Lifeboat Foundation

When a massive saltwater ocean was found hidden beneath the icy crust of Saturn’s moon Enceladus back in 2015, astronomers were cautiously optimistic that this watery world could have just the right conditions to host life. Now, thanks to a new study, Enceladus’ stock has gone up — way up.

Using data from a dead spacecraft, an international team of astronomers has for the first time discovered complex organic (carbon-containing) molecules — the building blocks of life — spewing from Enceladus. The new finding, described in a paper published online June 27 in the journal Nature, makes the small icy moon the most promising place beyond Earth to find life in the solar system.

“Enceladus’ subsurface ocean is a habitable place. The big question is if it is inhabited,” Frank Postberg, a planetary scientist at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and the study’s lead author, told NBC News MACH in an email.

Continue reading “Saturn’s moon Enceladus is now the likeliest place to find alien life” »

The probe will map the surface, deploy rovers and collect pristine samples that could contain clues about the origins of life on Earth.

• By Elizabeth Tasker on June 29, 2018

Scientists are sending up the new tool, called CIMON, in order to help astronauts on the International Space Station.

Gold never loses its lustre because it is so chemically unreactive, and now microscopic gold crystals have been made that are even less reactive.

For the first time, astronomers have directly observed the magnetism in one of astronomy’s most studied objects: the remains of Supernova 1987A (SN 1987A), a dying star that appeared in our skies over thirty years ago.

In addition to being an impressive observational achievement, the detection provides insight into the early stages of the evolution of supernova remnants and the cosmic magnetism within them.

“The magnetism we’ve detected is around 50,000 times weaker than a fridge magnet,” says Prof. Bryan Gaensler. “And we’ve been able to measure this from a distance of around 1.6 million trillion kilometres.”

Continue reading “Astronomers observe the magnetic field of the remains of supernova 1987A” »

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Driven by the needs of the financial industry, researchers are working on ways to manage vast computer systems down to 100 billionths of a second.

I get this question a lot. Today, I was asked to write an answer at Quora.com, a Q&A web site at which I am the local cryptocurrency expert. It’s time to address this issue here at Lifeboat.

Question

I have many PCs laying around my home and office.
Some are current models with fast Intel CPUs. Can
I mine Bitcoin to make a little money on the side?

Answer

Other answers focus on the cost of electricity, the number of hashes or teraflops achieved by a computer CPU or the size of the current Bitcoin reward. But, you needn’t dig into any of these details to understand this answer.

You can find the mining software to mine Bitcoin or any other coin on any equipment. Even a phone or wristwatch. But, don’t expect to make money. Mining Bitcoin with an x86 CPU (Core or Pentium equivalent) is never cost effective—not even when Bitcoin was trading at nearly $20,000. A computer with a fast $1500 graphics card will bring you closer to profitability, but not by much.

Continue reading “Extra PCs laying around? Why not mine Bitcoin?” »

Gradually automating the entire grocery store process. From initial delivery of products to the store/warehouse. To a store that will be optional to go to, but if you do want to go into the store it will be almost fully automated, to delivery drones and self driving vehicles that will bring you your order in under an hour. That is what Amazon is really up to.

Self-driving delivery startup Nuro scores major deal with Kroger.