Lifeboat Foundation

Demystifying the science of quantum physics.

Researchers have achieved a significant breakthrough in the synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by developing a novel catalyst that allows for precise control over their atomic arrangement, known as chirality. This advancement paves the way for the creation of innovative semiconductor devices, addressing a challenge that has remained unresolved for over 30 years.

Kaiser, J., Xu, C., Eichler, A. et al. Sci Rep 14, 15,733 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-66263-y.

Pioneers of quantum computing have shared their dreams and skepticism about the fledgling industry, while Gov. JB Pritzker said he thinks it’s already attracting companies to Illinois.

Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), astronomers have discovered an exoplanet orbiting Barnard’s star, the closest single star to our sun. On this newly discovered exoplanet, which has at least half the mass of Venus, a year lasts just over three Earth days. The team’s observations also hint at the existence of three more exoplanet candidates, in various orbits around the star.

Located just six light-years away, Barnard’s star is the second-closest stellar system—after Alpha Centauri’s three-star group—and the closest individual star to us. Owing to its proximity, it is a primary target in the search for Earth-like exoplanets. Despite a promising detection back in 2018, no planet orbiting Barnard’s star had been confirmed until now.

The discovery of this new exoplanet—announced in a paper published today in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics—is the result of observations made over the last five years with ESO’s VLT, located at Paranal Observatory in Chile. “Even if it took a long time, we were always confident that we could find something,” says Jonay González Hernández, a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Spain, and lead author of the paper.

Now AI Agents can do low-level work on your laptop. Paper pushers are on notice: the bots are coming for your job.

Anthropic just showed off a new trick — its AI assistant Claude can now take over your computer’s mouse and keyboard, clicking and typing its way through tasks while you sit and watch. All you have to do is tell it what you want done.

Continue reading “Watch Claude AI take control of a computer and build its own website from scratch” »

Protecting Human And Animal Health — Dr. Tristan Colonius, DVM — Chief Veterinary Officer & Deputy Director for Science Policy, Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Dr. Tristan Colonius, DVM is the Chief Veterinary Officer and Deputy Director for Science Policy at FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM — https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary).

Continue reading “Dr. Tristan Colonius, DVM — Chief Veterinary Officer & Deputy Director for Science Policy, CVM, FDA” »

Mike Kelly is President & Chief Executive Officer of NervGen Pharma Corp. (https://nervgen.com/), a clinical-stage biotech company dedicated to developing innovative treatments to enable nervous system repair in the settings of traumatic injury and disease.

NervGen’s lead drug candidate, NVG-291, is being evaluated in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial in an initial target indication, spinal cord injury. NervGen has initiated preclinical evaluation of a new development candidate, NVG-300, in models of ischemic stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal cord injury.

Continue reading “Mike Kelly — President & CEO, NervGen Pharma — Innovative Treatments To Enable Nervous System Repair” »

This breakthrough could be used to make eco-friendly houses and structures in the near future.first appeared on The Cool Down.