Lifeboat Foundation

Nifty!

The tech-savvy may prefer to read e-books from tablets these days, especially since one of the advantages is that the device is often backlit making it easier to see text in dim environments. Printed matter, however, never seems to lose its charm, and there are still plenty of people who prefer to carry a paperback around with them. Keeping a reading lamp at hand, however, is not so convenient.

Kyouei Design’s Bookmark Light is a great idea for bibliophiles. It’s thin enough to be an unobtrusive marker when not in use and when bent in half, it becomes an effective reading light.

Continue reading “Bright ideas for bookmarks, toys and apps” »

Although I shared an article last week about this new record being acheived; this version of the story seems to have some additional insights.

A recent experiment could open new doors in space-based quantum communication.

The Long March 7 is a Chinese kerosene fueled carrier rocket, which is being developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Its maiden flight is scheduled for 26 June 2016.

The Long March 7 is the medium-lift variant of a new generation rocket family that includes the heavier-lift Long March 5 and the small-mid cargo Long March 6. The structure will be based on the reliable, man-rated Long March 2F rocket. It will inherit the 3.35m-diameter core stage and 2.25m-diameter liquid rocket boosters.

China will also be switching from russian Soyuz style capsules to something like the American Apollo capsules.

Continue reading “Long March 7 rocket will revolutionize China’s manned space program” »

China is in talks with the Ukraine to finish a half built second copy of the Antonov cargo plane. It would likely cost about $300 million to complete the plane.

The Antonov An-225 Mriya is a strategic airlift cargo aircraft that was designed by the Soviet Union’s Antonov Design Bureau in the 1980s. It is powered by six turbofan engines and is the longest and heaviest airplane ever built, with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes (710 short tons). The Antonov An-225, initially developed for the task of transporting the Buran spaceplane, was an enlargement of the successful Antonov An-124. The first and only An-225 was completed in 1988.

Join this workshop where esteemed speakers and selected teams will guide us in building a sustainable city on Mars.

Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania seek approval for gene editing to fight cancer.

Over the last couple of seasons of television, critics and audiences have begun to pay a considerable amount of attention to the role of women and racial diversity on their favorite shows. Despite being set in the future, science fiction television has often been stubbornly stuck in the past. With its latest lineup, however, the Syfy channel has demonstrated that a proactive approach can create lasting change.

While visiting the sets of Dark Matter and Killjoys, I spent some time chatting with a fellow journalist, where we began to talk about how the channel’s new slate of shows had demonstrated some considerable changes in the science fiction world: across The Expanse, Dark Matter, Killjoys and 12 Monkeys, women and people of color were cast in lead or in prominent roles, with particular attention being paid to underprivileged groups in many instances. Recently, spoke with the showrunners of each production about their approach to envisioning their respective futures.

Scientists have mixed a molecule with light between gold particles, creating a new way to manipulate the physical and chemical properties of matter.

Light and matter are usually separate and have distinct properties. However, molecules of matter can emit particles of light called photons. Normally, emitted photons leave the molecule and the two do not mix again.

Now, scientists have trapped a single molecule in such a tiny space that when it emits a photon, the photon cannot escape. This produces an oscillation of energy between the molecule and the photon, creating a mixing of the properties of matter and light.

Spectroscopy studies of charge transfer from cadmium selenide quantum dots to molecular nickel catalysts reveal unexpectedly fast electron transfer, enabling exceptional photocatalytic hydrogen production.

A key challenge facing the US is the harvesting, production, storage, and distribution of energy to support economic prosperity with responsible environmental management. Currently, fossil fuels provide more than 80% of the energy consumed in the US (even when significant increases in the use of alternative sources of energy in recent years are accounted for).¹ For the US Department of Defense in particular, volatility in the price and availability of fossil fuels leads to significant short- and long-term financial, operational, and strategic risks.² There is, therefore, clearly a need for new alternative sources of energy.

Continue reading “Ultrafast dynamics of semiconductor nanocrystals” »