Lifeboat Foundation

New research finds RNA

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule similar to DNA that is essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. Both are nucleic acids, but unlike DNA, RNA is single-stranded. An RNA strand has a backbone made of alternating sugar (ribose) and phosphate groups. Attached to each sugar is one of four bases—adenine (A), uracil (U), cytosine ©, or guanine (G). Different types of RNA exist in the cell: messenger RNA (mRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and transfer RNA (tRNA).

Researchers at Columbia University have created a superatomic material that’s being lauded as the “world’s best semiconductor.” Through a surprising twist of physics, it’s expected to allow processing (switching) speeds in the femtosecond scale. Here’s why it will most likely be a piece of the semiconductors puzzle, not its final shape.

Mosasaurs were a diverse group of marine lizards which, much like whales and other cetaceans, adapted to life in the oceans. And though we’ve been digging them up for 200 years now, new species are still being discovered. Recently a team of paleontologists discovered not just a new species but an entirely new genus in the Pembina Member of the Pierre Shale Formation in North Dakota, United States.

RELATED: Giant mosasaur digested large prey then spit up the bones

Researchers found a mostly complete skull and jaws as well as 7 cervical vertebrae, 5 anterior dorsal vertebrae, 11 ribs, and 3 structural bones supporting the brain called hypapophyseal peduncles. The bones belonged to an animal which lived approximately 80 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. Scientists dubbed the creature Jormungandr walhallaensis for Walhalla, North Dakota where it was found and for Jörmungandr, the world serpent from Norse mythology.

Researchers grew tobacco in soil samples taken from the Moon in a major breakthrough.

This was arguably the most momentous week for artificial intelligence since the launch of ChatGPT last year.

It was the biggest week in AI since the launch of ChatGPT.

Nvidia is on a tear.

But “there are no companies that are assured survival,” Huang warned Thursday at the Harvard Business Review’s Future of Business event.

Nvidia in its 30-year history has faced several existential threats, which helps explain why Huang recently told the Acquired podcast that “nobody in their right mind” would start a company. For example, it almost went bankrupt in 1995 after its first chip, the NV1, failed to attract customers. It had to lay off half its employees before the success of its third chip, the RIVA 128, saved it a few years later.

Continue reading “Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says his AI powerhouse is ‘always in peril’ despite a $1.1 trillion market cap: ‘We don’t have to pretend…we feel it’” »

We spent 90 minutes with the pin and its founders at Humane’s SF offices.

A few hours after this morning’s big unveil, Humane opened its doors to a handful of press.

A few hours after this morning’s big unveil, Humane opened its doors to a handful of press. Located in a nondescript building in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, the office is home to the startup’s hardware design teams.

Continue reading “Humane’s AI Pin up close” »

Plans are underway to bring the life story of Elon Musk to the big screen.

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A24, a renowned New York-based film production company, has secured the rights to produce a movie about the billionaire tech entrepreneur.

Continue reading “A24 secures rights to Elon Musk biopic with Darren Aronofsky as director” »

SpaceX has achieved a world record by delivering over 1,000 metric tons of mass to orbit this year, as its founder Elon Musk claimed.

SpaceX/Twitter.

The mission was launched by a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 10:49 am local time (1:49 pm EST; 1,849 GMT). The rocket’s first stage returned to the launch site and landed vertically about 7.5 minutes later. This was the 12th flight and recovery for this booster, per SpaceX’s mission details.

Continue reading “Elon Musk boasts of SpaceX’s world record after Transporter-9 launch” »