Lifeboat Foundation

Proposed lunar biorepository could store genetic samples without electricity or liquid nitrogen. New research led by scientists at the Smithsonian proposes a plan to safeguard Earth’s imperiled biodiversity by cryogenically preserving biological material on the moon. The moon’s permanently shadowed craters are cold enough for cryogenic preservation without the need for electricity or liquid nitrogen, according to the researchers.

The paper, published today in BioScience and written in collaboration with researchers from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI), Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and others, outlines a roadmap to create a lunar biorepository, including ideas for governance, the types of biological material to be stored and a plan for experiments to understand and address challenges such as radiation and microgravity. The study also demonstrates the successful cryopreservation of skin samples from a fish, which are now stored at the National Museum of Natural History.

“Initially, a lunar biorepository would target the most at-risk species on Earth today, but our ultimate goal would be to cryopreserve most species on Earth,” said Mary Hagedorn, a research cryobiologist at NZCBI and lead author of the paper. “We hope that by sharing our vision, our group can find additional partners to expand the conversation, discuss threats and opportunities and conduct the necessary research and testing to make this biorepository a reality.”

Your early morning run could soon help harvest enough electricity to power your wearable devices, thanks to a new nanotechnology developed at the University of Surrey.

Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) has developed highly energy-efficient, flexible nanogenerators, which demonstrate a 140-fold increase in power density when compared to conventional nanogenerators. ATI researchers believe that this development could pave the way for nano-devices that are as efficient as today’s solar cells.

The findings are published in the journal Nano Energy.

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A new approach to quantum computing — working with photons, or \.

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But after five days, Sherif upped the game. He had the two groups compete for food. He limited their resources. It was a fist-swinging, curse-hurling, dust cloud of a mess. When a few punches landed, the adult researchers had to step in, adults with notebooks holding back furious Eagles and violent Rattlers.

Sherif concluded that scarcity was one of the main drivers of all human conflict. War, violence, invasion, and theft were all born of wanting a limited resource. The history of all humanity seems to support the hypothesis: We fight over water, cattle, arable land, ore deposits, oil, precious stones, and so on.

Big Think recently spoke with Oxford University philosopher Nick Bostrom about his new book, Deep Utopia. He’s got good news. Bostrom argues that the future will do away with the need for conflict over scarce resources. To him, the future is plentiful.

What are humanity’s options? Does AI believe in God? In this exclusive Q&A, Nick Bostrom says that the big questions are above his pay grade. But who is in charge, then?

A device that sorts photon states could lead to a basic component of an all-optical quantum computer.

Frankly, I think 100 years is too far to look into the future because we will see dramatic new scientific areas emerge 20 years from now. My grandfather immigrated to Israel in 1946 from Holland to be a Technion student in civil engineering.

At that time, civil engineering and mechanical engineering were the most prestigious fields you could study. Back then, the disciplines of science that I work in, like computer science and electrical engineering, did not even exist as separate fields.

In comparison, today progress happens even more quickly. This rapid progress is especially apparent in disciplines like quantum technologies and AI.

Explore the latest developments in Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), understand how AGI could transform our reality.