Lifeboat Foundation

Engineers have designed and successfully tested a more efficient wind sensor for use on drones, balloons and other autonomous aircraft.

These wind sensors—called anemometers—are used to monitor wind speed and direction. As demand for autonomous aircraft increases, better wind sensors are needed to make it easier for these vehicles to both sense weather changes and perform safer take-offs and landings, according to researchers.

Such enhancements could improve how people use their local airspace, whether it be through drones delivering packages or passengers one day flying on unmanned aircraft, said Marcelo Dapino, co-author of the study and a professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering at The Ohio State University.

While scientists have hoped that rechargeable zinc-manganese dioxide batteries could be developed into a viable alternative for grid storage applications, engineers at the University of Illinois Chicago and their colleagues identified the reasons these zinc-based fuel systems fail.

The scientists reached this conclusion after leveraging advanced electron microscopy, electrochemical experiments and theoretical calculations to look closer at how the zinc anode works with the manganese cathode in the battery system.

Their findings are reported today in Nature Sustainability.

QUT robotics researchers working with Ford Motor Company have found a way to tell an autonomous vehicle which cameras to use when navigating.

Professor Michael Milford, Joint Director of the QUT Center for Robotics and Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and senior author, said the research comes from a project looking at how cameras and LIDAR sensors, commonly used in autonomous vehicles, can better understand the world around them.

“The key idea here is to learn which cameras to use at different locations in the world, based on previous experience at that location,” Professor Milford said.

Understanding how microgravity affects humans and plants is key to supporting not only astronauts on long-term space missions but also improving life on Earth. The Expedition 67 crew explored those very subjects today while also working on U.S. cargo activities and checking Russian spacewalking gear aboard the International Space Station.

NASA Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines worked a pair of different experiments on Tuesday with benefits for humans living on and off the Earth. Lindgren processed samples and explored how the immune system ages in microgravity to learn how to keep astronauts healthy on long term missions and treat immunity conditions on Earth. The two-time station visitor conducted the unique research operations using the Life Science Glovebox located in the Kibo laboratory module.

Hines replaced life support components inside the Plant Habitat, a space botany research device helping NASA and its international partners learn how to sustain crews on future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. He worked in the Harmony module swapping carbon dioxide bottles and filters inside the Plant Habitat ensuring ongoing commercial and fundamental plant experiments in weightlessness.

A new study says that changing guidelines for forever chemicals have made rainwater all around the world unsafe to drink.

Rainwater is an important part of our planet’s ecosystem, and it helps fuel access to drinking water in many places. However, a new study suggests that rainwater is now unsafe to drink. The study says that “forever chemicals” have reached unsafe levels. These forever chemicals are scientifically known as per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and they don’t break down in the environment.

You can find PFAS chemicals in non-stick and stain-repellent properties. As such, they’re found in a lot of household food packages, electronics, and even cosmetics and cookware. However, it seems that these chemicals are now mixing with our rainwater. As a result, it has made rainwater unsafe to drink. And researchers say they can’t tie this issue to just one location. It’s everywhere in the world, even in Antarctica.

Continue reading “New study says rainwater is now unsafe to drink” »

The results emphasized the role of body posture and stomach motility in drug bioavailability.

* Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have conducted a study to examine how body posture and stomach motility affect drug bioavailability. * Stomach contents, motility, and gastric fluid dynamics are also influential factors in a drug’s bioavailability. * “Our models can generate biorelevant data on drug dissolution that can provide useful and unique insights into the complex physiological processes behind the oral administration of pills,” explains the study.

Many of you’ve probably swallowed a medicine sometime in your lives. It’s very common, and many drugs are taken orally, such as tablets, capsules, syrups, or lozenges.

Continue reading “Body posture affects how the stomach absorbs oral medications” »

The two-qubit gate can be reached in 6.9 nanoseconds.

* A research group succeeded in executing the world’s fastest two-qubit gate. * Quantum computers and optical tweezers were used to conduct the research. * It is used an ultrafast laser to manipulate cold atoms.

The world’s fastest two-qubit gate has been executed in 6.5 nanoseconds by a group of researchers at the National Institutes of Natural Sciences. A research group led by graduate student Yeelai Chew, Assistant Professor Sylvain de Léséleuc, and Professor Kenji Ohmori used atoms cooled to almost absolute zero and trapped in optical tweezers separated by a micron. By manipulating the atoms with special laser light for 10 picoseconds, they executed the world’s fastest two-qubit gate.