habitats – Lifeboat News: The Blog https://lifeboat.com/blog Safeguarding Humanity Tue, 17 Dec 2024 07:15:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 Android: The most complete humanoid robot replicates the human skeletal, muscular, vascular and nervous systems https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/android-the-most-complete-humanoid-robot-replicates-the-human-skeletal-muscular-vascular-and-nervous-systems https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/android-the-most-complete-humanoid-robot-replicates-the-human-skeletal-muscular-vascular-and-nervous-systems#respond Tue, 17 Dec 2024 07:15:13 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/android-the-most-complete-humanoid-robot-replicates-the-human-skeletal-muscular-vascular-and-nervous-systems

Built to full scale, it mimics our anatomy in an incredibly precise way. But it is not yet fully functional.


A muscuskeletal designed for the home.

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AI-powered crimefighting dog ‘Beth’ patrols Atlanta apartment complex https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/ai-powered-crimefighting-dog-beth-patrols-atlanta-apartment-complex https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/ai-powered-crimefighting-dog-beth-patrols-atlanta-apartment-complex#respond Thu, 12 Dec 2024 02:25:20 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/ai-powered-crimefighting-dog-beth-patrols-atlanta-apartment-complex

ATLANTA — An innovative approach to public safety is taking shape on Cleveland Avenue, where Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Lewis has partnered with the 445 Cleveland apartment complex to deploy AI-powered robotic dogs to deter crime.

The robotic dog, named “Beth,” is equipped with 360-degree cameras, a siren, and stair-climbing capabilities. Unlike other artificial intelligence robots like “Spunky” on Boulevard, Beth is monitored in real time by a human operator located in Bogotá, Colombia.

“Our operator who is physically watching these cameras needs to deploy the dog. It’s all in one system, and they are just controlling it, like a video game at home, except it’s not a video game—it’s Beth,” said Avi Wolf, the owner of 445 Cleveland.

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Drift Algal Accumulation in Ice Scour Pits Provides an Underestimated Ecological Subsidy in a Novel Antarctic Soft-Sediment Habitat https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/drift-algal-accumulation-in-ice-scour-pits-provides-an-underestimated-ecological-subsidy-in-a-novel-antarctic-soft-sediment-habitat https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/drift-algal-accumulation-in-ice-scour-pits-provides-an-underestimated-ecological-subsidy-in-a-novel-antarctic-soft-sediment-habitat#respond Mon, 09 Dec 2024 14:25:16 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/drift-algal-accumulation-in-ice-scour-pits-provides-an-underestimated-ecological-subsidy-in-a-novel-antarctic-soft-sediment-habitat

Ice scouring is one of the strongest agents of disturbance in nearshore environments at high latitudes. In depths, less than 20 m, grounding icebergs reshape the soft-sediment seabed by gouging furrows called ice pits. Large amounts of drift algae (up to 5.6 kg/m2) that would otherwise be transported to deeper water accumulate inside these features, representing an underestimated subsidy. Our work documents the distribution and dimensions of ice pits in Fildes Bay, Antarctica, and evaluates their relationship to the biomass and species composition of algae found within them. It also assesses the rates of deposition and advective loss of algae in the pits. The 17 ice pits found in the study area covered only 4.2% of the seabed but contained 98% of drift algal biomass, i.e., 60 times the density (kg/m2) of the surrounding seabed.

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The largest project in history, under the ocean: 5,000km and two continents linked by this https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/the-largest-project-in-history-under-the-ocean-5000km-and-two-continents-linked-by-this https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/the-largest-project-in-history-under-the-ocean-5000km-and-two-continents-linked-by-this#respond Sat, 07 Dec 2024 16:05:31 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/the-largest-project-in-history-under-the-ocean-5000km-and-two-continents-linked-by-this

Envision a settlement where the sunlight that beams across Australia buoy on its vast outback powers millions of homes and industries across Southeast Asia. This is how the Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) is being realized: the longest sub-sea cable in the world, linking northern Australia to Singapore, presently is one of the all-time break-through renewable energy developments. By virtue of this mammoth solar farm with its advanced energy transmission technology, this ambitious vision will shape the future energy systems around the world while addressing some critical climate issues.

Taking enormous advantage from its plentiful sunlight, northern Australia houses the world’s biggest Solar Precinct in its Northern Territory gathering between 17–20 GW peak electricity, a size surpassing that of Australia’s largest coal-fired power station.

