Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 11610

Besides it not being a true space vehicle, XS-1 will be notable because it’ll be a drone, a robot space ship.

It will launch itself to the edge of space (basically 100 kilometers up there) and release its payload into LEO. It’s being called a plane because it’ll take-off and land like a plane on every mission.

DARPA’s toy will then be refueled and launched again. DARPA wants its space plane to be so reliable it can fly “10 times in 10 days.” DARPA expects the cost of a space plane flight to come to a measly $5 million compared to the $450 million once spent to launch a space shuttle.

Read more

A new underwater GPS.

For all the benefits that the Global Positioning System provides to landlubbers and surface ships, GPS signals can’t penetrate seawater and therefore can’t be used by oceangoing vehicles like submarines or UUVs. That’s why DARPA is creating an acoustic navigation system, dubbed POSYDON (Positioning System for Deep Ocean Navigation), and has awarded the Draper group with its development contract.

The space-based GPS system relies on a constellation of satellites that remain in a fixed position relative to the surface of the Earth. The GPS receiver in your phone or car’s navigation system triangulates the signals it receives from those satellites to determine your position. The POSYDON system will perform the same basic function, just with sound instead. The plan is to set up a small number of long-range acoustic sources that a submarine or UUV could use to similarly triangulate its position without having to surface.

The system should be ready for sea trials by 2018. It will initially be utilized exclusively for military and government operations but, like conventional GPS before it, will eventually be opened up to civilians as well.

Continue reading “DARPA is building acoustic GPS for submarines and UUVs” | >

For all the sensor enthusiists and hobbists out there; here is a conference just for you.

/ EINPresswire.com / — NEWTON, MA — (Marketwired) — 05/10/16 — The nation’s leading event focusing exclusively on sensors and sensor-integrated systems, Sensors Expo & Conference (#Sensors16) today unveiled the two industry heavyweights who will keynote the 2016 event. Dr. Ken Gabriel, widely regarded as the founder of the Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) industry, will kick off the event on Wednesday, June 22nd; Ray Zinn, author of “Tough Things First” and Silicon Valley’s longest serving CEO, will give his keynote address on Thursday, June 23rd. As the industry’s premier event, the 2016 Sensors Expo & Conference will bring together the foremost thought leaders and innovators to discuss the latest developments in sensing technologies and outline opportunities for the future. To learn more or to register, please visit sensorsexpo.com.

Keynote speaker: Dr. Ken Gabriel A veteran technologist with a distinguished track record of success across the public and private sectors, Dr. Ken Gabriel is credited with creating the MEMS industry through his role as co-founder of Akustica, a fabless semiconductor company that commercialized MEMS audio devices and sensors. In addition, Gabriel currently serves as Deputy Director of the Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) Group at Google and is the CEO of Draper Laboratory. He has also held the role of Deputy Director, and then Acting Director, of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the Department of Defense where he led an agency with an annual budget of $3 billion that is charged with managing the Department’s portfolio of its most cutting edge projects to both create and avoid technology surprise.

During his keynote Gabriel will leverage his vast experience to address how sensors are the unsung heroes of technology. To most consumers sensors are all part of a bigger package. To stand out you need to understand how consumers rely on the sensors you produce and then produce sensors that make devices stand out. Tools exist for you to understand how you can differentiate your products. Be more than a feature, be the discriminator for devices.

Continue reading “2016 Sensors Expo & Conference to Feature Industry Pioneers as Keynote Speakers” | >


University of Oxford scientists have developed a gene therapy that has shown promise in treating choroideremia, a rare disorder that causes progressive vision loss, mostly in males.

Doctors tested the treatment method on six patients with choroideremia by injecting numerous healthy genes into the eye to replace missing ones in the retina. The purpose of this therapy is to hinder or prevent loss of sight, according to Oxford’s announcement.

Results varied for each participant. Two patients experienced a big improvement in vision that lasted for four years, but a decline occurred in the other untreated eye. Three separate patients maintained their vision in the treated eye over four years whereas the sixth recipient who was given a lower dose succumbed to vision decline in both eyes.

Read more

A nanoparticle commonly used in food, cosmetics, sunscreen and other products can have subtle effects on the activity of genes expressing enzymes that address oxidative stress inside two types of cells. While the titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles are considered non-toxic because they don’t kill cells at low concentrations, these cellular effects could add to concerns about long-term exposure to the nanomaterial.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology used high-throughput screening techniques to study the effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on the expression of 84 genes related to cellular oxidative stress. Their work found that six genes, four of them from a single gene family, were affected by a 24-hour exposure to the nanoparticles.

The effect was seen in two different kinds of cells exposed to the nanoparticles: human HeLa cancer cells commonly used in research, and a line of monkey kidney cells. Polystyrene nanoparticles similar in size and surface electrical charge to the titanium dioxide nanoparticles did not produce a similar effect on gene expression.

Read more

Virtual Reality is finally happening after years of existing only in science fiction or as underwhelming prototypes. While Oculus Rift is certainly a big deal due to the financial support from Facebook, there are other compelling options on the market. One particularly impressive bit of hardware is the HTC Vive, which features a variety of great games and immersive motion controls.

The below video showcases several of the most exciting games on the HTC Vive, which headset purchasers will be ready to play as long as they have a gaming PC that meets the minimum requirements to be VR ready.

Read more