Lifeboat Foundation

HUGE deal for wearables and biomed technologies.

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated a new approach to modifying the light absorption and stretchability of atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials by surface topographic engineering using only mechanical strain. The highly flexible system has future potential for wearable technology and integrated biomedical optical sensing technology when combined with flexible light-emitting diodes.

“Increasing graphene’s low light absorption in visible range is an important prerequisite for its broad potential applications in photonics and sensing,” explained SungWoo Nam, an assistant professor of mechanical science and engineering at Illinois. “This is the very first stretchable photodetector based exclusively on graphene with strain-tunable photoresponsivity and wavelength selectivity.”

Continue reading “Crumpling approach enhances photodetectors’ light responsivity” »

Could benefit China and their own efforts in 2017.

Deltion Innovations aims to design a drill that would prospect for water, ice and resources on the moon and beyond.

We have China in 2017 wanting to mine the dark side of the moon hoping to find Gold. We have others wanting to mine Mars. With the mining lessons over the centuries and the damage it has created over time; is anyone else concern how mining the moon could impact our planet and space itself?

Engineers say Brazilian disaster shows world-wide danger from Hoover Dam-size earthen structures holding ‘tailings’ waste
By.
Paul Kiernan.

MARIANA, Brazil—Half an hour’s drive from this colonial town in southeast Brazil, trees suddenly give way to what looks like a desert salt flat. It is a 2-mile-wide valley filled with mine waste.

Continue reading “Mining Dams Grow to Colossal Heights, and So Do the Risks” »

Interesting; especially since things have been very quite around IARPA and DARPA on their BMI efforts lately.

The Microns project aims to decipher the brain’s algorithms in an effort to revolutionize machine learning.

DARPA’s “Squad X” uses Android tablets, encrypted real-time communication, and Artificial Intelligence to save lives.

We all know that anything that the public can get their hands on, the black market, etc. already has access as well as those hard to get items like a rocket launcher, etc. So, not sure why anyone will be surprised by this article.

New technologies will level the playing field between the major powers and smaller, independent players.

Continue reading “Report:​ Drones, 3D Printing, and A.I. Will All Create Deadly New Challenges for the U.S. Military​” »

Military-funded research has developed artificial intelligence that can read and respond to human emotion.

Samsung’s dream of creating smart contact lenses capable of capturing images and shooting videos has just drawn closer. However, the patent reveals that Samsung has been working on the concepts and not necessarily the actual product which they trademarked as Gear Blink, which was filed in both South Korea and the U.S.

‘The analysis component of the contact lens can process the raw image data of the camera to determine processed image data indicating that the blind person is approaching intersection with a crosswalk and establish that there is a vehicle approaching the intersection’. It could very well be a smart contact lens. It’s a contact lens that consists of a small display, camera, RF antenna, and sensors to detect eye movement.

SamMobile states that the “lenses can provide a more natural way to provide augmented reality than smart glasses”. While the display projects images directly into the eye of the person wearing the contacts, an external device like a smartphone is needed for processing.

Continue reading “Samsung Files Patent For Augmented Reality Smart Contact Lenses” »

The extinct heavy cattle could graze European plains again, as scientists are trying to ‘resurrect’ them from genes found in modern cattle. Aurochs were recorded by cave men in striking paintings at Lascaux, France, 17,000 years ago. An example of one of the paintings is shown above.

Continue reading “Cattle being bred to resemble the extinct Aurochs seen in ancient cave paintings” »