Lifeboat Foundation

The threat of pandemic influenza is ever-present. A pandemic can arise when a new influenza virus that hasn’t affected humans before emerges, spreads and causes illness in humans.

Influenza viruses are unpredictable – we can never be certain of when or from where the next pandemic will arise. However, another influenza pandemic is inevitable. In this interconnected world, the question is not if we will have another pandemic, but when.

To protect people across the globe from this threat, the WHO has released a Global Influenza Strategy for 2019–2030. The new strategy is the most comprehensive and far reaching influenza strategy that WHO has developed. The strategy outlines a framework for WHO, countries and partners to work together to prepare for, prevent, and control the influenza.

Continue reading “8 Things to know about pandemic influenza” »

Harnessing the power of our immune system will be one of the most important scientific discoveries in history.

A new quantum physics experiment just lent evidence to a mind-boggling idea that was previously limited to the realm of theory, according to the MIT Technology Review — that under the right conditions, two people can observe the same event, see two different things happen, and both be correct.

According to research shared to the preprint server arXiv on Tuesday, physicists from Heriot-Watt University demonstrated for the first time how two people can experience different realities by recreating a classic quantum physics thought experiment.

The experiment involves two people observing a single photon, the smallest quantifiable unit of light that can act as either a particle or a wave under different conditions.

Continue reading “New Quantum Physics Experiment Suggests That Reality Isn’t Objective” »

Cells from a woolly mammoth that died 28,000 years ago have begun to show “signs of biological [activity]” after they were implanted in mouse cells. However, researchers caution that it’s unlikely the extinct creatures will walk the Earth again anytime soon.

The research, published in Scientific Reports, details how a well-preserved woolly mammoth, found in 2011 in the Siberian permafrost, has begun to show some activity.

Watch out space, there’s a new commercial cargo carrier entering the race.

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has been given the go ahead from NASA to begin full-scale production of it’s “Dream Chaser” commercial space cargo plane. Scheduled to make its first mission in 2020, the company announced on December 18 that it had cleared the last milestone in its Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract. Now the company is able to move ahead with the full-scale production of the carrier which will be used to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).

Expedition leader Don Wargowsky gave the dog a sleeping mat and jacket to use as a bed in his tent for three weeks.

It’s not difficult to verify whether a new piece of information is accurate; however, most people don’t take that step before sharing it on social media, regardless of age, social class or gender, a new Ohio University study has found.

A new study conducted by Ohio University professor Dr. M. Laeeq Khan found that several factors can be used to predict someone’s ability to detect misinformation, otherwise known as “fake news,” on social media. Additionally, the study found that, by looking at certain factors, it is also possible to predict if someone is likely to share misinformation based on the same factors.

The study, titled “Recognise misinformation and verify before sharing: a reasoned action and information literacy perspective,” was published in the journal Behaviour and Information Technology.

This is an invention that might possibly modify the civilization as we know it: A compact fusion reactor presented by Skunk Works, the stealth experimental technology section of Lockheed Martin. It’s about the size of a jet engine and it can power airplanes, most likely spaceships, and cities. Skunk Works state that it will be operational in 10 years.

Boston University researchers, Xin Zhang, a professor at the College of Engineering, and Reza Ghaffarivardavagh, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, released a paper in Physical Review B demonstrating it’s possible to silence noise using an open, ringlike structure, created to mathematically perfect specifications, for cutting out sounds while maintaining airflow.

“Today’s sound barriers are literally thick heavy walls,” says Ghaffarivardavagh. Although noise-mitigating barricades, called sound baffles, can help drown out the whoosh of rush hour traffic or contain the symphony of music within concert hall walls, they are a clunky approach not well suited to situations where airflow is also critical. Imagine barricading a jet engine’s exhaust vent—the plane would never leave the ground. Instead, workers on the tarmac wear earplugs to protect their hearing from the deafening roar.

Continue reading “Researchers develop ‘acoustic metamaterial’ that cancels sound” »