Lifeboat News: The Blog – Safeguarding Humanity

Should we seed life through the cosmos using laser-driven ships?

Posted by Genevieve Klien in innovation, space

Feb 11
2018

Light sails can later use space-dust braking Richard Bizley/Science Photo Library By James Romero Our galaxy may contain billions of habitable worlds that don’t host any life. Should we attempt to change that? Breakthrough Starshot is a project with ambitious aims to use such systems to send tiny, lightweight probes to Alpha Centauri. The goal is to take pictures of our nearest star, but these systems could also deliver much larger payloads into orbit around nearby stars, says Gros. Potential targets include the planetary system around TRAPPIST-1, a red dwarf star just 40 light years away…

Charge your phone using ambient light and printed solar cells

Posted by Genevieve Klien in mobile phones, solar power, sustainability

Feb 11
2018

Printed plastic solar cells should be able to harvest enough energy from indoor light to power your phone within the next few months.

Free-fall experiment could test if gravity is a quantum force

Posted by Genevieve Klien in quantum physics

Feb 11
2018

The effort to reconcile general relativity with quantum mechanics always hits one snag: gravity. An experiment could finally tell us if it is a quantum force.

Peek inside a gilded cage of liquid argon made to spot neutrinos

Posted by Genevieve Klien in particle physics

Feb 11
2018

This huge shiny cube is just a 1/20th scale model of the planned DUNE neutrino detector. It will be filled with liquid argon to catch these elusive particles.

We’ve figured out how to ensure quantum computers can be trusted

Posted by Genevieve Klien in computing, quantum physics

Feb 11
2018

Can spot quantum errors IBM research By Mark Kim What good is a fast computer if you can’t trust it? Thanks to half a century of research on getting computers to do their job correctly even in the presence of mechanical errors, our modern machines tend to be pretty reliable. Unfortunately, the laws of sheer complexity of which leaves them prone to errors. Now, we finally have the first demonstration of a quantum program that can detect data corruption.

Gravitational waves have let us see huge neutron stars colliding

Posted by Genevieve Klien in physics

Feb 11
2018

We’ve taken the first pictures of neutron stars colliding 130 million light years away. The resulting gravitational waves may solve some big cosmic mysteries.

Roadside barrier that folds like origami blocks traffic noise

Posted by Genevieve Klien in futurism

Feb 11
2018

Traffic noise has many frequencies, making it hard to suppress. A new barrier with movable folds can change its acoustic properties in response to traffic patterns.

We can finally map the spiral arm on the far side of the galaxy

Posted by Genevieve Klien in space

Feb 11
2018

Using a jet of radio waves, astronomers have begun to map the other side of the Milky Way. Within 10 years we could have a complete map of the entire galaxy.

Tesla updates mobile app to bring new cold weather convenience features

Posted by Genevieve Klien in sustainability, transportation

Feb 11
2018

Tesla released a new update to its mobile app to include some new cold weather convenience features when combined with its latest car software update.

The key to a naked mole rat’s cancer-free life?

Posted by Brady Hartman in biotech/medical, life extension

Feb 11
2018

Summary: Clues to the naked mole rat’s remarkable cancer-fighting abilities have been uncovered by researchers at the University of Rochester in a new study. [This article first appeared on LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

With their wrinkled, hairless bodies, naked mole rats won’t be winning any beauty contests.

However, they do win longevity contests.