Lifeboat Foundation

Connecticut-based company LiquidPiston is developing a portable generator for the US Army that uses its X-Engine, a fresh and extremely powerful take on the rotary engine that’ll deliver as much power as the Army’s current-gen-set at one-fifth the size.

We’ve written a few times before about the fascinating LiquidPiston rotary engine. It’s not a Wankel – indeed, it’s closer to an inside-out Wankel – and with only two moving parts, it’s able to deliver extraordinary power density at up to 1.5 horsepower per pound (0.45 kg).

Continue reading “LiquidPiston’s ‘inside-out’ rotary X-Engine wins Army research contract” »

The flight marks the first known time an AI has to been used to control a US military aircraft.

“This is the first time this has ever happened,” assistant Air Force Secretary Will Roper told the newspaper.

The AI took care of some highly specific tasks and was never in control of actually flying the plane — or, notably, any weapon systems.

Using the Parkes radio telescope, Chinese astronomers have investigated an isolated pulsar known as PSR J1047−6709 and detected dozens of giant pulses during the bright state of this source. The finding is reported in a paper published December 10 on the arXiv pre-print repository.

Pulsars are highly magnetized, rotating neutron stars emitting a beam of electromagnetic radiation. They are usually detected in the form of short bursts of radio emission, however, some of them are also observed using optical, X-ray and gamma-ray telescopes. To date, most pulsars have been discovered using the Parkes Observatory in Australia.

Some pulsars showcase the so-called giant pulses (GPs)—short-duration, burst-like radio emissions from a pulsar, with energies exceeding the average pulse energy by 10 times or even much more. So far, such activity has only been detected in 16 pulsars.

Aquaporin, the company that designed NASA’s wastewater filtration system, plans to use this technology on Earth and help with water scarcity. Discover now.

For those who like to bike while not getting rained on.

Hopefully they come up with a version with built in airconditioning for warm places. 😃

Sustainable velomobile with electric assist and weather protection.

Continue reading “Sustainable e-bike car hybrid” »

The team, led by Cornell postdoctoral researcher Jake D. Turner, Philippe Zarka of the Observatoire de Paris—Paris Sciences et Lettres University and Jean-Mathias Griessmeier of the Université d’Orléans published their findings in the forthcoming research section of the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, on Dec. 16.

“We present one of the first hints of detecting an exoplanet in the radio realm,” Turner said. “The signal is from the Tau Boötes system, which contains a binary star and an exoplanet. We make the case for an emission by the planet itself. From the strength and polarization of the radio signal and the planet’s magnetic field, it is compatible with theoretical predictions.”

Researchers have identified a cancer-causing mutation in the PDGFRA gene that drives cell mutation and growth when activated. The findings have implications for the treatment of a subset of glioblastoma brain cancer.

This Giant Four-Legged Robot Is Like Something Out Of A Science Fiction Film!! 😍 🤖

Dead Cells

It’s an intriguingly microscopic example of pro-social behavior — an adaptation that doesn’t help an individual survive, but does let it use its death to help others, therefore making the entire swarm more likely to survive and reproduce.

“Dead cells are helping the community survive,” University of Texas at Austin professor of molecular biosciences told Live Science.