Lifeboat Foundation

Featured Image Source: Merrillan, Wisconsin resident r/ darkpenguin22 via Reddit.

SpaceX is building its Starlink internet network in low Earth orbit. The aerospace company plans to fund its space program by offering affordable, low-latency, broadband internet globally. SpaceX initially plans to deploy 4,409 internet-beaming Starlink satellites, according to a recent letter the company sent to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). These satellites will operate at altitudes between 550 to 570 kilometers above Earth. To date, there are approximately 708 Starlink satellites already in low Earth orbit.

Company employees are actively private beta testing the Starlink network via user terminals that look like a ‘UFO on a stick’ and Wi-Fi router. – “They show super-low latency and download speeds greater than 100 [megabits] per second [Mbps],” SpaceX Senior Engineer Kate Tice shared during the latest deployment broadcast, “That means our latency is low enough to play the fastest online video games and our download speeds are fast enough to stream multiple HD movies at once.”

Although the SARS-CoV-2 virus has sickened more than 14 million people, bats contract similar viruses all the time without experiencing any known symptoms. Now, the newly sequenced genomes of six species spanning the bat family tree reveal how they’ve been outsmarting viruses for 65 million years. The findings are an “excellent starting point for understanding the superstar immune systems of bats,” says Laurel Yohe, a postdoc at Yale University who studies bat evolution and was not involved with the work. With more than 1400 species, bats are the second most diverse group of mammals on Earth. They live on every continent except Antarctica, and range in size from two to more than 1000 grams. They fly, they echolocate, and some live up to 41 years—a long time for animals of their size. They are also known to carry many different kinds of viruses, including coronaviruses, with no ill effects.

Newly sequenced genomes reveal the secrets of their “superstar” immune systems.

To get the best measurements of Earth’s atmosphere, you sometimes have to leave it. This November, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich spacecraft will do just that.

The world’s first waterproof drone capable of submerging under water, floating like a boat and flying through the air at over 40mph (60kmh) has been unveiled by US engineers.

The $765 (£585) gadget, known as Spry, features a built-in 4K camera that can both record video and snap photos on the fly.

Continue reading “The UNDERWATER drone: $765 gadget can submerge, float and fly” »

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Vat19 puts the life-saving LifeStraw water filter to the test by trying it out in sewage, urinal water, water from the Mississippi River, and even some liquid vomit. The video, naturally, comes with a warning for the weak of stomach.

Continue reading “LifeStraw Water Filter Is Put to the Test on Sewage, Urinal Water, and Vomit” »

Scientists have isolated the smallest biological molecule to date that completely and specifically neutralises SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19.

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Hugh Herr is building the next generation of bionic limbs, robotic prosthetics inspired by nature’s own designs. Herr lost both legs in a climbing accident 30 years ago; now, as the head of the MIT Media Lab’s Biomechatronics group, he shows his incredible technology in a talk that’s both technical and deeply personal — with the help of ballroom dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis, who lost her left leg in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and performs again for the first time on the TED stage.

Continue reading “New bionics let us run, climb and dance | Hugh Herr” »

We saw the Apple Watch 6 and iPad Air 4, but no iPhone 12 announced at Apple’s latest event. Here are the highlights! ⌚📱.

In a statement, Roscosmos noted that the first missions to explore Venus were carried out by the Soviet Union.

“The enormous gap between the Soviet Union and its competitors in the investigation of Venus contributed to the fact that the United States called Venus a Soviet planet,” Roscosmos said.

The Russians claim to have extensive material that suggests that some objects on the Venusian surface have changed places or could be alive, although these are hypotheses that have yet to be confirmed.

Continue reading “‘Venus is a Russian planet,’ Russian space agency director says” »