Lifeboat Foundation

Until now, it was thought they came from massive star collapses.

Astrophysicists around the world may be shocked to learn that long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) do not solely come from the collapse of massive stars. A new study by astrophysicists at Northwestern University upends the long-standing belief, uncovering new evidence that at least some long GRBs can result from neutron star mergers, which were previously believed to produce only short GRBs, the university’s publication reported.

It all began in December 2021 when the team detected a 50-second-long GRB (any GRB longer than 2 seconds is considered ‘long’).

Continue reading “New information about long gamma-rays shatters astrophysicists’ theory” »

Google today announced two new performance settings in its Chrome browser: Memory Saver and Energy Saver.

Modern browsers eat up a lot of memory and while that’s not a problem if you have 32GB of RAM, Chrome using multiple gigabytes of your memory can quickly slow your machine down if you’re on a machine with lower specs. The Memory Saver mode promises to reduce Chrome’s memory usage by up to 30% by putting inactive tabs to sleep. The tabs will simply reload when you need them again. The Energy Saver mode, meanwhile, limits background activity and visual effects for sites with animations and videos when your laptop’s battery level drops below 20%.

‘I almost died on the way out,’ said the six-foot-two tall archeologist who lost 25 kgs to enter a 17.5-centimeter cave.

Researchers claim to have discovered new evidence of extinct human species who lived in the underground caves of modern-day South Africa.

“We have massive evidence. It’s everywhere,” said Berger, who reported the findings in a press release and a Carnegie Science lecture at the Martin Luther King Jr.

Continue reading “‘Massive evidence’ on evolution: Extinct human species with tiny brains ‘used fire’ to live underground” »

The experiment could help to form a unified theory of quantum gravity.

Scientists have, for the first time ever, made light appear to move simultaneously forward and backward in time. The new method, achieved by an international group of scientists, could help create novel quantum computing techniques and give scientists a better understanding of quantum gravity, a report from LiveScience.

It was achieved thanks to a combination of two principles that form a part of the bizarre world of quantum mechanics.

Continue reading “In a world first, physicists move light back and forth in time simultaneously” »

The accuracy of pedestrian identification was reduced by 57% when the students tested the outfit on on-campus security cameras.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Chinese students have successfully developed a coat that can make people invisible to security cameras. So the SCMP story goes, the coat looks the same as regular camouflaged clothing, but it can trick digital cameras, especially ones with AI.

Continue reading “Student-made invisibility coat aims to hide wearers from AI cameras” »

This research could potentially lead to a better understanding of the galaxy and its many mysteries.

It’s a cosmic riddle: How can galaxies remain together when all the matter we observe isn’t enough to keep them intact? Scientists believe an invisible force must beat play, something so mysterious they named it “dark matter” because of its lack of visibility.

This mysterious presence accounts for nearly three times more than what we can observe — a startling 27% of all existence! The mysterious dark matter is a profound mystery to scientists, its existence making up nearly one-third of the universe’s energy and mass yet remaining elusive due to its ability to avoid detection.

Continue reading “Researchers plan to use quantum computers in search for dark matter” »

Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying. ~Carl Sagan.

Looking up at a starry night sky makes one wonder if we are really alone. If you have never asked yourself this question, here’s some perspective on the vastness of our universe.

And this is just one galaxy.

Continue reading “The Fermi paradox: Are we alone in the universe?” »

The first-of-its-kind experiment proved that gamma ray-catalyzed reactions can produce amino acids, which contributed to the origin of life on Earth.

How life arose on Earth remains one of science’s most complex mysteries. One of the many myths and hypotheses is the possibility of meteorites delivering amino acids, known as life’s building blocks, to our planet.

In a first-of-its-kind experiment, researchers have shown that amino acids might have formed in early meteorites from reactions driven by gamma rays produced inside space rocks due to the decay of radioactive elements.

Continue reading “Gamma-ray and meteorites helped life form in outer space, a study suggests” »

Twitter Blue plan is on halt right now but when it resumes you will have to pay an increased price of $11 per month if you subscribe from iOS, according to a report from The Information.

The report noted that the subscription plan will cost $7 per month if you purchase from the web. But it will be costlier on iOS to offset Apple’s App Store fees. Notably, Apple charges 30% fees to the developers for the first year of subscription, but it drops to 15% from the second year.

When Twitter launched its new subscription plan with a verification mark on November 9, it charged users $7.99 per month. If Twitter were to offset App Store fees, it should charge $10.38 — but the new price change of $11 sounds like a rounded-off figure.