Lifeboat Foundation

For decades, scientists have gathered ancient sediment samples from below the seafloor to better understand past climates, plate tectonics and the deep marine ecosystem. In a new study published in Nature Communications, researchers reveal that given the right food in the right laboratory conditions, microbes collected from sediment as old as 100 million years can revive and multiply, even after laying dormant since large dinosaurs prowled the planet.

The research team behind the new study, from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), the URI Graduate School of Oceanography, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, the Kochi University and Marine Works Japan, gathered the ancient sediment samples ten years ago during an expedition to the South Pacific Gyre, the part of the ocean with the lowest productivity and fewest nutrients available to fuel the marine food web.

“Our main question was whether life could exist in such a nutrient-limited environment or if this was a lifeless zone,” said the paper’s lead author Yuki Morono, senior scientist at JAMSTEC. “And we wanted to know how long the microbes could sustain their life in a near-absence of food.”

In recent interactions on Twitter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned that he is particularly excited about a new paint option called “deep crimson,” which would be offered on vehicles that are produced in Gigafactory Berlin. A recent photo taken of a Model S at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, may have just revealed what the mysterious shade could look like.

Tesla owner Ryan McCaffrey, who also hosts the Ride the Lightning Podcast, was recently given a rather interesting set of photos by one of his listeners. The images were quite unique since they feature a Model S painted in a shade that’s currently unavailable in Tesla’s current configurator. The paint itself is close to red, and it’s very reminiscent of the “crimson” shade used by other automakers.

@elonmusk Is this the “deep crimson” Tesla paint color you were talking about loving recently that’s planned for Giga Berlin? (I think this is your personal car given who sent me this photo).

Hurricane Douglas is forecast to sweep through Hawaii as a tropical storm or hurricane this weekend, where it could produce flash flooding, strong winds and pounding surf.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch for Oahu in addition to the Big Island of Hawaii and for Maui County, including Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe. Hurricane conditions are possible in this area Saturday night into Sunday, with tropical storm conditions possible as soon as Saturday evening.

After peaking at Category 4 intensity, Douglas is now slowly weakening as it churns several hundred miles east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, moving quickly west-northwest.

Douglas is currently a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 115 mph that extend 25 miles from the center of the storm. A major hurricane is any storm ranked Category 3 — sustained winds 111 to 129 mph — or stronger.

Land Life Company ❤

Boosting seedling survival rates from 10% to at least 90%.

For more on the Trillion Trees Challenge, visit UpLink: https://buff.ly/2O5nd3j

Team with NASA to send off the Perseverance rover to Mars — from the convenience of your own home. The mission launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida, this summer, and you’re invited to participate remotely — with a global, collective launch countdown where you can submit your own videos, take a photo on Mars or next to the rover, dive into an interactive launch packet, and sign up to send your name to Mars on a future space mission.

After a seven-month journey to the Red Planet, the rover will land in Jezero Crater, an ancient lakebed with intriguing geology. In its search for astrobiological evidence of ancient microbial life, Perseverance will gather rock and soil samples there for future return to Earth. It will also characterize the planet’s climate and geology and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.

In addition, Perseverance carries the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, a technology demonstration that marks the first attempt at powered, controlled flight on another planet.

Japan has been cleared by the US State Department to buy 105 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters as part of a package worth an estimated $23.11 billion.

The potential F-35 deal is the second largest foreign military sale approved by Washington in history, behind a $29.4 billion sale of Boeing F-15SA fighters and associated weapons to Saudi Arabia in 2010.

Pipeline owners Dominion and Duke Energy announced Sunday they were cancelling the fossil fuel project due to mounting delays and uncertainty. They said the many legal challenges to the project had driven up the projected costs by almost half, from $4.5 to $5 billion when it was first announced in 2014 to $8 billion according to the most recent estimate.

Environmental and community groups, who have long opposed the project on climate, conservation and racial justice grounds, welcomed the news.

Continue reading “Atlantic Coast Pipeline Canceled Following Years of Legal Challenges” »

Plasma is the 4th state of matter and it comes in many flavors. You probably know it from it’s greatest hits, fire and lightning, but there is a lot more to plasma than most people are aware of. Cold plasma is my personal favorite as it has the same beautiful glow that all plasma have, but it’s no warmer than room temp and feels cold to the touch. In this video we go through my year long journey to harness this weird state of matter into a torch that can be used for future experiments and in the lab.

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Continue reading “Cold Fire You Can Touch — DIY Cold Plasma Torch” »