Apr 29, 2020
What is a mask valve, and why are cities banning them?
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: futurism
Valves will keep you more comfortable, but endanger those around you.
[Source Images: 3M, snake3d/iStock].
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Apr 29, 2020
Long March 5B rolled out for crewed spacecraft, space station test launch
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: satellites
HELSINKI — China rolled out a Long March 5B launcher Wednesday for a mission to prove space station launch capabilities and test a new spacecraft for deep space human spaceflight.
Images of the Long March 5B shared on Chinese social media indicated that the rollout at Wenchang Satellite Launch Center was completed early April 29.
Launch from the coastal Wenchang launch site can now be expected around May 5. However, an official announcement has not yet been made.
Apr 29, 2020
Tesla owners are falling in love with driving, and they have the miles to prove it
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: sustainability, transportation
A recent analysis from a UK-based firm has determined that Tesla owners love to drive their vehicles, so much so that they actually rack up the most miles per year among specific car brands. This is a notable observation, and one that bodes well for the personal transportation industry as a whole.
Before the ongoing lockdown in the country, the RAC Foundation conducted an analysis of the Ministry of Transportation’s (MOT) data. According to the data presented, British car owners drive just a little bit over 10,000 miles per year on average during the first three years of vehicle ownership. A closer look into the data shows that this average is partly caused by the annual mileage of diesel and gas drivers.
On their own, diesel drivers average 12,496 miles annually during the first three years of ownership. This contrasts significantly with the figures from drivers of gasoline-powered cars, who average just 7,490 miles per year. This discrepancy is not that surprising, partly since diesel is usually much cheaper than gasoline, making them ideal for long trips. What is surprising is the data that came out from EV drivers.
Apr 29, 2020
Deep-space travel, colonization may rely on genetically engineered life forms
Posted by Lola Heavey in categories: alien life, genetics, sustainability
On Earth, there are organisms that resist radiation, heat, cold, and drying, even to the point of being able to live in the space vacuum.
Genetic biotechnology is usually discussed in the context of current and emerging applications here on Earth, and rightly so, since we still live exclusively in our planetary cradle. But as humanity looks outward, we ponder what kind of life we ought to take with us to support outposts and eventually colonies off the Earth.
Continue reading “Deep-space travel, colonization may rely on genetically engineered life forms” »
Apr 29, 2020
Dr. Fauci backed controversial Wuhan lab with millions of U.S. dollars for risky coronavirus research
Posted by Brent Ellman in categories: biotech/medical, health
“just last year, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the organization led by Dr. Fauci, funded scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and other institutions for work on gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses.
In 2019, with the backing of NIAID, the National Institutes of Health committed $3.7 million over six years for research that included some gain-of-function work. The program followed another $3.7 million, 5-year project for collecting and studying bat coronaviruses, which ended in 2019, bringing the total to $7.4 million.”
Apr 29, 2020
238 inmates test positive for coronavirus at Sterling prison, the largest known outbreak in Colorado
Posted by Brent Ellman in categories: biotech/medical, law enforcement
A Colorado prison is now the site of the state’s largest confirmed COVID-19 outbreak as mass testing confirms that 238 inmates at Sterling Correctional Facility have the virus.
The number of positive cases at the facility spiked as more results from the 472 tests administered last week became available. Of those tested, half were positive. Sixteen tests were inconclusive, 216 were negative and two were still pending Tuesday afternoon, Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Annie Skinner said in an email.
Four of the sick inmates were in the hospital Tuesday afternoon, Skinner said.
Apr 29, 2020
Futurist Gerd Leonhard: Humanism vs Transhumanism
Posted by Michael Dodd in categories: robotics/AI, singularity, transhumanism
Gerd Leonhard discussion regarding Humanism and Transhumanism.
This is an excerpt from my latest digital conference, April 23, 2020, “Humanist vs Transhumanist” featuring Calum Chace and me.
Continue reading “Futurist Gerd Leonhard: Humanism vs Transhumanism” »
Apr 29, 2020
Paralyzed man regains movement and sense of touch using a brain implant
Posted by Paul Battista in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
Apr 29, 2020
Engineers develop Terminator-like muscles powered by lithium batteries
Posted by Paul Battista in category: cyborgs
Researchers from MIT have designed artificial muscles filled with water and powered by lithium batteries.
Apr 29, 2020
TAMA300 blazes trail for improved gravitational wave astronomy
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: quantum physics, space
Researchers at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) have used the infrastructure of the former TAMA300 gravitational wave detector in Mitaka, Tokyo, to demonstrate a new technique to reduce quantum noise in detectors. This new technique will increase the sensitivity of the detectors comprising a collaborative worldwide gravitational wave network, allowing them to observe fainter waves.
When it began observations in 2000, TAMA300 was one of the world’s first large-scale interferometric gravitational wave detectors. At that time TAMA300 had the highest sensitivity in the world, setting an upper limit on the strength of gravitational wave signals; but the first detection of actual gravitational waves was made 15 years later in 2015 by LIGO. Since then, detector technology has improved to the point that modern detectors are observing several signals per month. The scientific results obtained from these observations are already impressive, and many more are expected in the coming decades. TAMA300 is no longer participating in observations, but is still used as a testbed for new technologies to improve other detectors.
The sensitivity of current and future gravitational wave detectors is limited at almost all the frequencies by quantum noise caused by the effects of vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic fields. But even this inherent quantum noise can be sidestepped. It is possible to manipulate the vacuum fluctuations to redistribute the quantum uncertainties, decreasing one type of noise at the expense of increasing a different, less obstructive type of noise. This technique, known as vacuum squeezing, has already been implemented in gravitational wave detectors, greatly increasing their sensitivity to higher frequency gravitational waves. But the optomechanical interaction between the electromagnetic field and the mirrors of the detector causes the effect of vacuum squeezing to change depending on the frequency. So at low frequencies, vacuum squeezing increases the wrong type of noise, actually degrading sensitivity.
