Lifeboat Foundation

A new ultra-low-power method of communication at first glance seems to violate the laws of physics. It is possible to wirelessly transmit information simply by opening and closing a switch that connects a resistor to an antenna. No need to send power to the antenna.

Our system, combined with techniques for harvesting energy from the environment, could lead to all manner of devices that transmit data, including tiny sensors and implanted medical devices, without needing batteries or other power sources. These include sensors for smart agriculture, electronics implanted in the body that never need battery changes, better contactless credit cards and maybe even new ways for satellites to communicate.

Continue reading “Device transmits radio waves with almost no power—without violating the laws of physics” »

It is powerful enough to maneuver over obstacles.

The University of Illinois researchers’ newly developed insect-sized jumping robots will do tasks in small and tight places. The creation of jumping robots is also a significant advance in mechanical, agricultural, and search-and-rescue environments, according to the university.

Continue reading “Newly developed beetle-inspired robot uses elastic energy” »

Chapter 1: 0:00 — 25:49
Chapter 2: 26:00 — 43:44
Chapter 3: 43:55 — 1:25:36
Chapter 4: 1:25:48 — 1:49:50
Chapter 5: 1:50:00 — 2:17:16
Chapter 6: 2:17:27 — 2:49:22
Chapter 7: 2:49:29 — 3:19:09
Chapter 8: 3:19:32 — 3:52:27
Chapter 9: 3:52:38 — 4:01:57
Chapter 10: 4:02:04 — 4:13:39
Chapter 11: 4:13:48 — 4:47:54
Chapter 12: 4:48:03 — 5:12:22
Chapter 13: 5:12:32 — 5:32:24
Chapter 14: 5:32:33 — 5:50:33
Chapter 15: 5:50:42 — 6:05:56
Chapter 16: 6:06:06 — 6:30:30
Chapter 17: 6:30:40 — 6:50:40
Chapter 18: 6:50:49 — 7:25:54

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Continue reading “Brave New World complete dramatised audiobook” »

When P M Murugesan decided to discontinue his education to join his father’s farming business, he had many ideas in mind. In particular, he wanted to work with the banana plant, being well aware that though farmers end up burning tonnes of banana waste, there’s a utility to each part of the crop.

In 2008, he started thinking of ways to make products out of banana waste. He found the idea of making ropes interesting.

“The idea struck me when I saw banana threads being used to thread flowers for garlands. I used the machine that turns coconut husk into a rope as the base and modified it to work well for processing banana fibre,” says the innovator.

Last week, Rice University in Houston announced that one of its assistant professors of bioengineering, Jerzy Szablowski, received a Young Faculty Award from DARPA to research non-genetic drugs that can “temporarily enhance the human body’s resilience to extreme cold exposure.”

Thermogenesis is the use of energy to create heat, and our bodies have two different ways of doing this. One is shivering, which we’re all familiar with. The other, which Szablowski simply calls non-shivering thermogenesis, involves burning off brown adipose tissue (BAT), or brow n fat.

This type of fat exists specifically to warm us up when we get cold; it stores energy and only activates in cold temperatures. Most of our body fat is white fat. It builds up when we ingest more calories than we burn and stores those calories for when we don’t get enough energy from food. An unfortunate majority of American adults have the opposite problem: too much white fat, which increases the risk of conditions like heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

Nearly a year after it began, the worst avian-influenza outbreak in U.S. history is continuing to decimate poultry flocks across the Midwest and Colorado, frustrating efforts to keep the virus from affecting the nation’s egg prices and supply.

In South Dakota, the highly contagious bird flu, typically transmitted by the feces, mucus and saliva of wild birds, first hit commercial poultry farms in March 2022 and has continued to affect flocks. Within the last month, egg-laying hens and turkeys at several local farms were infected, leading to the deaths of more than 1.3 million poultry over that period, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Nearly four million poultry have died in the state since the start of the outbreak.

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If these organisms are eating viruses in nature, it could change the way scientists think about global carbon cycling.

Stem cells are a remarkable biological wonder that have the ability to repair, replace and regenerate cells. In most animals and humans, stem cells are limited to generating only specific types of cells. For example, hair stem cells will only produce hair, and intestine stem cells will only produce intestines. However, many distantly-related invertebrates.

Invertebrates are animals that do not have a backbone. They make up the majority of the animal kingdom and include animals such as insects, worms, mollusks, and arachnids. Invertebrates are found in almost every habitat on Earth, from the depths of the oceans to the highest mountains. They play important roles in the ecosystem as decomposers, pollinators, and as a food source for other animals. Invertebrates have a wide range of body shapes, sizes, and behaviors, and they have evolved a variety of ways to survive and thrive in their environments.

The chipmaker is showcasing how a robotics startup is using its simulation platform to train robots to pick up food like pieces of chicken.