Lifeboat Foundation

As advanced and efficient as our solar panels are becoming, they’re still pretty much useless when rain clouds arrive overhead. That could soon change thanks to a hybrid cell that can harvest energy from both sunlight and raindrops.

The key part of the system is a triboelectric nanogenerator or TENG, a device which creates electric charge from the friction of two materials rubbing together, as with static electricity – it’s all about the shifting of electrons.

TENGs can draw power from car tyres hitting the road, clothing materials rubbing up against each other, or in this case the rolling motion of raindrops across a solar panel. The end result revealed by scientists from Soochow University in China is a cell that works come rain or shine.

Continue reading “This New Hybrid Solar Cell Can Harvest Electricity From Actual Raindrops” »

24,800 acres of land will soon become a “smart city” in Arizona. One of Bill Gates’ investment firms is investing millions into this project, hoping that its proximity to local hubs and ability to be completely molded will allow for innovation.

Bill Gates has started laying out his plans for creating a “smart city” in Phoenix, Arizona, about 45 minutes west of downtown. Located in the far west valley, the piece of land is comprised of approximately 24,800 acres. Belmont, the proposed name for the city, will embrace and push forward innovation and technology. One of Gates’ investment firms has already solidified the plans by devoting $80 million to the project.

Nuclear fusion isn’t very efficient without the incredibly hot temperatures found on the sun.

My new article at Newsweek on transhumanism, 3D Bioprinting the dead, and Quantum Archaeology:

Can radical scientific and technological advances really solve the problem of death?

Continue reading “The quest to 3D-bioprint every dead person back to life” »

A more aggressive and drug-resistant HIV subtype is behind skyrocketing HIV infection rates in the Philippines. Epidemiologist Edsel Salvana tells DW that the new strain is threatening to spark a new epidemic.

Our current understanding of gravity is based on Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity—a dated concept belonging to the realm of classical physics.

Modern scientists, however, are still struggling to quantize gravity—that is, describe it according to the principles of quantum mechanics.

This 83-year search is believed by many to be the deepest question in physics.

Continue reading “Physicists To Test Whether Gravity is a Quantum Force” »

The multitalented Dot Power Platform could raise crop yields 70 percent by 2050.

European and Canadian orbiters can work together to catch wayward emissions.

• By John Fialka, E&E News on March 9, 2018