Lifeboat Foundation

The material that the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft returned from asteroid Ryugu is the most pristine sample we’ve ever gotten our hands on.

Tests at two laboratories show that the dark grains that the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft collected from the carbon-rich near-Earth asteroid 162,173 Ryugu are the most primitive materials known in the solar system.

“In this body you see hydrated materials and signs of organics from very early in the formation of the solar system — that’s exciting!” says Deborah Domingue (Planetary Science Institute), who was not involved in those studies but did earlier analysis of remote sensing data of Ryugu.

The French company Moonbike is preparing to bring its fun-looking snow transporter to the US, just in time for winter riding.

The Moonbike may have “bike” in its name, though it’s hard to call it a true snow bike.

But don’t let that rear track fool you. It’s not really a traditional snowmobile either, in that it rides on a single forward ski instead of two.

Elon Musk took Senator Elizabeth Warren to task in this interview with The Babylon Bee on whether he pays enough in taxes or if he is a freeloading bum.

See the rest of the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvGnw1sHh9M

It’s a major initiative, led by Russia’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education, which aims to boost higher education and research programs. The academic leadership program wants the country’s higher education centers to become more attractive to foreign students and scientists. Priority 2030 opened for business this summer, and after several months, over one hundred Russian universities were chosen as participants. All of them would get at least 100 million rubles ($1.4 million) annually for the development of their projects. Dozens of participants also applied for special grants, which provide the opportunity to receive up to 1 billion rubles ($13.6 million) annually.

There is a wide range of areas where artificial intelligence technology may be of use. All of these areas require qualified staff, and educating them is becoming a priority for Russian universities.

Musk and SpaceX faced online backlash in China after a note sent to the UN revealed the company’s satellites almost collided with China’s space station in 2021.

Officials with the Danish energy company Ørsted have announced that they have achieved first power on the Hornsea 2 project—a new windfarm off the coast of England in the North Sea. As part of their announcement, posted on the company’s web page, officials noted that once the windfarm is fully operational, it will represent the largest windfarm in the world.

Hornsea 2, as its name implies, is the second segment of a four-segment project. Hornsea 1 became operational last year and is currently the largest offshore windfarm —with its 174 turbines, the farm has a capacity of 1.2-GW—enough to power over a million homes in the U.K.

Hornsea 2 was approved for construction back in 2016—it will feature 165 8-MW turbines made by Siemens, which will give it a capacity of 1.32 GW. The offshore substation and reactive stations have been installed and tested while construction continues on the turbines. The windfarm will be located approximately 90 kilometers off the coast of Grims, England, which is not far from Leeds and Sheffield. Once the windfarm is fully operational, it will deliver power to a substation at Killingholme. The project will involve stringing cable under 390 kilometers of ocean water and then 40 kilometers of land before reaching the substation. Hornsea 2 will also be breaking another record—it will be located farther away from shore than any other large-scale windfarm.

A team of Viennese researchers has developed what likely amounts to the future of classical computing: Intelligent transistors. By tapping into the element Germanium, these transistors are much more efficient and can reduce the number of transistors required for the same computational work by a staggering 85%.

How does our biology give rise to the experience of consciousness?
Anil’s new book “Being You” is available now: https://geni.us/anil.
Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/JZS39CaODTs.

Anil Seth argues, using innovative combinations of theory and experiment, that our brains are prediction machines inventing our world and correcting our mistakes by the microsecond. Anil’s new perspective on consciousness has shed light on the nature of the self, free will, the intimate relationship between being alive and being aware — and the possibility of conscious machines.

Continue reading “Is Reality a Controlled Hallucination? — with Anil Seth” »

Up to 90% of patients who undergo open abdominal or pelvic surgery develop postoperative adhesions, or scar tissue. Minimally invasive laparoscopic surgical approaches can reduce the severity of the adhesions, but the scar tissue still forms. The cellular response to injury—even intentional injury, such as surgery to repair a problem—results in a cascade of molecules pouring to the site to heal the tissue. But the molecules, working quickly to close the wound, often go too far and bind the wound to nearby healthy tissue. Depending on the location, the resulting scar tissue can cause chronic pain, bowel obstruction and even death.

There may be a potential solution available soon, according to researchers from Southern Medical University in China. They have developed an injectable hydrogel that can plug up wounds without sticking to off target tissue, effectively preventing postoperative adhesions.

Their approach, tested in rats and rabbits, was published on Nov. 18 in Advanced Functional Materials.