Lifeboat Foundation

When you take a picture of a cat and Google’s algorithms place it in a folder called “pets,” with no direction from you, you’re seeing the benefit of image recognition AI. The exact same technology is used by doctors to diagnose diseases on a scale never before possible by humans.

Diabetic retinopathy, caused by type two diabetes, is the fastest-growing cause of preventable blindness. Each of the more than 415 million people living with the disease risks losing their eyesight unless they have regular access to doctors.

In countries like India there are simply too many patients for doctors to treat. There are 4,000 diabetic patients for every ophthalmologist in India, where the US has one for every 1,500 patients.

Continue reading “Seeing is believing: How AI could prevent blindness for 415 million people (right now)” »

Astronomers have accomplished a difficult feat: determining the 3D structure of an interstellar cloud, where stars are born.

Drones that monitor crops, control mosquito populations and deliver defibrillators are to be tested in US airspace.

Ten commercial drone projects have been selected to try out new ways for unmanned aircraft to be integrated into the skies.

They include Zipline, which currently offers a blood-delivery service in Rwanda, and Apple.

Continue reading “US commercial drones given green light” »

In a first for United States Army doctors, Burrage received an ear transplant that was grown from her own tissue inside her own body. A team, led by Lieutenant Colonel Owen Johnson III, the chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, harvested cartilage from Burrage’s ribs, carved it into the shape of an ear, and implanted it under the skin in her arm. There, it developed blood vessels, which Johnson says will allow Burrage to regain feeling in the ear once it’s healed. In an announcement released on Monday, Johnson called the operation a success.

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According to new calculations, we may have a little less time to prepare for a star on course to kiss the edges of our Solar System.

Yep. Dwarf star Gliese 710, which we’ve known about for some time, could now arrive in 1.29 million years, instead of the previously calculated 1.36 million years.

Gliese 710 is what is classified as a rogue star — one that has gone roaming across the galaxy, free of the gravitational chains that normally hold stars in position.

Continue reading “A Rogue Star Hurtling Towards The Solar System Is Going to Arrive Sooner Than We Realised” »

We are destined to go where humanity never has before and create the World’s first beer for space! | Check out ‘Vostok Space Beer’ on Indiegogo.

TESS is out of this world!

Roadways clogged by commercial vehicles and intense competition for affordable housing are imposing costs on prosperous cities and their most vulnerable residents.

Cities are the hubs of the emerging digital economy, attracting knowledge workers with higher pay and alluring lifestyles. One consequence of this concentrated prosperity is rising rents and a scramble for housing that places disadvantaged citizens in peril—as seen in the increasing rates of homelessness in cities such as Seattle. More people living in urban cores also means more commercial vehicles are needed to serve them, which is fueled by a surge in online deliveries. The resulting congestion is burdening cities with surprisingly high costs. The social stresses of the new growth should be on your radar.