companion galaxy, M51b, two supermassive black holes heat up and devour surrounding material. These two monsters should be the most luminous X-ray sources in sight, but a new study using observations from NASA’s NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) mission shows that a much smaller object is competing with the two behemoths.

The most stunning features of the Whirlpool galaxy – officially known as M51a – are the two long, star-filled “arms” curling around the galactic center like ribbons. The much smaller M51b clings like a barnacle to the edge of the Whirlpool. Collectively known as M51, the two galaxies are merging.

At the center of each galaxy is a supermassive black hole millions of times more massive than the Sun. The galactic merger should push huge amounts of gas and dust into those black holes and into orbit around them. In turn, the intense gravity of the black holes should cause that orbiting material to heat up and radiate, forming bright disks around each that can outshine all the stars in their galaxies.

Continue reading “‘Extreme Relic’--Merging Black Holes Illuminated” »

A team of Cambridge researchers have found a way to control the sea of nuclei in semiconductor quantum dots so they can operate as a quantum memory device.

Quantum dots are crystals made up of thousands of atoms, and each of these atoms interacts magnetically with the trapped electron. If left alone to its own devices, this interaction of the electron with the nuclear spins, limits the usefulness of the electron as a quantum bit—a qubit.

Led by Professor Mete Atatüre, a Fellow at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, the research group, located at the Cavendish Laboratory, exploit the laws of quantum physics and optics to investigate computing, sensing or communication applications.

Continue reading “Physicists get thousands of semiconductor nuclei to do ‘quantum dances’ in unison” »

ISRAEL MOON LAUNCH LIVE: Watch as SpaceIL makes history by launching its Beresheet spacecraft to land on the moon. The SpaceX rocket will carry two other satellites as well. #IsraelToTheMoon

STORY: https://bit.ly/2X7rgPP

CREDIT: SpaceX

NIR BARZILAI HAS a plan. It’s a really big plan that might one day change medicine and health care as we know it. Its promise: extending our years of healthy, disease-free living by decades.

The more researchers learn about metformin, the more it seems like a medieval wonder drug that could extend lifespans in the 21st century.

Something about atoms has never added up. Fundamental particles called quarks get kind of sluggish once they’re caught up in crowds of protons and neutrons – and quite frankly, they shouldn’t.

For decades, physicists have hunted for clues on the quark’s tendency to slow down in larger atoms, but have come up empty-handed. But now, a closer look at old data has finally revealed a clue to explain this strange phenomenon.

A massive team of physicists known as the CLAS Collaboration (after the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer) recently ran through data gathered from previous experiments at the Jefferson Lab’s Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility.

Continue reading “Physicists Have Finally Solved a Fundamental Mystery Concerning The Insides of Atoms” »

This 3D-printed concept wheel by tyre manufacturer Goodyear uses living moss to absorb moisture from the road, before converting it into oxygen through photosynthesis.

The Oxygene tyre was revealed at this year’s Geneva Motor Show that officially kicked off yesterday, 8 March 2018.

The concept is a response to research conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that revealed more than 80 per cent of people who live in urban areas are exposed to air quality levels deemed to be unsafe.

Continue reading “Goodyear’s ‘living’ car tyre converts carbon dioxide into oxygen” »

The finding would explain early oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere—and it’s some fodder for sci-fi space breathing apparatuses.

An immune checkpoint molecule, SA-4-1BB developed for cancer immunotherapy also protects against future development of multiple types of cancer when administered by itself, shows a new study.

The recombinant protein molecule SA-4-1BBL has been used to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of cancer vaccines with success in pre-clinical animal models.

Circa 2016

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Electronic materials have been a major stumbling block for the advance of flexible electronics because existing materials do not function well after breaking and healing. A new electronic material created by an international team, however, can heal all its functions automatically even after breaking multiple times. This material could improve the durability of wearable electronics.

Continue reading “Self-healing, flexible electronic material restores functions after many breaks” »