While the science and technologies behind the franchise are firmly rooted in fantasy, their enduring appeal has served as inspiration for many real-life scientists and engineers. Here are some of the most notable attempts to turn “Star Wars’” science fiction into science fact.
Exoplanets
“Plenty of forward-thinking companies have innovation divisions that try and predict the future, disrupt old models, and develop cutting-edge products. They don’t nest those divisions inside their human resources departments. So why shouldn’t gender diversity efforts be a part of corporate innovation?”
Economist Carlota Perez talk about the future of ICT.
A founding father of artificial intelligence talks about the great breakthroughs of his early years.
Bodycap develops innovative solutions, promoting new uses and is placed at the service of world players in the health and well-being.
Cryogenics are an old science fiction dream, but today we still struggle to store large tissues without harming them. Now a breakthrough could lead to a safer, more reliable approach.
” This could be an important step toward the preservation of more complex tissues and structures”
Overcoming past challenges
Cryopreservation of biological material is commonplace, but there are remaining challenges. The initial problem with freezing any cell is crystallization, in which ice crystals form and rupture cells. This was overcome by using molecules like ethylene glycol, which essentially act like anti-freeze and prevent crystallization from happening. These are very effective, but they’re also often toxic; damaging or killing some cells in the process. This has made storage of larger tissues very challenging.
NEW YORK, Aug. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — The Life Extension Advocacy Foundation (LEAF) officially launches Lifespan.io, an online platform designed to bridge the gap between longevity researchers and the public who support breakthroughs happening in this burgeoning field.
Lifespan.io is a website designed to house today’s most promising life extension projects. People are invited to contribute financially to the ones they wish to support. This unique approach to crowdfunding gives the public the opportunity to learn about longevity research, meet the people making it happen, and allows them to be a part of promising, historical breakthroughs in life extension technologies.
Researchers have found that changing a single gene in worms leads to a 70 percent increase in life span. Can this be replicated one day in humans? Catch #Breakthrough at 9pm EDT on the National Geographic Channel tonight to learn about the future of aging.
This breakthrough technology is great for both asteroid mining and determining whether an asteroid poses a threat to our planet.