Lifeboat Foundation

In Brief

• A team of engineers at Brigham Young University have designed a bulletproof shield prototype that is inspired by origami.
• This new prototype is much lighter weight than previous models and could prove extremely useful in the field.

A new origami-inspired bulletproof shield prototype that can withstand shots fired from 9mm, .357 Magnum, and .44 Magnum pistols was created by a team of engineers from Brigham Young University (BYU).

Most bulletproof shields or barriers weigh almost 100 pounds, making them difficult to use and transport. A lightweight version would a useful alternative. Weighing only 55 pounds (25 kilograms), this new shield is made up of 12 layers of Kevlar with an aluminum core, and it is so light it can be folded.

Continue reading “This Lightweight Origami Shield Can Withstand Gunshots from a 9mm” »

We are the first to assemble a mobile 3D printer capable of printing buildings from the inside.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=6_uVCOcQ7xU

Ataas – AIR TRANSPORT as a SERVICE.

The dwarf planet Ceres keeps looking better and better as a possible home for alien life.

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has spotted organic molecules — the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it — on Ceres for the first time, a study published today (Feb. 16) in the journal Science reports.

And these organics appear to be native, likely forming on Ceres rather than arriving via asteroid or comet strikes, study team members said.

Continue reading “This dwarf planet has life’s building blocks, NASA probe shows” »

Magnetohydrodynamics involves magnetic fields (magneto) and fluids (hydro) that conduct electricity and interact (dynamics). MHD technology is based on a fundamental law of electromagnetism: When a magnetic field and an electric current intersect in a liquid, their repulsive intersection propels the liquid in a direction perpendicular to both the field and the current.

The wave of automation that swept away tens of thousands of American manufacturing and office jobs during the past two decades is now washing over the armed forces, putting both rear-echelon and front-line positions in jeopardy.

“Just as in the civilian economy, automation will likely have a big impact on military organizations in logistics and manufacturing,” said Michael Horowitz, a University of Pennsylvania professor and one of the globe’s foremost experts on weaponized robots.

David Bowie died a year ago today. Back in 1999 he made this incredible prediction about how the internet would change our lives forever to a sceptical Jeremy Paxman.

Twenty years after the project began, scientists think they are now just weeks away from receiving their first picture of a black hole.

The numbers behind the creation of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) are mind boggling enough, let alone the thought of what it might see on April 5 when it’s trained on Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy.

It’s 26,000 light years from Earth. Even though its “edge” is 20-odd million kilometres across, EHT team members say seeing it is still like trying to pinpoint a grapefruit on the Moon.

Continue reading “Scientists might be just weeks away from taking the first real picture of a black hole” »

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►Reddit AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/5hfmsl/cellage_…ells_with/

Our society has never aged more rapidly – one of the most visible symptoms of the changing demographics is the exponential increase in the incidence of age-related diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases and osteoarthritis. Not only does aging have a negative effect on the quality of life among the elderly but it also causes a significant financial strain on both private and public sectors. As the proportion of older people is increasing so is health care spending. According to a WHO analysis, the annual number of new cancer cases is projected to rise to 17 million by 2020, and reach 27 million by 2030. Similar trends are clearly visible in other age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease. Few effective treatments addressing these challenges are currently available and most of them focus on a single disease rather than adopting a more holistic approach to aging.

Continue reading “CellAge Campaign: iPhone Reward Raffle Draw” »