Lifeboat Foundation

Humans have dreamed about traveling to other star systems and setting foot on alien worlds for generations. To put it mildly, interstellar exploration is a very daunting task.

As Universe Today explored in a previous post, it would take between 19,000 and 81,000 years for a spacecraft to reach Proxima Centauri using conventional propulsion (or those that are feasible using current technology). On top of that, there are numerous risks when traveling through the interstellar medium (ISM), not all of which are well-understood.

Under the circumstances, gram-scale spacecraft that rely on directed-energy propulsion (AKA lasers) appear to be the only viable option for reaching neighboring stars in this century.

The secret was hiding in tiny fossils.

Valve has changed its policy and will now allow games made by AI, or that use AI generated content, to be sold on Steam.

Back in June, we shared that while our goal continues to be shipping as many games as possible on Steam, we needed some time to learn about the fast-moving and legally murky space of AI technology, especially given Steam’s worldwide reach. Today, after spending the last few months learning more about this space and talking with game developers, we are making changes to how we handle games that use AI technology. This will enable us to release the vast majority of games that use it.

A US startup has demonstrated an indoor solar panel that it claims could replace billions of batteries in domestic devices like TV remotes and wireless keyboards.

California-based Ambient Photonics said its new solar cell can provide constant power from just indoor and ambient outdoor light, delivering three times more power than existing technologies.

Solar power has been used for decades in low-power electronics like calculators, though such cells have so far not been suitable for more energy-intensive devices.

Jordan B Peterson

We explore various philosophies and its principles to assess their appropriateness as guides in these accelerating exponential times

Stoicism.
Stoicism is a philosophical school that originated in ancient Greece and was founded by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC. Stoicism emphasizes rationality, virtue, and self-control as the key to leading a good life.

The philosophy teaches that individuals should focus on what they can control, accept what they cannot control, and remain indifferent to external circumstances beyond their control.

In an atomically thin stack of semiconductors, a mechanism unseen in any natural substance causes electrons’ spins to align.

NASA is working with private industry partners and small businesses under Artemis to produce scalable, affordable, and advanced laser communications systems that could enable greater exploration and discovery beyond Earth for the benefit of all.

Laser, or optical, communications provide missions with increased data rates – meaning that missions using laser technology can send and receive more information in a single transmission compared with those using traditional radio waves. When a spacecraft uses laser communications to send information, infrared light packs the data into tighter waves so ground stations on Earth can receive more data at once. Laser communications systems can provide 10 to 100 times higher data rates than the radio systems used by space missions today.

As science instruments evolve to capture high-definition data, missions will need expedited ways to transmit information to Earth. It would take roughly nine weeks to transmit a complete map of Mars back to Earth with current radio frequency systems. With lasers, it would only take about nine days.

Nvidia has been an investor favorite for AI, but other firms have been busy building their capabilities too. Matt Orton names one he says is “underappreciated.”