Lifeboat Foundation

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This week, we set sail on sunlight and made history. #LightSail2

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Though some computer engineers claim to know what human consciousness is, many neuroscientists say that we’re nowhere close to understanding what it is — or its source.

In this video, bestselling author Douglas Rushkoff gives the “transhumanist myth” — the belief that A.I. will replace humans — a reality check. Is it hubristic to upload people’s minds to silicon chips, or re-create their consciousness with algorithms, when we still know so little about what it means to be human?

Continue reading “Why ‘upgrading’ humanity is a transhumanist myth” »

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The thing that Carl Sagan did better than anybody else was connecting to the science through emotion and stories, says NASA’s Michelle Thaller. Watching him when growing up formed Thaller’s vision of what an astronomer could be and inspired her for the rest of her life.

New uses of stem cells and 3D printing could make baldness obsolete (for the wealthy). James Hamblin 12:51 PM ET.

Analytical chemists have been working to develop high-functioning robotic smelling devices to detect victims of everything from human trafficking to natural disasters. But does it work?

And they think it could help fight disease in the future.

A device that eavesdrops on the quantum whispers of atoms could form the basis of a new type of quantum computer.

Restless rapid eye movement (REM) sleep impedes emotional processing, which may contribute to mood and anxiety disorders, new research suggests.

A team of Dutch investigators used fMRI to scan the brains of participants who underwent a stressful experience — in this case, hearing themselves sing out of tune. Brain activity was measured using electroencephalography (EEG).

The next morning, after spending the night in a sleep laboratory, participants were subjected to the same unpleasant experience. Those who had experienced REM sleep were less distressed, whereas those with restless REM sleep were once again upset.

CANCER patients with previously incurable tumours have been given hope by a life-extending treatment which can double the length of time a person can live cancer-free.

The new worldwide medical trial involving the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow has discovered a high-precision radiation treatment which can extend a patient’s lifespan by more than a year. Patients diagnosed with metastatic tumours – cancer which had spread to other parts of the body – were thought to be incurable, but researchers on the clinical trial have found that aggressive radiation therapy can increase life expectancy.

Hailing the research as a “game-changer”, scientists gave almost 100 cancer patients from Scotland, Canada, the Netherlands and Australia “substantially higher doses of radiation” to areas where their cancerous tumours had spread. Patients receiving the treatment, known as stereotactic ablative radiotherapy, lived 13 months longer on average.