Lifeboat Foundation

Understanding the mind and how thinking occurs has been a challenge for philosophers, scientists, theorists, educators, and artists throughout history. Until recently, ideas about how we learn have been mainly theoretical and intuitive. However, with ongoing advances in neuroscience, considerable progress is occurring. As a result, a paradigm shift is taking hold in human cognition, pointing to a new science-based understanding about the way we think and, ultimately, the way we learn.

This paradigm shift — a move away from traditional notions of the mind to an “embodied cognition” model of human thinking and learning — is the subject of a new book “Movement Matters: How Embodied Cognition Informs Teaching and Learning”. The book is summarised as follows:

Continue reading “Embodied cognition and the future of teaching and learning” »

Advance shows promise for “meta-bots” designed to deliver drugs or aid rescue missions.

Now, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have demonstrated a tin-lead perovskite cell that overcomes problems with stability and improves efficiency.

To improve cell stability, NREL researchers used a hole-transporting material made of phenethylammonium iodide and guanidinium thiocyanate. Researchers noted that the formation of quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) structures from additives based on mixed bulky organic cations phenethylammonium and guanidinium provides critical defect control to substantially improve the structural and optoelectronic properties of lead-perovskite thin films with a narrow-bandgap of 1.25 eV.

The new tandem solar cell design with two layers of perovskites measured a 25.5% efficiency. It retained 80% of its maximum efficiency after 1,500 hours of continuous operation or more than 62 days.

Actually transporting quantum states over significant distances is tricky, though. Researchers have had some success transmitting messages tied up in the quantum states of photons over several hundred miles of optical cables, and also using satellite quantum communication to establish links over even greater distances. But the inevitable signal losses over either mode of communication mean that scaling up to the distances required for a true internet will be tricky.

One workaround is to exploit another quantum phenomenon called teleportation. This works much like the sci-fi concept used in shows like Star Trek, allowing information to be instantaneously transmitted from one place to another, theoretically over unlimited distances. And now, researchers from the Netherlands have provided the first practical demonstration of how this could work.

The team set up three quantum “nodes” called Alice, Bob, and Charlie, which are able to store quantum information in qubits—the quantum equivalent of bits in a computer made from nitrogen vacancy centers. These are tiny defects in diamonds that can be used to trap electrons and alter their quantum state. They then connected Alice to Bob and Bob to Charlie using optical fibers.

A new demonstration of these exotic constructs could help bridge classical and quantum physics.

The use of fire was a key factor in the evolution of Homo sapiens, not only for the creation of more sophisticated tools but also for making food safer, which in turn aided brain development.

To date, only five sites with fire evidence dating back 500,000 years have been found worldwide, including Wonderwerk Caves and Swartkrans in South Africa, Chesowanja in Kenya, Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in Israel, and Cueva Negra in Spain.

Now, a n Israeli research team has used artificial intelligence algorithms to discover a sixth site that shows traces of human fire! The study revealed evidence of human use of fire at a late Paleolithic site in Israel. The research results have been published in the journal PNAS.

Sign in Welcome! Log into your account your username your password Forgot your password? Get help Default Kit Password recovery Recover your password your email A password will be e-mailed to you. HometechA celebrated AI has learned a new…

Artificial intelligence has altered the practise of science by enabling researchers to examine the vast volumes of data generated by current scientific instruments. Using deep learning, it can learn from the data itself and can locate a needle in a million haystacks of information. AI is advancing the development of gene searching, medicine, medication design, and chemical compound synthesis.

Scientists Detect Fastest-Growing Black Hole in the Universe

Continue reading “A celebrated AI has learned a new trick: How to do chemistry” »

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Stress – whether it’s job strain, emotional wrangles or health worries – is something we all experience. However, a new study from USC shows stress accelerates aging of the immune system, potentially increasing a person’s risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and illness from infections such as COVID-19 [1].

Longevity. Technology: The new research, which has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help explain disparities in age-related health, including the unequal toll of the pandemic, and identify possible points for intervention.

“As the world’s population of older adults increases, understanding disparities in age-related health is essential. Age-related changes in the immune system play a critical role in declining health,” said lead study author Eric Klopack, a postdoctoral scholar in the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. “This study helps clarify mechanisms involved in accelerated immune aging [2].”