Lifeboat Foundation

Superhuman powers are rare, but some do exist. But what if scientists used gene manipulation to create humans with super strength and abilities in the future — like super soldiers?

Engineers at the University of Tokyo continually pioneer new ways to improve battery technology. Professor Atsuo Yamada and his team recently developed a material that can significantly extend the life of batteries and afford them higher capacities, as well.

From smartphones to pacemakers and cars, batteries power much of our world and their importance only continues to grow. There are two particular aspects of batteries that many believe need to improve to meet our future needs. These are the longevity of the battery and also its capacity—how much charge it can store.

The chances are your devices use a type of battery called a lithium-ion battery. But another kind based on sodium rather than lithium may become commonplace soon. Both kinds of battery can store and deliver a large amount of charge, thanks to the way constituent materials pass electrons around. But in both lithium and in sodium batteries, repeated cycles of charging and usage can significantly reduce the storage capacity over time.

Continue reading “Self-repairing batteries: engineers develop a way to create high-capacity long-life batteries” »

Instead of rubber cups, the Maglev Keyboard uses magnets to pop your keys right back up.

Just like Harley-Davidson and Ducati.

Raul Polit Casillas at NASA’s JPL created a 3D-printed “space fabric” that’s flexible, easy to create, and a thermal regulator.

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Dennis Danzik has invented a whirligig that calls for the suspension of disbelief and the laws of physics. If it works as advertised, it would rank with the harnessing of steam, electricity and the atom.

Stealth drones and other aircraft of the future could be powered by engines that don’t have any moving parts, can’t be detected by infrared, and are more efficient than what we have today. A new study by MIT researchers demonstrated all of these capacities and more for ionic thrusters and now at least one major aerospace company, Lockheed Martin, has said it’s investigating the technology.

“I think UAVs would be the most likely initial application if [ionic thrusters] work,” said the lead researcher in the study, MIT aerospace professor Steven Barrett, in an email to The Verge. Ionic thrusters for aircraft work by generating a high-voltage electrical field that strips electrons from air molecules, “ionizing” them and pushing them away behind an aircraft as ionic wind, to move the craft forward. Scientists and hobbyists have been tinkering with small, lightweight model planes using these kinds of propulsion systems since the 1960s. The technology uses no moving parts and is almost completely silent. It hasn’t come to full-size planes, though, due to power concerns.

The Houston Astros’ José Altuve steps up to the plate on a 3–2 count, studies the pitcher and the situation, gets the go-ahead from third base, tracks the ball’s release, swings … and gets a single up the middle. Just another trip to the plate for the three-time American League batting champion.

Could a robot get a hit in the same situation? Not likely.

Continue reading “Helping robots remember: Hyperdimensional computing theory could change the way AI works” »

A mind-blowing milestone.