mapping – Lifeboat News: The Blog https://lifeboat.com/blog Safeguarding Humanity Sun, 20 Apr 2025 06:03:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 Neural Fingerprints Predict Team Flow in Social Interactions https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/neural-fingerprints-predict-team-flow-in-social-interactions https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/neural-fingerprints-predict-team-flow-in-social-interactions#respond Sun, 20 Apr 2025 06:03:58 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/neural-fingerprints-predict-team-flow-in-social-interactions

Researchers have developed a novel algorithm that maps each person’s brain activity into a unique “neural fingerprint,” revealing stable, long-term neural traits.

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The most graceful animal in the ocean has inspired a propulsion system that could soon power our ships, thanks to Switzerland https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/the-most-graceful-animal-in-the-ocean-has-inspired-a-propulsion-system-that-could-soon-power-our-ships-thanks-to-switzerland https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/the-most-graceful-animal-in-the-ocean-has-inspired-a-propulsion-system-that-could-soon-power-our-ships-thanks-to-switzerland#respond Sat, 19 Apr 2025 22:03:54 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/the-most-graceful-animal-in-the-ocean-has-inspired-a-propulsion-system-that-could-soon-power-our-ships-thanks-to-switzerland

Innovation in maritime propulsion has reached a significant milestone with the development of a revolutionary technology inspired by one of the ocean’s most elegant creatures. Swiss engineering giant ABB has successfully tested its biomimetic propulsion system that replicates the graceful swimming motion of whales, potentially transforming how vessels navigate our seas.

Biomimetic innovation transforms maritime propulsion

The marine industry stands at the threshold of a major breakthrough with ABB’s latest innovation. The ABB Dynafin propulsion system draws inspiration from the efficient swimming techniques of cetaceans, creating a mechanism that could significantly reduce energy consumption across various vessel types. This technology comes at a crucial time as detailed ocean mapping reveals new underwater features that challenge traditional navigation methods.

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NASA’s Quantum Sensor Could Revolutionize Gravity Mapping https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/nasas-quantum-sensor-could-revolutionize-gravity-mapping https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/nasas-quantum-sensor-could-revolutionize-gravity-mapping#respond Sat, 19 Apr 2025 07:26:46 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/nasas-quantum-sensor-could-revolutionize-gravity-mapping

NASA and partners are building the first quantum gravity sensor for space, a breakthrough instrument that uses ultra-cold atoms to detect tiny shifts in Earth’s gravity from orbit. With potential applications ranging from mapping hidden aquifers to exploring distant planets, this compact, highly

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GOES‑19 Goes Live: Tracking Hurricanes, Lightning, and Solar Storms in Stunning Detail https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/goes%e2%80%9119-goes-live-tracking-hurricanes-lightning-and-solar-storms-in-stunning-detail https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/goes%e2%80%9119-goes-live-tracking-hurricanes-lightning-and-solar-storms-in-stunning-detail#respond Fri, 18 Apr 2025 10:07:45 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/goes%e2%80%9119-goes-live-tracking-hurricanes-lightning-and-solar-storms-in-stunning-detail

GOES-19 has taken over as NOAA’s primary geostationary eye in the Western Hemisphere, joining GOES‑18 to deliver unprecedented detail on global weather. It tracks hurricanes, atmospheric rivers, wildfires and more with high‑resolution imagery and lightning mapping. Its CCOR‑1 coronagraph keeps wa

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Neuroanatomical changes observed over the course of a human pregnancy https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/neuroanatomical-changes-observed-over-the-course-of-a-human-pregnancy https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/neuroanatomical-changes-observed-over-the-course-of-a-human-pregnancy#comments Fri, 18 Apr 2025 02:08:07 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/neuroanatomical-changes-observed-over-the-course-of-a-human-pregnancy

Neural changes in pregnancy are not well understood. Here Pritschet et al. present an open-access precision brain imaging resource, mapping neuroanatomical change in an individual from preconception through postpartum.

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Crystal clues on Mars point to watery and possibly life-supporting past https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/crystal-clues-on-mars-point-to-watery-and-possibly-life-supporting-past https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/crystal-clues-on-mars-point-to-watery-and-possibly-life-supporting-past#respond Thu, 17 Apr 2025 07:13:50 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/crystal-clues-on-mars-point-to-watery-and-possibly-life-supporting-past

A QUT-led study analyzing data from NASA’s Perseverance rover has uncovered compelling evidence of multiple mineral-forming events just beneath the Martian surface—findings that bring scientists one step closer to answering the profound question: did life ever exist on Mars?

The QUT research team led by Dr. Michael Jones, from the Central Analytical Research Facility and the School of Chemistry and Physics, includes Associate Professor David Flannery, Associate Professor Christoph Schrank, Brendan Orenstein and Peter Nemere, together with researchers from North America and Europe.

