Lifeboat Foundation

A tailsitter is a special kind of fixed-wing aircraft that sits on its tail when it is on the ground and then tilts horizontally for forward flight.

In the ever-evolving world of aerial technology, MIT’s researchers have given wings to the brilliance of aircraft design with their new algorithms for tailsitter drones. This breathtaking technology is enabling these aircraft to execute astounding acrobatics and challenging maneuvers, paving the way for futuristic applications in search-and-rescue, parcel delivery, and more.

Continue reading “How MIT researchers made tailsitter drones fly like acrobats” »

Heata is now using these busy servers to heat water for homes.

Using heat generated by computers to provide free hot water was an idea born not in a high-tech laboratory, but in a battered country workshop deep in the woods of Godalming, England.

“The idea of using the wasted heat of computing to do something else has been hovering in the air for some time,” explains Chris Jordan, a 48-year-old physicist, “but only now does technology allow us to do it adequately.

Nvidia’s second-quarter earnings, which were reported Wednesday after markets closed, prove there is money to be made — and lots of it — selling the picks and shovels of the generative AI boom.

“A new computing era has begun. Companies worldwide are transitioning from general-purpose to accelerated computing and generative AI,” Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement.

Huang isn’t wrong. Nvidia has become the main supplier of the generative AI industry. The company’s A100 and H100 AI chips are used to build and run AI applications, notably OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Demand for these demanding applications has grown steadily over the last year, and infrastructure is shifting to support them.

The Clearspace-1 mission is due to launch in 2026, but its target may have smashed into more space debris flying around Earth.

A European space debris cleanup mission run by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Swiss startup ClearSpace has been adversely affected by space debris.

The mission, called ClearSpace-1, is aiming to collect a Vespa payload adapter left in low Earth orbit by a Vega rocket over a decade ago.

Scientists use AI-powered brain-computer interface (BCI) to decipher speech.

Brain chips, a current research focus, are used for recording brain activity and treating several neurodegenerative diseases. In May this year, a man who lost the ability to talk because of a motorcycle incident stood up after 12 years thanks to brain implants that provided a bridge for communication between his brain and spinal cord.

Another area in which brain implants have shown significant potential is deciphering speech. Decoding brain signals to speech.

Continue reading “Brain implants and AI help voiceless patients to speak up” »

The company calls it the iPhone of bots as development partners will further applications of this humanoid robot.

Texas-based Apptronik unveiled its first commercial humanoid robot designed to complement the industrial workforce by doing repetitive tasks that humans do not want to do, a press release said. The bot is pocket-friendly and aims to be interaction friendly, making it easier to work alongside humans even in some of the toughest environments, a definite competitor for Tesla’s humanoid bot Optimus.

Continue reading “Humanoid robot Apollo could rival Tesla’s Optimus bot” »

SBUDNIC was a small cube satellite, about the size of a bread loaf, that was launched on a SpaceX rocket in May 2022.

Space junk is a serious issue that threatens the safety and sustainability of orbital activities. To address this problem, a team of students from Brown University designed and built a low-cost cube satellite that successfully deorbited itself after completing its mission. The satellite, named SBUDNIC, used a simple plastic drag sail to increase its atmospheric drag and hasten its reentry.

As per the press release, the small cube satellite has burned up high above Turkey after 445 days in orbit. Its reentry into Earth’s atmosphere on Tuesday, Aug. 8, marked the successful conclusion of a low-cost experiment aimed at reducing space debris, five years ahead of schedule.

The team conceptualized this robot based on real dogs’ motor control processes.

Robotic dogs are considered valuable future assets in various fields, including warfare, package delivery services, and search and rescue operations, to name a few. And the ones with the dexterity to navigate on extremely rough terrain could be game-changers for future space exploration.

Continue reading “Robotic dog runs independently on a treadmill with no support” »

Only five bots will be made and are priced at $2.5 million a piece.

Japanese company Tsubame pulls this straight from science fiction and makes Transformer-like mecha robots. The first, dubbed Archax, has a cockpit where a human can sit to pilot the bot and, at the touch of a button, can even take a different form. Although not with the finesse, the Autobots manage with animation in the movie franchise.

Continue reading “Archax, the 15 foot tall mecha that can be piloted by a human” »