Lifeboat Foundation

Charles Goulding and Ryan Donley of R&D Tax Savers discuss 3D printing as it impacts chocolateering.

Chocolate has been around for millennia now, dating as far back as early 1750 B.C., presumably in the area of the Gulf Coast of Vera Cruz where cocoa beverages or chocolate drinks were used in ceremonies by pre-Olmec peoples. Evidence suggests cacao pods may have even been used in alcoholic beverages as early as 1400 B.C. Today, the cacao bean has evolved to encompass a $50 billion chocolate industry worldwide that consists of edible chocolate confections being brought to mass markets.

There are about 33,400 active-duty service members in the Air Force and Space Force, sponsoring more than 55,000 family members enrolled in EFMP.

Kimberly Schuler, the Air Force’s chief for humanitarian, EFMP and expedited transfer reassignments, said in the release that consolidating those components will mean families won’t have to work through a complex process and deal with multiple organizations to get one request answered.

“Your voices were heard,” Schuler said. “Our goal is to improve the customer experience of our airmen and their families during challenging times.”

North Korea has blown up a joint liaison office used for talks between itself and South Korea, the latest sign that ties between the two longtime adversaries are rapidly deteriorating.

North Korean state media reported that the four-story building, which is located in the town of Kaesong just north of the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas, was “completely destroyed by a ” terrific explosion” at 2:50 p.m. local time.

A plume of black smoke rising above the site was visible from the South Korean side of the border shortly after.

According to a recent trademark filing, Jaguar could name its upcoming electric F-Type succesor the EV-Type. A nod to the E-Type, of course.

While so many of us are working at home during the coronavirus pandemic, we do worry that serendipitous hallway conversations aren’t happening.

Last year, before the pandemic, it was one of those conversations that led researchers at ETH Zurich to develop a way of making chocolates shimmer with color—without any coloring agents or other additives.

The project, announced in December, involves what the scientists call “structural color”. The team indicated that it creates colors in a way similar to what a chameleon does—that is, using the structure of its skin to scatter a particular wavelength of light. The researchers have yet to release details, but Alissa M. Fitzgerald, founder of MEMS product development firm AMFitzgerald, has a pretty good guess.

The Falcon 9, SpaceX’s most commonly-used rocket, has completed another successful droneship landing.

The invention of an instant COVID-19 breathalyser could have enormous implications for air travel, with borders able to be re-opened and passengers mandatorily tested before flying.

Keeping NSW safe.

Featured image source: spacex / NASA

SpaceX performed its first crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on May 30^th. The Demo-2 mission launched NASA Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft, atop a Falcon 9 rocket, from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The astronaut duo arrived at the station on May 31^st. They have been performing vital tasks since, while Dragon remains docked to the ISS Harmony module. Dragon is actively monitored from SpaceX’s mission control station and also by the astronauts.

The decision to invest in a company can rely on a lot of guesswork, but Kim Polese, co-founder and chairman of CrowdSmart, is using artificial intelligence to turn qualitative information into quantitative data—and reduce bias along the way.

“When we’re talking about using collective intelligence, augmented collective intelligence, what we’re really talking about is using a combination of human and machine intelligence to improve the way that diligence is done,” Polese said this past Wednesday at a Barron’sInvesting in Tech panel. The founder of an artificial-intelligence platform designed to predict a company’s potential for success, Polese detailed how the CrowdSmart platform works, and how it could help remove bias from the diligence process.

The system draws on the insights of a group of 25 or more people, selected for their different levels of expertise, to evaluate prospective investments, explained Polese, who said her career in Silicon Valley began 30 years ago at the first artificial-intelligence company to go public.