Lifeboat News: The Blog – Safeguarding Humanity

It’s official: Blue Origin will bring rocket engine tests back to Huntsville

Posted by Genevieve Klien in security, space travel

Apr 19
2019

One of Huntsville’s historic Apollo engine test stands is coming back to life under an agreement between NASA and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space company.

NASA announced Wednesday it has signed an agreement to let Blue Origin use Marshall Test Stand 4670 to test its BE-3U and BE-4 rocket engines. The BE-4 has been selected to power United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket and Blue’s New Glenn rocket.

Both rockets are being built to power new boosters for America’s three key space markets: NASA, commercial companies like ULA and national security customers such as the Air Force.

Uber gets $1 billion investment for self-driving unit

Posted by Genevieve Klien in robotics/AI, transportation

Apr 19
2019

Uber announced Thursday night that its self-driving car unit received a $1 billion investment ahead of the tech giant’s upcoming debut on th.

Scientists Uncover California’s Hidden Earthquakes

Posted by Genevieve Klien in futurism

Apr 19
2019

Nearly two million tiny tremors could help explain the inner workings of key faults.

By Shannon Hall on April 18, 2019

This Genetic Mutation Makes People Feel Full — All the Time

Posted by Genevieve Klien in genetics

Apr 19
2019

Two new studies confirm that weight control is often the result of genetics, not willpower.

A Genius First-of-Its-Kind Device Has Created Electricity From Snowfall

Posted by Genevieve Klien in materials, particle physics

Apr 19
2019

Scientists have developed a first-of-its-kind device that generates electricity from nothing other than the natural phenomenon of snowfall.

Based upon the principles of the triboelectric effect, in which electrical charge is generated after two materials come into contact with one another, the researchers’ new technology exploits the fact that snow particles carry a positive electrical charge.

Because of that, snowflakes give up electrons, provided they get a chance to interact with the right, negatively charged substance.

Microsoft buys Express Logic, adds a third operating system to its IoT range

Posted by Genevieve Klien in computing

Apr 19
2019

ThreadX joins Azure Sphere, Windows 10 for IoT.

Rocket Report: A new Delta 2, Blue Origin inks with NASA, a fiery Falcon Heavy

Posted by Genevieve Klien in space travel

Apr 19
2019

Do everything in your power to keep the acquisition on schedule.

The US Has Officially Started Using CRISPR on Humans

Posted by Genevieve Klien in biotech/medical, futurism

Apr 19
2019

On Monday, a UPenn spokesperson confirmed to NPR that the institution’s researchers have officially started using CRISPR on humans — marking a national first that could lead to a more widespread use of the technology in the future.

Last Resort

The spokesperson told NPR that the UPenn team has thus far used CRISPR to treat two cancer patients, one with multiple myeloma and one with sarcoma. Both had relapsed after standard cancer treatments.

Undersea Robot To Rescue The Great Barrier Reef

Posted by Florence Nsiah in robotics/AI

Apr 19
2019

A pair of Australian scientists have built an undersea robot to save the Great Barrier Reef.

A newly developed undersea robot could help researchers reverse the drastic coral collapse that has occurred on the Great Barrier Reef in recent years.

Scientists restore some functions in a pig’s brain hours after death

Posted by Narenda Har in biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience

Apr 19
2019

Circulation and cellular activity were restored in a pig’s brain four hours after its death, a finding that challenges long-held assumptions about the timing and irreversible nature of the cessation of some brain functions after death, Yale scientists report April 18 in the journal Nature.

The brain of a postmortem pig obtained from a meatpacking plant was isolated and circulated with a specially designed chemical solution. Many basic cellular functions, once thought to cease seconds or minutes after oxygen and blood flow cease, were observed, the scientists report.

“The intact brain of a large mammal retains a previously underappreciated capacity for restoration of circulation and certain molecular and cellular activities multiple hours after circulatory arrest,” said senior author Nenad Sestan, professor of neuroscience, comparative medicine, genetics, and psychiatry.