Lifeboat Foundation

“These spots are a big surprise,” said Dr. David Flannery. “On Earth, these types of features in rocks are often associated with the fossilized record of microbes living in the subsurface.”

Did Mars once have life billions of years ago? This is what NASA’s Perseverance (Percy) rover hopes to figure out, and scientists might be one step closer to answering that question with a recent discovery by the car-sized robotic explorer that found a unique rock with “leopard spots” that have caused some in the scientific community to claim this indicates past life might have once existed on the now cold and dry Red Planet. However, others have just as quickly rushed to say that further evidence is required before jumping to conclusions.

Upon analyzing the rock using Percy’s intricate suite of scientific instruments, scientists determined that it contained specific chemical signatures indicative of life possibly having existed billions of years ago when liquid water flowed across the surface. However, the science team is also considering other reasons for the rock’s unique appearance, including further research to determine if the findings are consistent with potential ancient life.

Continue reading “Peculiar Rock Found by NASA’s Perseverance Rover Leaves Scientists Puzzled” »

Neuralink competitor Synchron announces integration with Apple Vision Pro.

For thousands of years, scholars pondered the question of how anything can move in our world. The problem seemed to have been solved—until the development of quantum mechanics.

By Manon Bischoff

Putting 50 billion transistors into a microchip the size of a fingernail is a feat that requires manufacturing methods of nanometer level precision—layering of thin films, then etching, depositing, or using photolithography to create the patterns of semiconductor, insulator, metal, and other materials that make up the tiny working devices within the chip.

The process relies heavily on solvents that carry and deposit materials in each layer—solvents that can be difficult to handle and toxic to the environment.

Now researchers led by Fiorenzo Omenetto, Frank C. Doble Professor of Engineering at Tufts, have developed a nanomanufacturing approach that uses water as the primary solvent, making it more environmentally compatible and opening the door to the development of devices that combine inorganic and biological materials.

AI can revolutionize healthcare and boost economic outcomes. But it comes with a lot of risks, too.

StandardAero will build and help test engines for the Overture supersonic airliner, which Boom Supersonic hopes to have in the air by 2029.

It’s all thanks to a titanium beam.

One would not be wrong to note that Toyota’s hydrogen engine exhibits enormous performance characteristics. This engine has the capacity to develop one hundred and fourteen horsepower and one hundred and forty Newton meters of torque and, as such, can be used in different car types.

The power-to-weight ratio is also impressive, at 125 horsepower per ton and CO₂ emissions of 144 g/km, the thermal efficiency of the engine is 44%, far higher than any traditional gasoline engine. This high efficiency concerns better fuel economy and fewer emissions. The fueling system can also be said to be one of the peculiarities of the hydrogen engine that Toyota uses.

Water worlds are exciting targets for planetary scientists.