Lifeboat Foundation

Dr Philip Goff (University of Liverpool) speaks at the event “Metaphysics of Mind”, 19th August 2014. Abstract: Cosmopsychism is the conjunction of the following two theses: (i) the cosmos is the one fundamental object, (ii) the cosmos if conscious. I will try out the following argument for this view: Premise 1 – Each and every organic conscious state is irreducible. Premise 2 – No organic conscious state is fundamental. Premise 3 – The only way in which a state can be both irreducible and fundamental is if it is an aspect of a more fundamental state. Conclusion 1 – Therefore each and every organic conscious state is an aspect of a more fundamental state. Premise 4 – If each and every organic conscious state is an aspect of a more fundamental state, then cosmopsychism is highly likely to be true. Conclusion 2 – Therefore, cosmopsychism is highly likely to be true.

A review discusses the current perception of brain immunity and its implications for brain aging, diseases, and immune-based therapies.

SpaceX aiming for Saturday launch to deliver German military satellites from West Coast, with sonic booms likely.

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Dec 22 (Reuters) — Tesla (TSLA.O) has acquired land in Shanghai for a megapack battery manufacturing plant with production expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2024, Chinese state media reported on Friday.

Tesla paid 222.42 million yuan ($31.13 million) for use rights to a 19.7-hectare (48.7 acres) plot, a separate government statement said on Thursday. The site is near an existing Tesla plant producing Model 3 and Model Y cars.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NASA gears up for the world’s first crewed deep-space mission in 50 years.

The land is 1.6 times bigger than the United Kingdom and could have supported between 50,000 and 500,000 people.

WASHINGTON — Space launch provider and satellite manufacturer Rocket Lab has secured a deal worth over half a billion dollars to build 18 satellites for a U.S. government agency.

As disclosed in an SEC regulatory filing Dec. 21, Rocket Lab National Security will “design, manufacture, deliver and operate 18 space vehicles” as part of a U.S. government contract valued at $515 million. A spokesperson said the company could not provide further details.

Sources indicate that the customer is likely the Space Development Agency.

By bringing together disparate approaches, machines can reach a new level of creative problem-solving.

For decades, achieving controlled fusion was a physics challenge. But now, as the ITER megaproject gears up to demonstrate fusion’s potential as an energy source—and startup companies race to beat it—the practical roadblocks to fusion power plants are coming into focus. One is a looming shortage of tritium fuel. Others could prevent reactors from ever running reliably—a necessity if fusion is to provide a constant “baseload” to complement intermittent solar and wind power.

Some of fusion’s fitfulness is innate to the design of doughnut-shaped tokamak reactors. The magnetic field that confines the ultrahot, energy-producing plasma is generated in part by the charged particles themselves, as they flow around the vessel. That plasma current in turn is induced by pulses of electrical current in a coil of wire in the doughnut’s hole, each lasting a few minutes at most. In between pulses the magnetic field ebbs, interrupting tokamak operations—and power delivery. The repetitive starts and stops of the reactor’s powerful magnetic fields also generate mechanical stresses that could eventually tear the machine apart.

In theory, the beams of particles and microwaves used to heat the plasma can also drive the plasma current. So can a quirk of plasma physics called the bootstrap effect. Near the edge of the plasma, a sharp pressure gradient causes the particles to spiral in such a way that they interfere with each other and push themselves—by their own bootstraps—around the ring.