Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 7131

BOEM is responsible for offshore renewable energy development in Federal waters. The program began in 2009, when the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced the final regulations for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Renewable Energy Program, which was authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct). These regulations provide a framework for all of the activities needed to support production and transmission of energy from sources other than oil and natural gas. BOEM anticipates future development on the OCS from these general sources:

Offshore Wind Energy

Offshore wind is an abundant, domestic energy resource that is located close to major coastal load centers. It provides an efficient alternative to long-distance transmission or development of electricity generation in these land-constrained regions.

Read more | >

In response to ongoing cybersecurity events, the National Security Agency (NSA) released a Cybersecurity Advisory Thursday “Detecting Abuse of Authentication Mechanisms.” This advisory provides guidance to National Security System (NSS), Department of Defense (DoD), and Defense Industrial Base (DIB) network administrators to detect and mitigate against malicious cyber actors who are manipulating trust in federated authentication environments to access protected data in the cloud. It builds on the guidance shared in the cybersecurity advisory regarding VMware with state-sponsored actors exploiting CVE 2020–4006 and forging credentials to access protected files, though other nation states and cyber criminals may use this tactic, technique, and procedure (TTP) as well.

Detecting abuse of authentication mechanisms infographic.

Read more | >

A three-floor apartment building is being constructed by Peri, a formwork and scaffolding maker, with the help of a 3D construction printer.

Germany-based Peri isn’t a newcomer to the ever-growing 3D construction printing segment. The apartment building is currently being printed in Bavaria, Germany, and the project was unveiled only two months after Peri announced i t was creating Germany’s first 3D printed two-story detached home.

Unlike the first project, this upcoming three-floor apartment building will contain 4, 090 square feet of occupiable space in the form of five apartment units and a basement. The units will be available in different sizes, good for both single occupants and families, Peri’s global business development manager of 3D construction printing Jan Graumann told Business Insider in an email interview.

Read more | >

New research, published in Nature, has measured highly sought-after Majorana quantum states. A team of theoretical and experimental physicists have designed a new ultra-thin material that they have used to create elusive quantum states. Called one-dimensional Majorana zero energy modes, these quantum states could have a huge impact for quantum computing.

Read more | >

Did you know iron could burn? The combustion of iron powder seen here is taking place on an entirely smokeless, carbon free basis.

Tested in microgravity aboard ESA sounding rockets by a team from McGill University in Canada and Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, this technique has now been harnessed by Swinkels Family Brewers in the Netherlands, helping to free their brewing process from reliance on fossil fuels.

“The best way to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere is not to emit it at all,” explains ESA engineer Antonio Verga, who worked on flying the team’s experiments aboard TEXUS sounding rockets.

Read more | >

Circa 2018

Californian robotics company Iron Ox claims to be ‘reinventing farming from the ground up’, as it unveils an autonomous indoor farm that leverages the latest advancements in arable science, machine learning, and robotics.

Indoor farms see harvesting, seeding and plant inspections occur thousands of times a day – tasks perfectly suited to robots. Iron Ox is using the latest in machine learning and computer vision to enable its robots to respond to the needs of individual plants.

Continue reading “Iron Ox launches world’s first fully-autonomous farm” | >

Walnut Tech AKA Walnutt, the electric skateboard maker with a thing for tiny skateboards, has just announced the pre-sale of its third-generation Spectra X electric skateboard and it is, well, tiny. Despite the diminutive size, Spectra X promised to deliver “a perfect balance of portability and range.” It has almost “unlimited range” – thanks to the swappable batteries.

In theory, as long you load up with battery packs, you can go on indefinitely. We said in theory because, at $99 a pop, buying a bunch of the battery could make you broke. Also, I am pretty sure the dual hub motor will be crying for a break. Anyways, the battery, which is a Samsung 18650 battery, is seamlessly integrated to the underside of the board without marring the aesthetic.

Swapping out battery literally takes a second and with one hand. I find it odd that Walnutt felt the need to emphasize the one-hand part. Anywho… I guess it is cool to know that you can swap battery like a boss. Maybe? Still on the battery… each pack offers between 8 and 10 kilometers (5−6 miles) range and also, Walnutt said the battery is air-friendly, though it did not detail how so. One thing for sure is, Spectra X electric skateboard is more sustainable compared to its cohort since the skateboard need not to be disposed when the battery’s lifespan ends.

Read more | >

An Israeli start-up is the latest to join the race to bring to market a next-generation airship, joining the likes of the UK’s Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) in a nascent sector that has seen more failed efforts than successes in the 83 years since the Hindenburg disaster.

Atlas LTA plans to offer a family of three hybrid airships ranging from the Atlant 30, a 99m-(325ft-) long design, capable of carrying 18, 000kg (39, 700lb), to the 198m-long Atlant 300, which comes with a 165, 000kg payload. In between comes the Atlant 100. The company hopes to have the first variant, the Atlant 30, on the market in “four to five years”.

Read more | >

Circa 2015

Imagine a blimp city floating 30 miles above the scorching surface of Venus – a home for a team of astronauts studying one of the solar system’s most inhospitable planets.

NASA is currently doing just that; floating a concept that could one day see a 30-day manned mission to Earth’s closest planetary neighbor.

Eventually, the mission could involve a permanent human presence suspended above the planet.

Continue reading “NASA’s plan for an off-world colony: a floating city above Venus” | >