Lifeboat News: The Blog – Safeguarding Humanity

Astronomers Have Made The First Detection of a Radioactive Molecule in Space

Jul 30
2018

After a long search, a cosmic mystery has an answer. Astronomers have made the very first unambiguous detection of a radioactive molecule in space — an isotope of aluminium, found in the heart of a rare nova.

Scientists have long been searching for ²⁶AlF — or Aluminium monofluoride — containing ²⁶Al, but a direct observation has been exceptionally illusive.

We’ve known about the presence of ²⁶Al in space for decades. In 1984, NASA’s HEAO 3 satellite data was used to identify gamma-ray radiation originating from the beta decay of the isotope. According to these observations, there’s roughly two solar masses of ²⁶Al in the Milky Way.

This transport device drives over traffic

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in transportation

Jul 30
2018

Taking public transportation to the next level.

A single blood test can detect 8 types of cancer

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in biotech/medical

Jul 30
2018

Indian priest discovers proof of long-lost galaxy. He’s also an astronomer

Posted by Michael Lance in space

Jul 30
2018

This discovery and its method will now pave the way for the discovery of other galaxies that have been cannibalized by other larger galaxies.

The researcher discovers conclusive proof of a galaxy that was cannibalized by neighbouring Andromeda.

Optical neural network demo

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in robotics/AI

Jul 30
2018

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made a silicon chip that distributes optical signals precisely across a miniature brain-like grid, showcasing a potential new design for neural networks.

New geometric shape used by nature to pack cells efficiently

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in energy

Jul 30
2018

These cells pack together tightly. To accommodate the curving that occurs during embryonic development, it has been assumed that epithelial cells adopt either columnar or bottle-like shapes.

However, a group of scientists dug deeper into this phenomenon and discovered a new geometric shape in the process.

They uncovered that, during tissue bending, epithelial cells adopt a previously undescribed shape that enables the cells to minimize energy use and maximize packing stability. The team’s results will be published in Nature Communications in a paper called “Scutoids are a geometrical solution to three-dimensional packing of epithelia.”