Lifeboat Foundation

The EmDrive debate could be over before the end of the year.

Industry and military scientists are moving forward in the quest to develop solid-state lasers for use as weapons by warfighters of the future

By John McHale

Even the most casual observer of military technology is aware of the U.S. Air Force’s big-ticket program-the Airborne Laser, which eats up most of the Department of Defense funding on laser technology and is nearing completion.

A deadly fungus is spreading through banana plantations, and the cloned bananas we eat are defenseless. In labs around the world, scientists are trying to find ways to genetically alter the fruit to make it resistant.

[Images: Rawpixel]

The world’s biggest astrophotography competition includes some jaw-dropping images of the Moon, Sun, distant galaxies and much more.

Einstein dubbed the idea of quantum entanglement as “spooky action at a distance.” Now for the first time ever, scientists have taken a picture of it.
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Today we understand quantum entanglement as when a pair of particles that cross paths and interact with each other can become connected and stay that way, even when the particles are spaced very far apart.

Continue reading “The World’s First Photo of Quantum Entanglement Could Disprove Einstein’s Theory” »

The current menu of space-friendly foods uses processing and water-reduction strategies to make these meals shelf stable. For example, a shrimp cocktail, mashed potatoes, and strawberries can be freeze dried; beef stew, candied yams, and brown rice can be thermostabilized; beef steak and turkey can be irradiated; and brownies, bread products, and beverage powders can be brought up in a low-moisture or dried form.

As tasty as this feast sounds, this packaged food system does not meet the five-year shelf life required for a Mars mission, nor will it feed generations there in the years to come. How will space food therefore have to change if we are ever to colonize other planets?

Using existing space technologies, it will take up to 32 months to travel to Mars. How can you feed a crew for that three-year trip?

The spacecraft can reach a top speed of 436 mph during an emergency.

The universe is looking younger every day, it seems.

New calculations suggest the universe could be a couple billion years younger than scientists now estimate, and even younger than suggested by two other calculations published this year that trimmed hundreds of millions of years from the age of the cosmos.

The huge swings in scientists’ estimates—even this new calculation could be off by billions of years—reflect different approaches to the tricky problem of figuring the universe’s real age.

Lava flow records and sedimentary and Antarctic ice core data show evidence of planetary magnetic field activity 20,000 years before the beginning of the last pole reversal.

Full Transcript

Earth’s magnetic field—which creates our planet’s north and south pole—is far from fixed. In fact, the field is quite active; sometimes it weakens, and even reverses, causing Earth’s polarity to switch. These periods of instability don’t happen very often, though—only about every 100,000 to million years. That’s part of why this phenomenon has largely remained a mystery for scientists. However, a recent study may help researchers better understand how long and how complicated Earth’s magnetic field reversals really are.