Lifeboat Foundation

Life on a faraway planet—if it’s out there—might not look anything like life on Earth. But there are only so many chemical ingredients in the universe’s pantry, and only so many ways to mix them. A team led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has exploited those limitations to write a cookbook of hundreds of chemical recipes with the potential to give rise to life.

Their ingredient list could focus the search for life elsewhere in the universe by pointing out the most likely conditions—planetary versions of mixing techniques, oven temperatures and baking times—for the recipes to come together.

The process of progressing from basic chemical ingredients to the complex cycles of cell metabolism and reproduction that define life, the researchers say, requires not only a simple beginning but also repetition.

The space advocacy movement has announced an initiative to found the Mars Technology Institute, which aims to create the technologies necessary for establishing a presence on the red planet.

The Mars Society is a space advocacy organization established in 1998 by Dr. Robert Zubrin and other members. The association studies settlement technologies for Mars and educates the public on the benefits of such missions.

Continue reading “Mars Society establishes institute to advance colony on Mars” »

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe zoomed through a coronal mass ejection from the sun, a strong ejection of hot gas. The spacecraft captured footage of the dramatic solar system event.

General-purpose automation could radically improve society by vastly accelerating construction, manufacturing, and R&D. Just as the scale and complexity of today’s cities would have been unimaginable 200 years ago, we may see a similar factor of value growth over the next 50 years. Quality of life may dramatically increase as well. I envision that billions could be lifted out of poverty and the average person may live like today’s wealthiest top 1%. Space colonization might be made feasible. Keep in mind these projections are highly speculative. Nonetheless, it is worth considering the remarkable possibilities! #automation #tech #robotics #futurism

The rise of humanoid robots didn’t happen overnight, but a kind of perfect storm has accelerated the phenomenon over the past year and change. The foundation, of course, is decades of research.

Toiling away in research facilities and R&D departments laid the ground work for a new generation of technology. The necessary software and components have come a long way, driven by innovations in industrial robotics, autonomous driving and even the smartphone industry.

Continue reading “This is Apptronik’s humanoid robot, Apollo” »

Ever wondered what the Sun looked like in its infancy?

A new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured what Earth’s sun looked like when it was only a few tens of thousands of years old.

Recovery teams participate in field rehearsals in preparation for the retrieval of the sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range. The sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and will return to Earth on September 24th, landing under parachute at the Utah Test and Training Range. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber.

The OSIRIS-REx team also thought a lot about conditions on the ground itself. Late summer is monsoon season in the desert, so heavy rains could saturate the silty ground. Wet-cement-like mud would make driving difficult if off-road vehicles are required to help helicopters find and transport the capsule.

“We should know by the end of monsoon season how much precipitation we’ve received and the condition of the salt flats,” said Eric Nelson, a U.S. Army meteorologist supporting the mission. “A good indicator is Bonneville Speed Week, an annual racing event in August.” Since it went off without a hitch, “we’re probably okay.”

A 65-year old perplexing question may have finally been answered: Why is the Sun’s atmosphere hotter than its surface?

For over six decades, scientists have been baffled by a cosmic mystery of scorching proportions: Why is the Sun’s atmosphere, known as the corona, hotter than its surface?

Continue reading “ESA and NASA join forces to answer the Sun’s heating riddle” »

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has generated oxygen on Mars for the 16th and final time with the agency saying it exceeded expectations.

A device on the rover is known as MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment).

Since Perseverance first landed on Mars in 2021, MOXIE has generated 122 grams of oxygen. According to a NASA blog post about the success of MOXIE’s mission, this is about the amount a small dog breathes in 10 hours. Its 16th run on August 7 saw the microwave-sized device produce 9.8 grams of breathable oxygen.

Vertical farming saves water, land, and energy — and it could be how we grow food on Mars.

Subscribe here: http://freeth.ink/youtube-subscribe-verticalfarming.

Continue reading “Vertical farms could take over the world | Hard Reset by Freethink” »