Lifeboat Foundation

These chips might be the future of neuromorphic computing.

Honey could be the next material used to create brain-like computer chips. Its proven practicality marks another step toward creating efficient, renewable processors for neuromorphic computing systems, using biodegradable products.

Research engineers from WSU’s School of Engineering and Computer Science, Feng Zhao and Brandon Sueoka, first processed honey into a solid. Then they jammed it between two electrodes, using a structure design similar to that of a human synapse. They’re known as ‘memristors,’ and are proficient at learning and retaining information just like human neurons.

Continue reading “Honey might be the key to cooler, more efficient, biodegradable chips” »

(Bloomberg) — Alphabet Inc.’s Wing is set to begin the largest drone-delivery test program so far in the U.S., starting Thursday in the Dallas suburbs. Most Read from BloombergU.S. Drones for Ukraine Will Include Latest Tank KillersRussia Skirts Nearer Default After Dollar Payment BlockedCanada to Ban Foreigners From Buying Homes as Prices SoarEx-Oligarch Says Putin Sees War With the West Already UnderwayIf Stocks Don’t Fall, the Fed Needs to Force ThemWing LLC, which had announced its intention to begin the Texas deliveries last October, has obtained permission for the program from the Federal Aviation Administration, the company said in a statement Monday.

San Francisco-based startup Astranis has purchased a dedicated launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, eschewing the less expensive “ride-share” model favored by new space companies for an exclusive mission that Astranis says will put its package of four communications satellites closer to their target orbit in a much faster amount of time.

“We’re actually using substantially less than the max capability of a Falcon 9,” Astranis CEO and founder John Gedmark explained. “This is just four small satellites that [will be] on there. So we’re actually able to use all of that extra performance to put those four satellites much closer to GEO than you would normally be able to do with with this kind of launch.”

How much faster? At least twice as fast, cutting down the time from up to six months to as little as three months. Purchasing a dedicated launch on a Falcon 9 — a first amongst space companies — also means that Astranis will have much more control over when the rocket takes off and the payload insertion orbit.

What follows is one of the most fascinating and eye-opening conversations I’ve had about crypto. We cover America’s casino mindset, the echoes of the financial crisis she’s sensing right now, how to regulate crypto, and how to innovate without exploiting others. Allen offers a lacerating but level-headed criticism of the space that is well worth your time.

Charlie Warzel: Your essay is about DeFi, or decentralized finance. Like a lot of terminology in the crypto space, DeFi is pretty broad and vague but also very much accepted in the lexicon. How do you define it?

Hilary J. Allen: Like any evolving space, the terminology is hard to pin down. People inside the crypto world have different definitions for DeFi and would probably argue with mine. But the way I think of DeFi is as a way to describe any analogue of traditional financial-service transactions—loans, deposits, etc.—that are provided using technological tools like the blockchain or facilitated through smart contracts or stablecoins. The technology is what is different, but the financial transactions are very much similar to traditional finance.

The “canyon of fire” is at least 12,400 miles (20,000 kilometers) deep and 10 times as long.

Filaments of plasma escaped from a fiery canyon that opened on the sun’s surface on Sunday (April 3) releasing powerful streams of magnetized solar wind that might bring more auroras to Earth later this week.

Superconductivity and the end of resistance.

Superconductors will be a technology that we will greatly benefit from in the future. Innovative projects to solve our energy problems, such as fusion reactors, rely on their unique properties.

Cybercriminals have started using Static Web Apps, an Azure service, in their phishing attacks against Microsoft 365 (opens in new tab) users.

Researchers from MalwareHunterTeam noted Static Web Apps have two features that are being abused with ease — custom branding for web apps, and web hosting for static content such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or images.

NASA is experimenting with making lenses with liquid in space, which could lead to giant space telescopes 100x the size of the James Webb.

West Virginia’s largest solar farm will sit on the site of the 5,800-acre Hobet Mine, one of the state’s largest former coal mines, which went bankrupt in 2015.

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The solar farm will be situated on 3,000 acres of the site, which straddles Boone and Lincoln counties in the southwestern part of the state, near Charleston. It will power an adjacent 2,800-acre site that will host industry, lodging, hospitality, and recreation, and the whole site will be known as SunPark. The solar farm is the first phase of the project.