Lifeboat Foundation

It takes seven months to get to Mars in an efficiently engineered spaceship, covering the distance of 480 million kilometers. On this journey, a crew would have to survive in a confined space with no opportunity to experience nature or interact with new people. It is easy to imagine how this much isolation could have a severe impact on the crew’s well-being and productivity.

The challenges long-duration space travelers experience are not foreign to regular folk, although to … See more.

The transport sector accounts for 47% of New Zealand’s carbon dioxide emissions. It will be a focus for decarbonisation to meet the country’s new climate pledge to cut emissions by half by 2030.

Wellington International Airport officials believe it may be the longest distance flown in an electric plane across any body of water.

“It’s a very exciting day for the airport. A world-record-setting day,” said spokesperson Jenna Raeburn.

Full Story:

Continue reading “New Zealand strait crossed for first time” »

Wikipedia has banned 7 Chinese ‘editors’ for manipulating information critical of China. The move has raised questions on the credibility of Wikipedia. How reliable is it? How easy is it to manipulate information? Palki Sharma has a report.

#Wikipedia #China #Gravitas.

Continue reading “Gravitas: Wikipedia bans Chinese editors for ‘manipulation’” »

O… See more.

A historian traces the Tesla founder’s passion for space exploration and other futuristic pursuits to dystopian novels and a grandfather’s eccentric convictions.

Conception is starting with blood cells from female donors and trying to transform these into the first “proof-of-concept human egg” made in the lab. The company hasn’t done it yet—nor has anyone else. There are still scientific puzzles to overcome, but Krisiloff sent out an email to supporters earlier this year saying his startup might be “the first in the world to accomplish this goal in the not-too-distant future.” It says that artificial eggs “could become one of the most important technologies ever created.”

That’s no exaggeration. If scientists can generate supplies of eggs, it would break the rules of reproduction as we know them. Women without ovaries—for example, because of cancer or surgery—might be able to have biologically related children. What’s more, lab-made eggs would cancel the age limits on female fertility, allowing women to have related babies at 50 60, or even beyond.

Yay 😃

CERN’s gargantuan particle collider could change everything by discovering a new force of nature.

This rolling sheet of solar panels may not look like much, but it could help spark a solar power revolution in the railroad industry.

The creators of the solar-powered locomotive of the future were aiming to set a Guinness record for speed last weekend, and that is more than just your ordinary attention-getting stunt. Demonstrating the functionality of PV panels on rail cars could help set the stage for solar power to knock diesel fuel out of the railroad business. No word yet on the official results, but solar is beginning to wiggle its way into a field dominated by fossil fuel.

The Solar Train Of The Future Hits The Tracks, With Only Solar Power

Continue reading “Diesel-Killing Locomotive Of The Future Runs On Solar Power” »