Lifeboat Foundation

A major report card on the state of biodiversity gives failing grades to the world’s nations. The United Nations’s Global Biodiversity Outlook 5, released this week, concludes that the world has not met ambitious targets set 10 years ago to protect nature. “The warning lights are flashing. We have to recognize that we’re in a planetary emergency,” Andy Purvis, a biodiversity researcher at the Natural History Museum said in a statement.

Despite glimmers of progress, the world has not achieved decadal targets to protect nature.

How can combat pilots protect warfighters in the air and on the ground at the speed of light? We’re developing laser pod technology now to be ready for action when the warfighter calls. The future is almost here.

Learn more about TALWS: https://lmt.co/3hry0kJ

Motion sensors make holographic avatars dance, via Mark Bartkevitch.

Summary: Time-sensitive neuron fatigue in the supramarginal gyrus skew how we perceive time.

Source: SfN

On some days, time flies by, while on others it seems to drag on. A new study from Journal of Neuroscience reveals why: time-sensitive neurons get worn out and skew our perceptions of time.

By studying the DNA of people who lived in East Asia thousands of years ago, scientists are starting to untangle how the region was populated.

Rolling out in most of its cities starting next year.

Google Fiber will double the maximum internet speed offered to its customers starting later this year from 1 Gbps to 2 Gbps, the company announced this week. The new plan will cost $100 a month, $30 more than the company’s existing 1 Gbps option. However, only downloads will be offered at the new maximum speed; uploads will remain at 1 Gbps. With the new plan, Google says it will provide customers with an unspecified “new Wi-Fi 6 router and mesh extender” to make the most of the new speeds.

Pilots of the new plan are due to kick off in Nashville, Tennessee, and Huntsville, Alabama, next month, with a full rollout in the two cities planned for later in the year. The company says it currently offers Google Fiber and Google Fiber Webpass (which uses over-the-air transmission rather than fiber optic cables) in 19 cities in the US. 2 Gbps pilots are due to start in its other markets later this year, with a rollout in “most” cities in early 2021.

Continue reading “Google Fiber to offer 2 Gig internet for $100 a month starting this year” »

Musk reckons his brain-computer interface could one day help humans merge with AI, record their memories, or download their consciousness. Could he be right?

@BlueOrigin, @DraperLab, @NorthropGrumman & @LockheedMartin have completed critical System Requirements Review (SRR) for their #NationalTeam Human Landing System (HLS) concept.

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have isolated “the smallest biological molecule” that “completely and specifically neutralizes” the virus that causes COVID-19.

The antibody component is 10 times smaller than a full-size antibody, and has been used to create the drug Ab8, shared in the report published by the researchers in the journal Cell on Monday. The drug is seen as a potential preventative against SARS-CoV-2.

According to the report, the drug has been “highly effective in preventing and treating” SARS-CoV-2 infections in mice and hamsters during tests. The drug also reportedly does not bind to human cells, which suggests it will not have negative side effects in people.