Lifeboat Foundation

READER QUESTION: My understanding is that nothing comes from nothing. For something to exist, there must be material or a component available, and for them to be available, there must be something else available. Now my question: Where did the material come from that created the Big Bang, and what happened in the first instance to create that material? Peter, 80, Australia.

“The last star will slowly cool and fade away. With its passing, the universe will become once more a void, without light or life or meaning.” So warned the physicist Brian Cox in the recent BBC series Universe. The fading of that last star will only be the beginning of an infinitely long, dark epoch. All matter will eventually be consumed by monstrous black holes, which in their turn will evaporate away into the dimmest glimmers of light. Space will expand ever outwards until even that dim light becomes too spread out to interact. Activity will cease.

Continue reading “How Could the Big Bang Arise From Nothing?” »

About the Bioprint FirstAid Handheld Bioprinter capabilities.

Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) are testing 3D bioprinted bandages made of their own cells that could be used to better heal flesh wounds in space.

The German Space Agency (DLR) is leading the experiment which was launched to the ISS at the end of December 2021 on SpaceX’s 24th commercial resupply mission. The payload contained the BioPrint FirstAid Handheld Bioprinter, which is designed to hold cells from astronauts within a bioink that can be used to apply bandages to wounds when needed.

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Magnetic field information could provide earlier disaster warning to at-risk regions, potentially saving lives.

A new study finds the magnetic field generated by a tsunami can be detected a few minutes earlier than changes in sea level and could improve warnings of these giant waves.

Tsunamis generate magnetic fields as they move conductive seawater through the Earth’s magnetic field. Researchers previously predicted that the tsunami’s magnetic field would arrive before a change in sea level, but they lacked simultaneous measurements of magnetics and sea level that are necessary to demonstrate the phenomenon.

See, when there is no hypocrisy of being an oil tycoon nation, talking to much in conferences about environmental incentives whilst having a double agenda which consists of slowing the trend down, or doing nothing while we get to 2030.

IT ACTUALLY WORKS

Turkey’s rapid shift to greener sources of energy has led to a sharp rise in its installed solar power over the last decade, with renewable investments expected to accelerate in the period ahead.

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Magnets and superconductors don’t normally get along, but a new study shows that ‘magic-angle’ graphene is capable of producing both superconductivity and ferromagnetism, which could be useful in quantum computing.

When two sheets of the carbon nanomaterial graphene are stacked together at a particular angle with respect to each other, it gives rise to some fascinating physics. For instance, when this so-called “magic-angle graphene” is cooled to near absolute zero 0, it suddenly becomes a superconductor, meaning it conducts electricity with zero resistance.

Now, a research team from Brown University has found a surprising new phenomenon that can arise in magic-angle graphene. In research published in the journal Science, the team showed that by inducing a phenomenon known as spin-orbit coupling, magic-angle graphene becomes a powerful ferromagnet.

SciTechDaily.

Structure may reveal conditions needed for high-temperature superconductivity.

When two sheets of graphene are stacked atop each other at just the right angle, the layered structure morphs into an unconventional superconductor, allowing electric currents to pass through without resistance or wasted energy.

Continue reading “The Biggest Bang’ — Physicists Create Tunable Superconductivity in Twisted Graphene ‘Nanosandwich” »

Viruses can be wily adapters, changing their identities to find new hosts and thwart efforts to stop them. That’s why University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and their collaborators are making progress toward developing universal vaccines against some the planet’s most harmful pathogens, including the virus family responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last fall, the National Institutes of Health announced it was investing in three teams working to develop a vaccine that would simultaneously work against a broad range of coronaviruses. Among them is a research collaboration, the Pan-Coronavirus Vaccine consortium, led by UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine Professor of Pathobiological Sciences Yoshihiro Kawaoka.

“This pan-coronavirus vaccine is basically preparing for the future,” Kawaoka says.

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And it can balance perfectly on power lines.

Scientists at UC Berkeley developed an experimental drone called the Midair Reconfigurable Quadcopter. As the name implies, the drone can shape-shift in midair, a report from NewAtlas reveals.

Continue reading “Scientists Have Created a Novel Drone That Shapeshifts Mid-Flight” »

Musicians have been experimenting with artificial intelligence for a few years now. For example, in 2019, an AI trained on Schubert’s music completed his Unfinished Symphony and last October the Beethoven Orchestra in Bonn performed an AI-generated version of Beethoven’s last symphony.

But what are the limits of AI music? Can an AI really be considered creative? And is it possible for an AI to improvise with musicians live on stage?

Continue reading “Research Project Will Study How AI Can Be Used In Creative Collaboration” »