The project incorporates advanced storage of 36–42 GWh, supplying 800 MW to Darwin and 1.75 GW to Singapore. In addition to reducing emissions and electricity prices for the Darwin region, it creates a renewable energy export marketplace for the region and demonstrates the use of the solar-rich area to meet 15 percent of Singapore’s electricity demand.

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Robots can learn new actions faster thanks to AI techniques https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/robots-can-learn-new-actions-faster-thanks-to-ai-techniques https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/robots-can-learn-new-actions-faster-thanks-to-ai-techniques#respond Sun, 01 Dec 2024 23:25:57 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/12/robots-can-learn-new-actions-faster-thanks-to-ai-techniques

They could soon show their moves in settings from car factories to care homes.

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Man Keeps a Rock For Years Hoping It’s Gold. It Turns Out to Be Far More Valuable https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/man-keeps-a-rock-for-years-hoping-its-gold-it-turns-out-to-be-far-more-valuable https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/man-keeps-a-rock-for-years-hoping-its-gold-it-turns-out-to-be-far-more-valuable#respond Fri, 29 Nov 2024 09:28:27 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/man-keeps-a-rock-for-years-hoping-its-gold-it-turns-out-to-be-far-more-valuable

In 2015, David Hole was prospecting in Maryborough Regional Park near Melbourne, Australia.

Armed with a metal detector, he discovered something out of the ordinary – a very heavy, reddish rock resting in some yellow clay.

He took it home and tried everything to open it, sure that there was a gold nugget inside the rock – after all, Maryborough is in the Goldfields region, where the Australian gold rush peaked in the 19th century.

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Are We Accidentally Building A Planetary Brain? https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/are-we-accidentally-building-a-planetary-brain https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/are-we-accidentally-building-a-planetary-brain#respond Wed, 20 Nov 2024 07:23:00 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/are-we-accidentally-building-a-planetary-brain

From superorganisms to superintelligences, how studying crabs could reveal that we are unintentionally building an artificial world brain.

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What SpaceX Gwynne Shotwell just declared before the Starship Flight 6 launch is mind-blowing https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/what-spacex-gwynne-shotwell-just-declared-before-the-starship-flight-6-launch-is-mind-blowing https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/what-spacex-gwynne-shotwell-just-declared-before-the-starship-flight-6-launch-is-mind-blowing#respond Mon, 18 Nov 2024 13:24:55 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/what-spacex-gwynne-shotwell-just-declared-before-the-starship-flight-6-launch-is-mind-blowing

Gwynne Shotwell discusses the transformative potential of SpaceX’s Starship program for space exploration and colonization, emphasizing its upcoming Flight 6, the importance of Starlink for revenue, and the integration of Tesla technologies for sustainable human habitats on Mars Questions to inspire discussion Launch.

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Study shows bats have acoustic cognitive maps https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/study-shows-bats-have-acoustic-cognitive-maps https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/study-shows-bats-have-acoustic-cognitive-maps#respond Sat, 09 Nov 2024 11:28:07 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/study-shows-bats-have-acoustic-cognitive-maps

This finding, published in Science, was demonstrated by researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, the Cluster of Excellence Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior at the University of Konstanz, Germany, Tel Aviv University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Would you be able to instantly recognize your location and find your way home from any random point within a three-kilometer radius, in complete darkness, with only a flashlight to guide you?

Echolocating bats face a similar challenge, with a local and directed beam of sound—their —to guide their way. Bats have long been known for their use of echolocation to avoid obstacles and orient themselves.

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Could Alien Life Thrive Without a Home Planet? Study Suggests Self-Sustaining Habitats May Be Possible Beyond Earth https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/could-alien-life-thrive-without-a-home-planet-study-suggests-self-sustaining-habitats-may-be-possible-beyond-earth https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/could-alien-life-thrive-without-a-home-planet-study-suggests-self-sustaining-habitats-may-be-possible-beyond-earth#respond Sat, 09 Nov 2024 11:23:24 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2024/11/could-alien-life-thrive-without-a-home-planet-study-suggests-self-sustaining-habitats-may-be-possible-beyond-earth

However, Dr. Robin Wordsworth of Harvard University and Dr. Charles S. Cockell of the University of Edinburgh argue that this focus has left unexplored possibilities for life in environments that don’t resemble our own.

In a preprint paper accepted for publication in the journal Astrobiology, researchers challenge conventional assumptions about extraterrestrial life and explore the feasibility of life existing in structures created by living organisms themselves.

As researchers suggest, life-supporting conditions created solely by biological structures could indeed exist, making it entirely possible for some forms of life to thrive in space habitats vastly different from those on Earth.

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