The paper, “In-situ crystallographic mapping constrains sulfate precipitation and timing in Jezero crater, Mars” is published in Science Advances.

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A Tiny Piece of Mouse Brain Has Finally Been Mapped in Mindblowing Detail https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/a-tiny-piece-of-mouse-brain-has-finally-been-mapped-in-mindblowing-detail https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/a-tiny-piece-of-mouse-brain-has-finally-been-mapped-in-mindblowing-detail#respond Fri, 11 Apr 2025 06:20:20 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/a-tiny-piece-of-mouse-brain-has-finally-been-mapped-in-mindblowing-detail

Trying to grasp the brain’s complexity is a little like trying to comprehend the vastness of space – it feels way beyond our scope of understanding.

By mapping a small part of a mouse brain down to an amazing level of detail, new research could help us grasp the magnitude of the neurological cosmos inside our heads.

Though the volume of brain matter analyzed was barely the size of a grain of sand, the researchers still had to describe the relationships between 84,000 neurons via half a billion synapse connections and 5.4 kilometers (3.4 miles) of neural wiring.

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NASA’s SPHEREx Sees 100,000 Galaxies at Once, and It’s Just Getting Started — “And Wow! Just Wow!” https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/nasas-spherex-sees-100000-galaxies-at-once-and-its-just-getting-started-and-wow-just-wow https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/nasas-spherex-sees-100000-galaxies-at-once-and-its-just-getting-started-and-wow-just-wow#respond Mon, 07 Apr 2025 10:21:26 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/nasas-spherex-sees-100000-galaxies-at-once-and-its-just-getting-started-and-wow-just-wow

NASA’s new space telescope, just opened its eyes to the universe and delivered its very first images from space. Though not yet fully calibrated, the images already showcase a sweeping view filled with stars and galaxies — over 100,000 sources in each frame.

SPHEREx detects invisible infrared light and splits it into 102 hues to reveal secrets about the origins of water, galaxy distances, and even the physics of the early universe. With all systems working and its ultra-chilled detectors focused and functional, the mission promises to revolutionize cosmic surveys by mapping the entire sky multiple times and complementing more focused telescopes like Hubble and Webb.

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Scientists Are Mapping the Boundaries of What Is Knowable and Unknowable https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/scientists-are-mapping-the-boundaries-of-what-is-knowable-and-unknowable https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/scientists-are-mapping-the-boundaries-of-what-is-knowable-and-unknowable#respond Sun, 06 Apr 2025 19:15:37 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/scientists-are-mapping-the-boundaries-of-what-is-knowable-and-unknowable

“I give you God’s view,” said Toby Cubitt, a physicist turned computer scientist at University College London and part of the vanguard of the current charge into the unknowable, and “you still can’t predict what it’s going to do.”

Eva Miranda, a mathematician at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) in Spain, calls undecidability a “next-level chaotic thing.”

Undecidability means that certain questions simply cannot be answered. It’s an unfamiliar message for physicists, but it’s one that mathematicians and computer scientists know well. More than a century ago, they rigorously established that there are mathematical questions that can never be answered, true statements that can never be proved. Now physicists are connecting those unknowable mathematical systems with an increasing number of physical ones and thereby beginning to map out the hard boundary of knowability in their field as well.

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Infrared heavy-metal-free quantum dots deliver sensitive and fast sensors for eye-safe LIDAR applications https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/infrared-heavy-metal-free-quantum-dots-deliver-sensitive-and-fast-sensors-for-eye-safe-lidar-applications https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/infrared-heavy-metal-free-quantum-dots-deliver-sensitive-and-fast-sensors-for-eye-safe-lidar-applications#respond Fri, 04 Apr 2025 11:27:26 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/04/infrared-heavy-metal-free-quantum-dots-deliver-sensitive-and-fast-sensors-for-eye-safe-lidar-applications

The frequency regime lying in the shortwave infrared (SWIR) has very unique properties that make it ideal for several applications, such as being less affected by atmospheric scattering as well as being “eye-safe.” These include Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), a method for determining ranges and distances using lasers, space localization and mapping, adverse weather imaging for surveillance and automotive safety, environmental monitoring, and many others.

However, SWIR light is currently confined to niche areas, like scientific instrumentation and military use, mainly because SWIR photodetectors rely on expensive and difficult-to-manufacture materials. In the past few years, —solution-processed semiconducting nanocrystals—have emerged as an alternative for mainstream consumer electronics.

While toxic heavy-metals (like lead or mercury) have typically been used, quantum dots can also be made with environmentally friendly materials such as silver telluride (Ag2Te). In fact, silver telluride colloidal quantum dots show device performance comparable to their toxic counterparts. But they are still in their infancy, and several challenges must be addressed before they can be used in practical applications.

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