Lifeboat Foundation

In very early life, sleep helps build the brain’s infrastructure, but it then takes on an entirely new decluttering role.

Prolonged sleep deprivation can lead to severe health problems in humans and other animals. But why is sleep so vital to our health? A UCLA-led team of scientists has answered this question and shown for the first time that a dramatic change in the purpose of sleep occurs at the age of about 2-and-a-half.

Before that age, the brain grows very rapidly. During REM sleep, when vivid dreams occur, the young brain is busy building and strengthening synapses — the structures that connect neurons to one another and allow them to communicate.

A Nebraska student has grown her own canoe using fungus — and it sprouts new mushrooms every time she takes it out on the water.

Katy Ayers, 28, created the 8ft-long boat from fibrous mushroom roots, otherwise known as mycelium.

The roots are usually found beneath soil and known for their dense, buoyant and waterproof properties, The Times reported.

Magnetism and electricity are linked together in many weird and wonderful ways throughout science, including the fascinating magnetoelectric effect noticeable in some crystals – where the electrical properties of a crystal can be influenced by a magnetic field, and vice versa.

Now things have gotten even weirder, because scientists have discovered a brand new magnetoelectric effect in a symmetrical crystal – and it shouldn’t be possible.

The effect was found in a specific type of crystal called a langasite, which is made up of lanthanum, gallium, silicon and oxygen, plus holmium atoms.

This robot on wheels is seven feet tall, is kitted out with cameras, microphones and sensors, and uses the three “fingers” on its hands to stock supermarket shelves with products such as bottled drinks, cans and rice bowls.

Japan’s convenience stores are turning to robots to solve their labor shortage.

From diagnostics to treatments and vaccines, nanotechnology is being developed and deployed to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

The world-altering coronavirus behind the COVID-19 pandemic is thought to be just 60 nanometres to 120 nanometres in size. This is so mind bogglingly small that you could fit more than 400 of these virus particles into the width of a single hair on your head. In fact, coronaviruses are so small that we can’t see them with normal microscopes and require much fancier electron microscopes to study them. How can we battle a foe so minuscule that we cannot see it?

Continue reading “3 Ways Nanotechnology is Being Used to Battle Coronavirus” »

Both sides are developing laser weapons, with the US leading the way and China having been accused of targeting American planes with military-grade laser beams.

Two experiments hunting for a whisper of a particle that prevents whole galaxies from flying apart recently published some contradictory results. One came up empty handed, while the other gives us every reason to keep on searching.

Dark bosons are dark matter candidates based on force-carrying particles that don’t really pack much force.

Unlike the bosons we’re more familiar with, such as the photons that bind molecules and the gluons that hold atomic nuclei together, an exchange of dark bosons would barely affect their immediate surroundings.

Making hydrogen a metal takes lot of pressure. But after a group of scientist’s lost the world’s first sample, the pressure is really on.

Is Jupiter the Reason for Life on Earth? — https://youtu.be/nsGRvnPL95I

Continue reading “Why Metallic Hydrogen Is the Holy Grail of High Pressure Physics” »

SpaceX is taking a new approach to internet access, and it’s deploying a special vehicle to try it out.