Lifeboat Foundation

The idea of propelling rockets and spaceships using the power of the atom is nothing new: the Manhattan Project in the mid-1940s as well as countless endeavours by NASA in the following decades all explored the possibility of using fission-based reactions to provide lift-off thrust. Today, progress made in controlled nuclear fusion has opened a new world of possibilities.

Using some of the world’s most advanced microscope technology, scientists have captured images of molecules changing their charge state in real time. To do this, they added and removed electrons, directly observing changes to the structure of four molecules.

Although we’ve known for a long time that such changes occur, this marks the first time anyone has actually seen it happening. It could help us gain a new understanding of several molecular processes, including chemical reactions, catalysis and charge transport, and potentially even processes in living organisms.

Continue reading “We Have The First-Ever Images of Molecules Changing Their Charge State” »

This post is structured as a question-&-answer. That’s because it was originally an answer at Quora, a Q&A site at which I am a Bitcoin columnist.

What is a ‘Paper Wallet’

A paper wallet is the ultimate offline wallet. It simply means that the private address to your crypto wallet is printed on paper — either as a string of characters, a QR code, or a series of seed recovery words.

If you destroy any electronic copy of your original wallet (e.g. the private keys that give you access to your wealth), then hiding this piece of paper is very similar to hiding a bar of gold. The only way that someone can steal it or know the amount it represents is to get their eyes and hands on something physical. They would need to know that you tucked it into your mattress or behind a secret panel of your cellar wall.

Continue reading “What is a ‘paper wallet?’ Do I need one?” »

Researchers at the University of Helsinki have shown why the regenerative capacity of the cells lining the intestines declines with age and that targeting a particular enzyme can restore the regenerative potential of this tissue.

Notum blocks the Wnt pathway

During normal function, the cells of the intestinal epithelium, a single cell layer that forms the lining of both the small and large intestine, are replaced by stem cells, which create healthy replacement cells to counter losses from injury, damage, disease, and aging. These cells are roused into action via the Wnt signaling pathway, which is activated through signals sent by other cells in the tissue.

Humans are preparing to build the first permanent settlement in space.

Scientists think they’ve found a way to terraform Mars — and all it takes is a thin blanket of insulation over future space gardens.

A layer of aerogel just two to three centimeters thick may be enough to protect plants from the harshest aspects of life on Mars and create viable greenhouses in the process, according to research published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy. While there are a host of other problems to solve before anyone can settle Mars, this terraforming plan is far more feasible than other ideas that scientists have proposed.

Two of the biggest challenges facing Martian settlers are the Red Planet’s deadly temperatures and unfiltered solar radiation, which is able to pass through Mars’ weak atmosphere and reach the surface, New Scientist reports. At night, it can reach −100 degrees Celsius, which is far too cold for any Earthly crops to survive.

The Sun is the reason behind our existence. Here are some burning facts about our only star.

Apollo 11, Moon, panorama 360 16.07.

Unlike Earth’s northern & southern auroras, Jupiter’s auroras appear to behave independently of each other. Combining data from Chandra, NASA’s Juno mission, & ESA’s XMM-Newton observatory could help explain why!