Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers are getting ready to turn on the world’s biggest ‘Stellarator’ fusion reactor. Called Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), the reactor can uninterruptedly contain super-hot plasma for more than 30 minutes at a time. Scientists claim the rare design, which is contained in a giant lab in Greifswald, Germany, can finally help make fusion power a reality. Comprising super-hot plasma for long durations has been the Holy Grail for nuclear reactor designs, and can help researchers to deliver an inexhaustible source of power. Fusion reactors, for instance the W7-X, work by using two isotopes of hydrogen atoms — deuterium and tritium — and inserting that gas into a restraint vessel. Researcher then add energy that eliminates the electrons from their host atoms, creating what is described as an ion plasma, which discharges enormous amounts of energy.

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The Russian Federal Space Agency — commonly referred to as Roscosmos — just announced its plans to send humans to the Moon in 2029, RT News reported. It’s part of the agency’s ultimate goal of creating and maintaining a lunar station. Vladimir Solntsev, head of Roscomsos Energia, made the announcement Tuesday at a space and technology conference in Moscow; he noted that they are currently building the spacecraft for the mission now, with its first flight into space planned for 2021.

After its initial flight, the plan is to have the spacecraft dock with the International Space Station in 2023, according to Solntsev. Then in 2025, Roscosmos will send an uncrewed version of the spacecraft to the Moon, before finally sending astronauts in the vehicle in 2029.

It also looks like the European Space Agency may be along for the ride. Two weeks ago, BBC News reported that the ESA had been in talks with Roscosmos to collaborate on sending a lander to the Moon’s south pole. The mission, called Luna 27, would be the first in a series of missions that would eventually return humans to the lunar surface. “We have an ambition to have European astronauts on the Moon. There are currently discussions at international level going on for broad cooperation on how to go back to the Moon,” Bérengère Houdou, head of lunar exploration at ESA, told BBC News.

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This Microsoft developer built a voice-controlled smart mirror in 20 hours.

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Chatting with strangers on Facebook just got a bit easier.

The social network is launching a new feature for Messenger called Message Requests, that makes it easier for people to receive (or ignore) messages from people they aren’t friends with.

See also: You no longer need a Facebook account to use Facebook Messenger.

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Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg has started his latest trip to India with a visit to the Taj Mahal and described the country’s most-photographed and photogenic monument as “even more stunning” than he had expected.

Mr. Zuckerberg is in the South Asian nation to deepen his social media company’s connection with the country, which is home to the largest number of Facebook users outside the U.S.

In a post from Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, on his Facebook page, Mr. Zuckerberg said that he had “always wanted to see” the mausoleum, which was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his deceased wife Mumtaz Mahal in the 1600s.

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At the Tokyo Motor Show 2015, Nissan unveiled a concept vehicle that embodies Nissan’s vision of the future of autonomous driving and zero emission EVs: the Nissan IDS Concept.

Presenting at the show, Nissan president and CEO Carlos Ghosn said: “Nissan’s forthcoming technologies will revolutionize the relationship between car and driver, and future mobility.”

Continue reading “Introducing the Nissan IDS Concept” »