Lifeboat Foundation

The CERN Control Centre (CCC) is abuzz once again. The second long shutdown (LS2) has come to an end for CERN’s newest accelerator – Linac 4 – and the accelerator complex’s slow awakening from a two-year repair-and-recuperation hibernation has begun. The three-week machine-development run until mid-August saw low-energy beams of negative hydrogen ions (H⁻) fly through the first part of the accelerator for the first time since it was connected to the PS Booster. On August 20, the first beams at the nominal energy of 160 MeV were accelerated through the entire machine and into a dedicated beam dump located at the end of the linac. Over the coming months, the brand-new accelerator will finish being commissioned and will be made ready to deliver various beams to the PS Booster in December.

CERN is famous for its circular accelerators, in particular the 27-kilometer-circumference Large Hadron Collider. But the protons that circulate in these bigger machines first undergo acceleration in a humble and relatively small linear accelerator, or linac. In 2018, Linac 2, which had fed protons to CERN’s accelerator complex since 1978, was finally retired, with the 86-meter-long Linac 4 ready to take its place. But a new machine comes with new challenges for the team operating it.

Continue reading “CERN’s Newest Accelerator Awakens: Linac 4 Has Taken Over As the First Accelerator in LHC Injection Chain” »

O,.o earth to Mars 12.5 minutes.

A NASA scientist has cooked up plans for a bonkers new rocket engine that can reach close to the speed of light – without using any fuel.

Travelling at such speeds, the theoretical machine could carry astronauts to Mars in less than 13 minutes, or to the Moon in just over a second.

Continue reading “NASA boffin invents ‘engine concept’ that travels at 99% the speed of light – and it could ‘break the laws of physics’” »

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Summary: Researchers explore the close relationship between depression and pain. For some people, unexplained symptoms of pain, such as back or headaches, could be an early indicator of depression before mood changes occur.

Source: Mayo Clinic

Pain and depression are closely related. Depression can cause pain – and pain can cause depression. Sometimes pain and depression create a vicious cycle in which pain worsens symptoms of depression, and then the resulting depression worsens feelings of pain.

Humans are not the only species facing a potential threat from SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis.

An international team of scientists used genomic analysis to compare the main cellular receptor for the virus in humans—angiotensin converting enzyme-2, or ACE2—in 410 different species of vertebrates, including birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.

ACE2 is normally found on many different types of cells and tissues, including epithelial cells in the nose, mouth and lungs. In humans, 25 amino acids of the ACE2 protein are important for the virus to bind and gain entry into cells.

An artificial intelligence algorithm by Heron Systems defeated an F-16 pilot in a simulated dogfight competition Thursday. Photo by SSgt. Christine Groening/U.S. Air force.

The Crew Dragon capsule that will launch the Crew-1 flight to the International Space Station this fall arrived in Florida on Tuesday (Aug. 18).

Ahead of a likely ban on the US federal government’s use of Chinese-made quadcopters, including popular DJI drones, the Department of Defense has approved the products of five US-based unmanned air vehicle (UAV) makers for government use.

Those companies are Altavian, Parrot, Skydio, Teal and Vantage Robotics.

Small UAVs from these manufacturers have been deemed cyber-secure by the Pentagon – not vulnerable to backdoor spying that some suspect might be possible from the video cameras and other sensors attached to Chinese-made DJI drones. The US Congress is considering banning the US federal government from using foreign-made drones as part of its 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.

After a decade of heated debate, free-flying swarms aimed at shrinking dengue-carrying mosquito populations gets a nod for 2021 in the Florida Keys.