Lifeboat Foundation

It was unusually bright and evolving fast.

Both SpaceX and NASA are eager to get the Dragon cargo spacecraft back to Earth now that it has fulfilled its duties in bringing much-needed supplies to the crew aboard the International Space Station. The ship was originally expected to be released from the ISS earlier this week but plans have since changed, and NASA now expects the space station to bid farewell to the Dragon on Sunday afternoon instead.

Prior to this latest change, the most recent schedule would have seen the ISS release the Dragon on Sunday morning, but now NASA says it wants to release it later due to some weather quirks back on Earth.

They’re small, efficient and capable of basic reasoning, and researchers want artificial intelligence tools to do the same.

Living in extreme conditions requires creative adaptations. For certain species of bacteria that exist in oxygen-deprived environments, this means finding a way to breathe that doesn’t involve oxygen. These hardy microbes, which can be found deep within mines, at the bottom of lakes, and even in the human gut, have evolved a unique form of breathing that involves excreting and pumping out electrons. In other words, these microbes can actually produce electricity.

Scientists and engineers are exploring ways to harness these microbial power plants to run fuel cells and purify sewage water, among other uses. But pinning down a microbe’s electrical properties has been a challenge: The cells are much smaller than mammalian cells and extremely difficult to grow in laboratory conditions.

Now MIT engineers have developed a microfluidic technique that can quickly process small samples of bacteria and gauge a specific property that’s highly correlated with bacteria’s ability to produce electricity. They say that this property, known as polarizability, can be used to assess a bacteria’s electrochemical activity in a safer, more efficient manner compared to current techniques.

Continue reading “Technique identifies electricity-producing bacteria” »

Originally started as a free-access university course, Finland’s “1 percent” AI scheme is now being rolled out nationally with the support of private companies and the government.

Inside Finland’s plan to train its population in artificial intelligence.

A universe of possibility… grey infused by color, the invisible revealed, the mundane blown away by awe.

Scientists working with the Event Horizon Telescope project may have have captured an image of a black hole in the Milky Way, which could be ‘the most iconic ever’.

Scientists have suggested that for the first time, they may have finally captured what could end up being the first image of a black hole within the Milky Way. A team of international astronomers have been hard at work analyzing two specific areas of space located in Sagittarius A and M87 through the Event Horizon Telescope project (EHT), and have reported that they have discovered what amounts to “spectacular” data during their research, which in this case, would be the faint image of the silhouette of a black hole.

According to the Daily Mail, this image may very well prove to be “one of the most iconic ever.” The scientists involved with the EHT collaboration are currently analyzing tremendous amounts of data from 2017, and this data is set to be made public later on this year.

Continue reading “Scientists Suggest They May Have Captured The Very First Image Of A Black Hole Within The Milky Way” »

The former Cambridge professor had received the highest honour in his subject — a Fields Medal.

Today in the Mail’s pullout, the twins focus on anti-ageing your brain, and show you simple strategies to give it a boost — from telling you why you’re becoming forgetful to revealing the techniques you can use to improve brain health and function.

Yes, in the ‘spouse’ seat during counselling was Xand, his identical twin and fellow telly doctor.

It’s quite a revelation that these two — both contenders for the title of TV’s sexiest doctor, surely — have a relationship that might require them even to think of counselling.

Continue reading “Doctor double act can help you live healthier for longer in their anti-ageing series for the Mail” »