Lifeboat Foundation

The Starship, SpaceX’s under-construction ship destined for the moon and Mars, has taken its first flight.

Astronomers have long suspected a city-sized neutron star hides within the dusty shroud of SN 1987A. And now, they’re closer than ever to proving their case.

But the extraordinary sight of a nearby supernova lingering in Earth’s night sky isn’t the only thing SN 1987A bestowed upon us. It also gave astronomers an unprecedented opportunity to investigate what triggers supernovae, as well as how such powerful blasts ripple through their surroundings. In fact, we can see the shockwave from SN 1987A still speeding outward today, interacting with clouds of dust that encircle the original site of the cosmic explosion.

When the Covid-19 pandemic made face masks an everyday essential, Japanese startup Donut Robotics spotted an opportunity. They created a smart mask — a high-tech upgrade to standard face coverings, designed to make communication and social distancing easier.

In conjunction with an app, the C-Face Smart mask can transcribe dictation, amplify the wearer’s voice, and translate speech into eight different languages.

The cutouts on the front are vital for breathability, so the smart mask doesn’t offer protection against the coronavirus. Instead, it is designed to be worn over a standard face mask, explains Donut Robotics CEO Taisuke Ono. Made of white plastic and silicone, it has an embedded microphone that connects to the wearer’s smartphone via Bluetooth. The system can translate between Japanese and Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, English, Spanish and French.

A team of scientists at the University of Central California has developed a new kind of laser beam that transports messages in ‘wave packets’ and doesn’t follow the regular laws of light physics.

Developed in the 1970s, rare-earth magnets are the strongest type of permanent magnets made today. The more common type are neodymium alloys made with iron and boron, while the other group is samarium-cobalt magnets. The occurrence and production of these chemical elements raise both political and environmental concerns, so to find a more sustainable solution, the UK’s Office of Low Emission Vehicles is funding a nine-partner study called OCTOPUS (Optimised Components, Test and simulatiOn, toolkits for Powertrains which integrate Ultra high-speed motor Solutions). With Bentley joining for the next three years, the program will aim for real-world applications by 2026. Coincidentally, Bentley’s first full EV is also due that year.

In research published in Science Advances, a group led by scientists from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) have used the principle of magneto-rotation coupling to suppress the transmission of sound waves on the surface of a film in one direction while allowing them to travel in the other. This could lead to the development of acoustic rectifiers—devices that allow waves to propagate preferentially in one direction, with potential applications in communications technology.

Devices known as rectifiers are extremely important in technology development. The best known are electronic diodes, which are used to convert AC into DC electricity, essentially making electrification possible.

In the current study, the group examined the movement of acoustic surface waves—movements of sound like the propagation of earthquakes over the surface of the Earth—in a magnetic film. There is interplay between the surface acoustic waves and spin waves, disturbances in magnetic fields within the material that can move through the material.

A small DNA-testing company that just months ago was trying to get its footing in consumer genetics is now part of an effort to make U.K. hospitals safer during the pandemic.

The company, DnaNudge, won a 161-million pound ($211 million) order for 5,000 machines and a supply of cartridges to test patients for the new coronavirus in hundreds of the National Health Service hospitals.

Governments and business leaders pledged $8.8 billion on Thursday to a vaccine alliance backed by the Gates Foundation.

The money was raised at the Global Vaccine Summit, hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with funds going toward global vaccine alliance Gavi’s efforts to immunize children amid the coronavirus crisis.

The funding was raised at a U.K.-hosted summit, which saw world leaders pledge billions of dollars to global vaccine alliance Gavi.

Continue reading “Bill Gates-backed vaccine alliance raises $8.8 billion from world leaders and businesses” »

Richard Feynman once asked a silly question. Two MIT students just answered it.