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Jan 25, 2020

SpaceX’s license to launch hundreds of internet satellites may have violated the law, experts say. Astronomers could sue the FCC

Posted by in categories: internet, law, satellites

SpaceX is planning a mega-constellation of thousands of internet satellites called Starlink. But the FCC didn’t perform an environmental review.

Jan 25, 2020

You can watch two astronauts take a spacewalk to fix a $2 billion space experiment today. Here’s how

Posted by in category: space

NASA is sending a pair of astronauts on a spacewalk outside the International Space Station today (Jan. 25) to finish fixing a complicated science experiment. Here’s how to watch it live.

NASA TV began streaming the spacewalk around 5:30 a.m. EST (1030 GMT) as European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan complete their final spacewalk preparations. You can watch it live here on Space.com. The spacewalk is expected to start around 6:50 a.m. EST (1150 GMT), when the astronauts will switch their spacesuits over to battery power before heading out of the airlock.

Jan 25, 2020

The number 1 way to predict longevity might be in your number 2

Posted by in categories: biological, life extension

A provocative new study suggests the microbes that live in your gut could reveal critical details about your health — and your death.

Jan 25, 2020

Ask Ethan: How Can We See 46.1 Billion Light-Years Away In A 13.8 Billion Year Old Universe?

Posted by in category: futurism

In General Relativity, the fabric of space doesn’t remain static over time. Everything else depends on the details we measure.

Jan 25, 2020

Better interior design might keep astronauts healthier and happier in deep space

Posted by in categories: materials, space travel

When it comes to building the interior of a spacecraft, engineers often prioritize function over aesthetics, focusing on materials and hardware that are both safe and effective for executing the vehicle’s intended mission. But some scientists say it’s time to consider another crucial factor when designing a spacecraft’s insides: how it will affect the behavior of the passengers?

Jan 25, 2020

Blue-emitting diode demonstrates limitations and promise of perovskite semiconductors

Posted by in categories: computing, solar power, sustainability

University of California, Berkeley, scientists have created a blue light-emitting diode (LED) from a trendy new semiconductor material, halide perovskite, overcoming a major barrier to employing these cheap, easy-to-make materials in electronic devices.

In the process, however, the researchers discovered a fundamental property of perovskites that may prove a barrier to their widespread use as solar cells and transistors.

Alternatively, this unique property may open up a whole new world for perovskites far beyond that of today’s standard semiconductors.

Jan 25, 2020

Has physicist’s gravity theory solved ‘impossible’ dark energy riddle?

Posted by in category: cosmology

Prof Claudia de Rham’s ‘massive gravity’ theory could explain why universe expansion is accelerating.

Jan 25, 2020

Blue-Light Therapy Helps Heal the Brain

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Early morning exposure to blue wavelength light can help heal the brain following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), new research suggests.

Results of a small, randomized controlled trial showed blue-light therapy improved brain structure and function, cognition, and sleep in this patient population.

“We found that blue-light therapy improved patients’ daytime sleepiness,” study investigator William D. ‘Scott’ Killgore, PhD, told Medscape Medical News. “So those who got the blue light were less sleepy 6 weeks later than they had been at baseline.”

Jan 25, 2020

Testable theory suggests information has mass and could account for universe’s dark matter

Posted by in category: cosmology

A new paper formulates and suggests laboratory experiments to confirm mass-energy-information equivalence.

Jan 25, 2020

Overcoming human challenges with transhumanism

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, education, ethics, life extension, neuroscience, transhumanism

Sometimes, being human involves tragedy: unexpected accidents can alter a person’s future, permanently changing how they need to approach their daily lives. Those with traumatic brain injuries suffer long-term mental and physical challenges, such as trouble with their working memory span, which can play a significant role in their education and longevity. However, if used properly, transhuman aids such as prosthetic limbs can provide solutions to human challenges.

Transhumanism, in a nutshell, is the idea that people can use technology to overcome biological limitations. Just as how we use rational means to improve our life experiences and the world around us, we can use such means to improve ourselves as organisms. It is simply a concept, not a tangible characterization of some futuristic cyborg.

There is reasonable fear that using such technologies would be tampering with nature. This is true. However, whether something is good or bad cannot be decided simply by asking whether or not it is natural. Plenty of natural things are horrible, such as diseases and parasites, where our moral interest is to intervene and improve these conditions. The question to ask is not whether the technology is natural, but rather, what are the various possible consequences that would arise from it, both desirable and undesirable, and the likelihood of each. People who are concerned that our species will stray too far away from what it means to be a ‘natural human’ forget how far we have already evolved as a species.