Lifeboat Foundation

Ancient bacteria might be sleeping beneath the surface of Mars, where it has been shielded from the harsh radiation of space for millions of years, according to new research.

While no evidence of life has been found on the red planet, researchers simulated conditions on Mars in a lab to see how bacteria and fungi could survive. The scientists were surprised to discover that bacteria could likely survive for 280 million years if it was buried and protected from the ionizing radiation and solar particles that bombard the Martian surface.

The findings suggested that if life ever existed on Mars, the dormant evidence of it might still be located in the planet’s subsurface — a place that future missions could explore as they drill into Martian soil.

In a recently published paper in Nature Electronics, an international research group from Italy, Germany, the UK, and China examined significant development directions in the field of electronic materials with curved geometries at the nanoscale. From microelectronic devices with enhanced functionality to large-scale nanomembranes consisting of networks of electronic sensors that can provide improved performance.

The scientists argue that exciting developments induced by curvature at the nanoscale allow them to define a completely new field—curved nanoelectronics. The paper examines in detail the origin of curvature effects at the nanoscale and illustrates their potential applications in innovative electronic, spintronic and superconducting devices.

Curved solid-state structures also offer many application opportunities. On a microscopic level, shape deformations in electronic nanochannels give rise to complex three-dimensional spin textures with an unbound potential for new concepts in spin-orbitronics, which will help develop energy-efficient electronic devices.

At the nanoscale, the laws of classical physics suddenly become inadequate to explain the behavior of matter. It is precisely at this juncture that quantum theory comes into play, effectively describing the physical phenomena characteristic of the atomic and subatomic world. Thanks to the different behavior of matter on these length and energy scales, it is possible to develop new materials, devices and technologies based on quantum effects, which could yield a real quantum revolution that promises to innovate areas such as cryptography, telecommunications and computation.

The physics of very small objects, already at the basis of many technologies that we use today, is intrinsically linked to the world of nanotechnologies, the branch of applied science dealing with the control of matter at the nanometer scale (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter). This control of matter at the nanoscale is at the basis of the development of new electronic devices.

Among these, memristors are considered promising devices for the realization of new computational architectures emulating functions of our brain, allowing the creation of increasingly efficient computation systems suitable for the development of the entire artificial intelligence sector, as recently shown by Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRiM) researchers in collaboration with several international universities and research institutes.

The fourth discussion of the NEW NOW program, “Transhumanism: Beyond the Human Frontier?”, took place on December 16.

Together with our guest experts, we tried to identify the latest technology that has either already become a reality or is currently in development, focusing on the ethical aspects of the consequences that ensue. We reflected on the question of whether the realization of transhumanist ideas is likely to entail a radical change in the ways people relate to one another. How far are we prepared to go in changing our bodies in order to attain these enhanced capacities? We will attempt to identify the “human frontier”, beyond which the era of posthumanism awaits.

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Transhumanists are redefining what it means to be human. This talk takes a deeper look at the movement and its implications for the future.
About this event.

From bionic eyes to designing new senses and extending life expectancy, transhumanists are redefining what it means to be human. This talk takes a deeper look at the movement and its implications for the future of humanity.

Continue reading “Transhumanism & The Future of Humanity” »

The concept of linking many minds together to act in concert, or even fuse into a new singular entity, has been popular in science fiction for decades. Today we will explore the idea and Networked Intelligence in general, to see how realistic it is, and what benefits or concerns might arise from it.

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Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier.

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Has Madam Pomfrey’s Skele-Gro finally made its way to the muggle world?

Ultrasensitive matter-wave interferometer uses delocalization and entanglement to detect tiny accelerations.

The map charts a broad expanse of the universe, from the Milky Way.

The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System, and is named for its appearance from Earth. It is a barred spiral galaxy that contains an estimated 100–400 billion stars and has a diameter between 150,000 and 200,000 light-years.