Lifeboat Foundation

MIT researchers have developed a new material inspired by camel fur made from two layers that can keep perishable goods cool without needing any power. The two-layer passive cooling system is made of hydrogel and aerogel. Researchers say that it can be used to keep foods or pharmaceutical cool for days without needing electricity.

The material can be seen in the photo above, its top layer is aerogel, and the bottom layer is a hydrogel. Material is inspired by camel fur, which helps keep the animals cool and helps them to conserve water in the scorching desert environment. It seems counterintuitive that a thick coat of fur would help camels to stay cool, but tests have shown that a shaved camel loses 50 percent more moisture than an unshaved one under ideal conditions.

The bottom layer of MIT’s material is a substitute for sweat glands made of hydrogel. This gelatin-like substance is mostly water contained in a sponge-like matrix that allows the water to evaporate easily. The upper aerogel layer plays the part of the fur, keeping out external heat while allowing the vapor to pass through. Hydrogels have been used for cooling applications in the past. Field tests have found that MIT’s material can provide cooling of more than seven degrees Celsius for five times longer than hydrogel alone despite being less than half an inch thick.

What makes the fly agaric fly? Amanita muscaria is well‐known for its toxicity caused by the psychoactive metabolites ibotenic acid and muscimol. Here, the biosynthetic genes responsible for the production of these metabolites are identified and it is shown that the biosynthetic pathway begins with a dedicated, stereoselective glutamate hydroxylase. These are the first results concerning the biosynthesis of ibotenic acid and muscimol in over 50 years.

A hacker group targeted a major Italian alcohol producer and demanded a Bitcoin ransom—taking out Facebook ads to “pressure” the victims.

The project is part of the European Space Agency (Esa)’s ambitions to colonise the Moon.

Korean electronics giant LG, along with two California computing startups, Renovo and Savari, are demonstrating use cases for 5G-connected vehicles as Verizon and Amazon expand the wireless computing availability to multiple U.S. cities.

On this Veteran’s Day 2020, Teslarati thanks all of the heroes who have sacrificed their freedoms to protect ours. In the theme of the day, we decided to take a look back at how Tesla has honored the heroes who have served in the military over the years. From camo-inspired EVs to Veteran’s hiring programs, the electric automaker has portrayed an appreciation for those who fought to keep us free.

2014: The Camo Model S and a heartfelt “Thank You”

In 2014, Tesla tweeted several photographs of a military-inspired Model S, dawning images of American flags and spelling the words “U.S.A. Veteran,” “Made in the USA,” and “#TeslaVets.” The camo Model S hasn’t made an appearance since then. However, the message is still present on Tesla’s official Twitter page, reminding everyone that the company is overwhelmingly supportive of our Veterans.

Featured Image Source: @austinbarnard45 via Twitter SpaceX’s Starship SN8 (Serial Number 8) prototype roared to life last night during a Raptor engine static-fire test. This test is a routine pre-flight preparation meant to assess the three Raptor engines and all systems related to the propulsion system before a launch vehicle takes flight. SN8 is expected to become the first fully-assembled Starship prototype to perform a test flight. Engineers plan to launch Starship SN8 50,000 feet (15-kilometers) into Boca Chica Beach, Texas, sunny sky. Tuesday’s static-fire test was the second one performed. Raptor engines are fueled by a combination of cryogenic methane and liquid oxygen. During the test, engineers fuel the vehicke to briefly ignite the Raptors as the stainless-steel Starship SN8 vehicle remained grounded to a test stand at the South Texas Launch Facility. Last night’s engine ignition was different than the previous one; This time, SN8 featured a top nose cone section with an oxygen header tank. The vehicle’s first static-firing only featured the bottom base and excluded a test of the header propellant tanks. On October 20, teams performed the first static-firing in which the Starship SN8’s three Raptor engines where briefly ignited for the first time, utilizing fuel from the main propellant tank. Starship features two propellant tanks — a main one that holds most of the propellant and a ‘header tank’ that is a smaller tank that holds fuel reserves that can fuel the vehicle upon landing. A header tank for liquid oxygen is also located inside the vehicle’s top nose cone section.

“In our current study we were able to uncover important limitations for the use of metformin as longevity medicine,” says Dr. Ermolaeva. In contrast to the positive longevity effects in young organisms that received metformin, lifespan is shortened through metformin intake at an older age. “Previous studies that provided evidence of an extended longevity by metformin usually examined animals treated with metformin from young adult or middle age until the end of life. In contrast, we have looked at treatment windows covering the entire life span, or restricted to early life or to late life”. The study also utilized a human cell culture model of replicative aging to assess human responses to metformin at a cellular level and compare them to organismal responses of the worms.

**Metformin longevity benefits are reversed with age**

The research team led by Dr. Ermolaeva found that the very same metformin treatment that prolonged life when C. elegans worms were treated at young age, was highly toxic when animals of old age were treated. Up to 80% of the population treated at old age were killed by metformin within the first 24 hours of treatment. Consistently, human primary cells demonstrated a progressive decrease in metformin tolerance as they approached replicative senescence. The researchers were able to link this detrimental phenotype to the reduced ability of old cells and old nematodes to adapt to metabolic stressors like metformin. Under these circumstances, the exact same dose of the drug that increased longevity of young-treated organisms by triggering adaptive stress responses was harmful in animals treated at old age, which were unable to activate such protective signals.

Continue reading “Age is decisive for positive or negative effects of the diabetes drug metformin” »

“I mean, I suspect we could have an army of 120,000, of which 30,000 might be robots, who knows?” Carter said, although he stressed he was not setting any particular target in terms of future numbers.

Investment in robot warfare was to be at the heart of the planned integrated five-year defence review, whose future was thrown into doubt after the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, postponed the cross-government spending review to which it had been linked last month.

Carter said negotiations with Downing Street and the Treasury about salvaging the multi-year defence funding settlement were “going on in a very constructive way” – as he lobbied in public for a long-term financial deal.