Lifeboat Foundation

Scientists have spotted the building blocks of RNA at the center of the Milky Way. They published their findings in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences. According to the study, the researchers discovered some of those building blocks in a cloud that lies near the center of our galaxy.

The team of researchers discovered the building blocks of RNA in a molecular cloud known as G+0.693–0.027. The discovery, they say, could have implications on the theories about how life on Earth began. It could also shed more light on how life on other planets began, too.

RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is a molecule similar to DNA. It’s present in all living cells and even behaves similarly to the more well-known double-helix. Unlike DNA’s double-strand, though, RNA is only made up of a single strand. Its overall part in the origin of life is unclear. But, there is some evidence the building blocks of RNA could have preceded DNA.

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Ringworlds are a type of megastructure that engulf an entire star, first popularized in Larry Niven’s classic novel Ringworld. These constructs a million times larger than Earth have captivated minds for nearly half a century but been considered impossible to build under known science. Today, we will attempt to show otherwise.

Continue reading “Megastructures: Ringworlds” »

Piecing together our universe’s most paradoxical and confusing, yet elegant and shatterproof, theory.

German researchers have looked at how vertical PV systems could provide more electricity during periods of higher demand, while enabling a higher level of integration with agricultural activities.

Twenty years ago, researchers saw hints of the existence of a type of exotic matter made of four neutrons. Now, researchers have found the clearest evidence it exists yet.

The Australian crater Yarrabubba is the oldest known on Earth, according to new measurements, and it might be linked to the end of a “Snowball Earth” ice age.

Yarrabubba crater in western Australia stretches roughly 40 miles across. And since its discovery in 2003, scientists have speculated it’s one of Earth’s oldest meteorite craters. Now, a team of researchers has pinned down the crater’s precise age, revealing it’s about 2.23 billion years old. This officially makes Yarrabubba the oldest known crater on Earth, surpassing the age of Vredefort crater by about 200 million years.

The meteorite impact that created Yarrabubba would have slammed into our planet at the end of one of our “Snowball Earth” ice ages, the researchers say, and it’s possible that the impact heated up our planet and ended that icy episode in Earth’s history.

Continue reading “Meteorite impact two billion years ago may have ended an ice age” »

U.K.’s Reaction Engines has revealed the start of a new testing campaign to expand the performance envelope of their high-Mach propulsion technology. Over the coming weeks, the company hopes to prove that its technology could enable current jet engines to operate from takeoff up through Mach 4 and beyond.

The new tests are being conducted in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) as a part of the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) Program at the Department of Defense. The FCT program is administered by the Directorate of Defense Research and Engineering for Advanced Capabilities and is focused on the discovery, assessment, and testing of leading foreign technology with the potential to satisfy U.S. Defense technical demands. The program seeks high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) technologies that could rapidly and economically satisfy current and emerging requirements.

“FCT demonstrates U.S. commitment to a ‘two-way street’ for defense procurements with both allied and friendly nations. Reaction Engines technology is world-class and is a great fit for the FCT program,” describes William Reed, the Air Force FCT manager.

Mike George’s proposal for an autonomous fleet of modular emergency vehicles that can be arranged to form an on-the-go hospital has been awarded third place in Dezeen’s Future Mobility Competition powered by Arrival.

Called National Health Network Modular Hospital System, George’s proposal features a network of modular autonomous vehicles that can be combined into purpose-built clusters to enable hospitals to grow, adapt and respond to emergencies as effectively and flexibly as required.

Each module has a chassis and mobile platform, which can be customised with various interior components to respond to different medical situations. Each interior is designed to foster patient accessibility and comfort, as well as safety.

Summary: In mice, photoreceptor cells drive vision and non-vision functions using distinct circuits in the eye.

Source: NIH/NEI

The eye’s light-sensing retina taps different circuits depending on whether it is generating image-forming vision or carrying out a non-vision function such as regulating pupil size or sleep/wake cycles, according to a new mouse study from the National Eye Institute (NEI) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).