Lifeboat Foundation

Scientists ask the public for help in figuring out which signals are real.

A University of Toronto astronomer’s research suggests the solar system is surrounded by a magnetic tunnel that can be seen in radio waves.

Jennifer West, a research associate at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, is making a scientific case that two bright structures seen on opposite sides of the sky – previously considered to be separate – are actually connected and are made of rope-like filaments. The connection forms what looks like a tunnel around our solar system.

The data results of West’s research have been published in the Astrophysical Journal.

Researchers working with the 500-Meter FAST telescope in China reported 1,652 fast radio bursts in 47 days coming from a single source.

The energetic phenomena known as Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are one of the greatest cosmic mysteries today. These mysterious flashes of light are visible in the radio wave part of the spectrum and usually last only a few milliseconds before fading away forever. Since the first FRB was observed in 2,007 astronomers have looked forward to the day when instruments of sufficient sensitivity would be able to detect them regularly.

Continue reading “Something Really Wants our Attention. One Object Released 1,652 Fast Radio Bursts in 47 Days” »

Scientists at the University of Chicago say that they’ve successfully created a “strange” new state of matter in the laboratory called “superionic ice” — and that the stuff might already exist inside planets in our solar system.

“It was a surprise — everyone thought this phase wouldn’t appear until you are at much higher pressures than where we first find it,” co-author and University of Chicago researcher Vitali Prakapenka said in a press blurb. “But we were able to very accurately map the properties of this new ice, which constitutes a new phase of matter, thanks to several powerful tools.”

Prakapenka’s team used a particle acclerator to fire electons between two pieces of diamond, creating unfathomable pressures of 20 gigapascals in a sample of water and causing it to form an entirely new structure that reverted when they relieved the pressure.

Title: A data analysis of the first hermetic seal of SAM–a hi-fidelity, hybrid physicochemical and bioregenerative human habitat analog at the Biosphere 2

Track Code: AM-8

Continue reading “First Seal of Historic SAM Analog at Biosphere 2 — Kai Staats — 2021 Mars Society Virtual Convention” »

NASA has released a new video that imagines future human explorers and space tourists.

Robotic missions have toured much of our Solar System – but so far, the only place beyond Earth where humans have stood is the Moon. That may change in the coming decades, with space agencies vying to achieve the historic milestone of putting the first astronaut on Mars. Towards the end of this century, as the cost of launching into space is reduced to a few cents per kilogram, space tourism may become as cheap as a transatlantic flight today. New forms of space propulsion in the 22nd century and beyond may open up the stars to human settlement.

In this short film, NASA has visualised some of the distant places that lie waiting to be explored. We get a glimpse of people on the Red Planet, standing in a cloud city on Venus, drifting towards the water plumes of Enceladus, and even kayaking on Titan. We are then provided with scientifically accurate depictions of exoplanets that humans may visit in the more distant future.

Jetson One is an electrical VTOL flying vehicle you can actually buy—well, pre-order—that shows not only that it can be done but that it can be done with style and flair. The catch is battery life—about 20m flight time per charge for a 187lb rider.

A complete vehicle is 92 000 USD and is delivered to you as a partially (50%) assembled kit for home completion. It contains everything you need, from the aluminium space frame to motor controllers, propellers and motors. You will also receive detailed build instructions.

Continue reading “VTOL electronic vehicle flies one and is yours for $92k” »

Built for critical research, continuous LEO presence, and space tourism.

Nanoracks, Voyager Space, and Lockheed Martin just announced that they aim to launch the first-ever free-flying commercial space station into low Earth orbit (LEO) by 2027 as part of a collaboration with NASA, a press statement reveals.

The space station, called Starlab, will be used for conducting critical research, ensuring continuous U.S. presence in low Earth orbit, and also for “tourism and other commercial and business activities,” Lockheed Martin explains. The fact that the space station is free-flying means that it will not be locked into one orbital position.

Astronomers found reservoirs of organic molecules around young stars, suggesting the ingredients for life are more widespread in the universe.