Lifeboat Foundation

Globally, it’s estimated that we mine as much as 50 billion metric tonnes of sand every year to build our roads, bridges, skyscrapers, homes and more. Rapid urbanization around the world has made sand a high value commodity, so much so that, for some, it’s even worth killing for. But not all sand is the same, and experts say some mining operations are damaging ecosystems, infrastructure and putting people in danger around the world.

0:00 Intro.
1:06 How the world uses sand.
3:46 Inside the growing demand for sand.
6:08 How the world mines sand.
7:33 A look at the environmental effects of sand mining.
9:20 Explaining sand mafias and cartels.
11:14 Exploring alternative building materials.
13:04 The future of sand and concrete.

Continue reading “How Sand Mining Is Quietly Creating A Major Global Environmental Crisis | Forbes” »

*slaps roof* This baby practically drives itself.

Drivers will be able to take their eyes off the road at speeds of up to 37 mph.

which envisions coordinating hundreds of #robots for missions in urban areas. http://ow.ly/OtWm50H8by5

Researchers have refined a molecule that shows promise for the prevention of Parkinson’s disease.

Researchers have refined a molecule that shows promise for the prevention of Parkinson’s disease.… See more.

Summary: Researchers have refined a molecule that shows promise for the prevention of Parkinson’s disease.

Source: University of Bath

Continue reading “Are Scientists Homing in on a Cure for Parkinson’s Disease?” »

https://buff.ly/3yezAQJ #UAV #Defence #OSINT

Technicians plan to conduct deck-handling testing of the MQ-25 Stingray on the aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush (CVN 77) while the ship is underway in December. (Michael Fabey)

Continue reading “Carrier Bush prepares for additional Stingray testing” »

Summary: Researchers implicate neurons in the anterior insula cortex as a driving force for motivation in the brain, according to a new mouse study.

Source: CSHL

A characteristic of depression is a lack of motivation. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Bo Li, in collaboration with CSHL Adjunct Professor Z. Josh Huang, discovered a group of neurons in the mouse brain that influences the animal’s motivation to perform tasks for rewards.

Cooled to almost absolute zero, atoms not only move in waves like light but also can be focused into shapes called caustics, similar to the reflecting or refracting patterns light makes on the bottom of a swimming pool or through a curved wine glass.

In experiments at Washington State University, scientists have developed a technique to see these matter wave caustics by placing attractive or repulsive obstacles in the path of a cold atom laser. The results are curving cusps or folds, upward or downward “V” shapes, which the researchers describe in a paper for Nature Communications.

While it is foundational research, these caustics have potential applications for highly precise measurement or timing devices such as interferometers and atomic clocks.

Experimental compound, which has received orphan drug and pediatric rare disease designations from the FDA, displays effectiveness in treating symptoms of Autism and Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers developed a novel model to assess the effect of this experimental drug on symptoms related to au.

An international study led by Monash University astronomers focusing on an infamous star in Orion may help to shed light on how the solar system formed.

In 1936, over the course of the year, a previously unremarkable faint star in Orion, FU Ori, became 250 times brighter.

“FU Ori has remained bright ever since,” said Elisabeth Borchert, the lead author of the study to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS).