Lifeboat Foundation

Fascinating new episode with NASA planetary geophysicist Bruce Banerdt, the principal investigator for the Mars InSight lander which is changing the way scientists now view Mars’ interior dynamics and inner workings. Please have a listen.

I welcome Bruce Banerdt, the principal investigator for NASA’s Mars InSight lander, which has been operating on the Martian surface for two years now. Although it’s had some technical issues, it’s offered a sea change in how geophysicists are interpreting the dynamics and makeup of the Martian core. In this episode, we talk about what we currently understand about Mars’ geophysical makeup and, among other things, whether it ever had plate tectonics which was so crucial for the evolution of sentient life here on Earth.

Continue reading “Episode 36 --- NASA Aims For The Geophysical Heart Of Mars” »

The future for hydrogen fuel? 😃

Researchers have developed a magnesium-based POWERPASTE that stores hydrogen energy at 10 times the density of a lithium battery, ideal for small vehicles.

The question really is not if, but when and where drone swarms, which is the next evolution of robotic warfare, will be utilised in real-time operations.

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This rocket engine design, combined with a special fuel, could get humans from Earth to Mars in just three months.

RNA is the central tenet of molecular biology, the stepping-stone between DNA and proteins.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are characterized by impaired learning of social skills and language. Memories of how parents and other social models behave are used to guide behavioral learning. How ASD-linked genes affect the intertwined aspects of observational learning and behavioral imitation is not known. Here, we examine how disrupted expression of the ASD gene FOXP1, which causes severe impairments in speech and language learning, affects the cultural transmission of birdsong between adult and juvenile zebra finches. FoxP1 is widely expressed in striatal-projecting forebrain mirror neurons. Knockdown of FoxP1 in this circuit prevents juvenile birds from forming memories of an adult song model but does not interrupt learning how to vocally imitate a previously memorized song.

VANCOUVER, CANADA and WEST PERTH, AUSTRALIA – Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ: BLDP; TSX: BLDP) today announced that it has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Global Energy Ventures (ASX: GEV; www.gev.com) – a provider of integrated compressed shipping solutions for the transportation of energy to regional markets, headquartered in Australia – for the development of a new fuel cell-powered ship, called C-H2 Ship, designed to transport compressed green hydrogen.

The power required for a small-scale demonstration of the C-H2 Ship is expected to be under 10 megawatts (MW). At full scale, the C-H2 Ship will have a propulsion power requirement of approximately 26MW, and a containment system for storage of 2000 tons of compressed green hydrogen.

Continue reading “Ballard Signs MOU with Global Energy Ventures For Development of Fuel Cell-Powered Ship” »

In a new report on Science Advances, Mark Elowitz, and a team of scientists in physical sciences, optical physics, planetary science and radiation research in the U.S., U.K., India, and Taiwan, presented the first analysis of far-ultraviolet reflectance spectra of regions on Rhea’s leading and trailing hemispheres—as collected by the Cassini ultraviolet imaging spectrograph during targeted flybys. In this work, they specifically aimed to explain the unidentified broad absorption feature centered near 184 nanometers of the resulting spectra. Using laboratory measurements of the UV spectroscopy of a set of molecules, Elowitz et al. found a good fit to Rhea’s spectra with both hydrazine monohydrate and several chlorine-containing molecules. They showed hydrazine monohydrate to be the most plausible candidate to explain the absorption feature at 184 nm.

Computer-aided calculations have played a crucial part in producing the proofs of several high-profile results. And more recently, some mathematicians have made progress towards AI that doesn’t just perform repetitive calculations, but develops its own proofs. Another growing area has been software that can go over a mathematical proof written by humans and check that it is correct.

Algorithm named after mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan suggests interesting formulae, some of which are difficult to prove true.