Lifeboat Foundation

Microgrids can connect and disconnect from the grid. By operating on normal “blue-sky” operating days as well as during emergencies, microgrids provide uninterrupted power when the grid goes down — and reduce grid constraints and energy costs when grid-connected. Previously the sole domain of military bases and universities, microgrids are growing 15% annually, reaching an $18 billion market in the U.S. by 2022.

For grid resiliency and reliable power supply, there is no better solution than community-scale microgrids that connect critical infrastructure facilities with nearby residential and commercial loads. Funding feasibility studies and audit-grade designs — so that communities have zero-cost but high-quality pathways to constructable projects, as New York State did with the NY Prize initiative — is a proven way to involve communities in their energy planning and engage the private sector in building low-carbon resilient energy systems.

Unpredictability and complexity are quickening, and technology has its place, but not simply as an individual safeguard or false security blanket. Instead, technology should be used to better calculate risk, increase system resilience, improve infrastructure durability and strengthen the bonds between people in a community both during and in between emergencies.

Summary: A new technique which involves fusing human and chimpanzee skin cells that have been modified to act like stem cells, allowed researchers to identify two novel genetic differences between humans and chimps.

Source: Stanford University.

One of the best ways to study human evolution is by comparing us with nonhuman species that, evolutionarily speaking, are closely related to us. That closeness can help scientists narrow down precisely what makes us human, but that scope is so narrow it can also be extremely hard to define. To address this complication, researchers from Stanford University have developed a new technique for comparing genetic differences.

Facebook is showing off its mind-reading wrist device and an augmented reality keyboard that it is working on as it prepares to release its smart glasses.

“The most spectacular result is the presence of strong jets, with speeds of up to 400 meters per second, which are located under the aurorae near the poles,” says Cavalié. These wind speeds, equivalent to about 1450 kilometers an hour, are more than twice the maximum storm speeds reached in Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and over three times the wind speed measured on Earth’s strongest tornadoes.

“Our detection indicates that these jets could behave like a giant vortex with a diameter of up to four times that of Earth, and some 900 kilometers in height,” explains co-author Bilal Benmahi, also of the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux. “A vortex of this size would be a unique meteorological beast in our Solar System,” Cavalié adds.

Satellite imagery specialist Capella Space on Thursday released the first images captured by its two latest spacecraft launched in January.

The firm is trying to tap part of an Earth intelligence market it estimates is worth about $60 billion.

Capella’s business is based on combining a special type of imagery with a small, inexpensive spacecraft. The company is building a network of satellites that can capture images of places on Earth multiple times a day.

Listen to Perseverance drive! Raw and unfiltered from Mars.

Perseverance captured audio while driving on the surface of Mars’ Jezero Crater on Sol 16. The raw and unfiltered recording has been combined here with imagery captured on the same sol. Full Story: https://www.space.com/perseverance-rover-sounds-driving-mars.

Continue reading “Hear Perseverance drive! Raw and unfiltered from Mars 🔊” »

Master communicator Neil DeGrasse Tyson is at his inimitable self in this new episode. We discuss everything from why space aliens might have a whole other set of senses than we humans and why moving to Mars might never work. Please have a listen.

Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City, discusses everything from pond scum to space aliens in this off-the-wall and very engaging episode. It’s vintage Tyson. We also touch on his latest book written with George Mason University physicist James Trefil — “Cosmic Queries: StarTalk’s Guide To Who We Are, How We Got Here, And Where We’re Going.”

Continue reading “Episode 42 --- Neil DeGrasse Tyson Talks About His New Book ‘Cosmic Queries’” »

Just because a mathematical formula works does not mean it reflects reality.

These robots have nailed bottle-flipping, proving not even internet challenges are safe from automation.