Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: futurism – Page 4

Rocket Lab to launch European navigation tech demo satellites

WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab will launch a pair of European navigation technology demonstration satellites, as Europe again is forced to look outside the continent for launch services.

Rocket Lab announced June 25 it received a contract from the European Space Agency for the launch of two smallsats to test a proposed future low Earth orbit positioning, navigation and timing, or LEO-PNT constellation. Rocket Lab will launch the satellites on an Electron from its New Zealand launch complex no earlier than December.

The Pathfinder A satellites, one built by GMV and the other by Thales Alenia Space, are the first for a 10-satellite constellation intended to demonstrate LEO-PNT. The satellites will be launched into orbits of 510 kilometers.

Volcano Alert: Experts Predict Eruptions in France Imminent!

Though the last volcanic eruption in Puy-de-Dôme dates back to ancient times, there could be new occurrences in the future within the Central Massif. It is indeed true that a layer of lava lies beneath the region and is expected to eventually resurface.

In France, Puy de Dôme is not only known as a department but primarily as a volcano approximately 11,000 years old, with its last eruption occurring in 5,760 BC. Since then, no lava has flowed within France. However, this might not be a permanent situation, according to Guillaume Boudoire, a volcanologist at the Laboratory of Magmas and Volcanoes at Clermont Auvergne University. Interviewed by the Journal Du Net in an article published in April 2025, Boudoire spoke about a very likely “volcanic reactivation” in the Central Massif.

While the expert is certain of this reactivation, it’s crucial to note that forecasting future eruptions is extremely challenging. However, volcanic activity tends to follow cycles, alternating between active and dormant phases. The activity in the Central Massif is not extinguished but merely slumbering, having been dormant for 7,000 years.

USGS releases first-ever map of potential for geologic hydrogen in U.S.

RESTON, Va. — The U.S. Geological Survey today published the first map of the prospective locations of naturally-occurring geologic hydrogen resources in the contiguous United States, reflecting a systematic analysis of geologic conditions favorable for hydrogen that draws on a newly developed methodology.

People make riskier choices when stressed, and here’s why

When people are stressed, they make riskier decisions.

The biggest factor behind this change in behavior is a decrease in “loss aversion,” according to a recent study by University of Arkansas researchers, published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology. Loss aversion is the human tendency to be more affected by loss than gain. In other words, the pain of losing $100 is greater than the joy of winning $100.

The researchers also discovered that the are different for men and women. In general, stress has a greater impact on men’s decision-making. Under stress, women are also better at predicting the outcome of a decision, while men have a better grasp of the consequences of that outcome.

How harmonic mode-locked Mamyshev oscillators build up multiple laser pulses per cycle

The Mamyshev oscillator (MO) is a type of fiber laser capable of producing high-energy laser pulses at a tunable repetition rate. It is a mode-locked laser which uses light traveling within a closed-loop cavity to produce laser emission. Harmonic mode-locking (HML) is an advanced form of mode-locking process where multiple laser pulses are produced within one round trip of light. MOs employing HML are used for several advanced applications such as optical communication, frequency metrology, and micromachining.

Physicist Solves 120-Year-Old Thermodynamics Puzzle and Corrects Einstein

The paper argues that the third principle of thermodynamics follows from the second principle, rather than being a separate or independent concept. Professor José María Martín-Olalla of the University of Seville has published a paper addressing a thermodynamics problem that has remained unresolve