Lifeboat Foundation

The future of space-based UV/optical/IR astronomy requires ever larger telescopes. The highest priority astrophysics targets, including Earth-like exoplanets, first generation stars, and early galaxies, are all extremely faint, which presents an ongoing challenge for current missions and is the opportunity space for next generation telescopes: larger telescopes are the primary way to address this issue.

With mission costs depending strongly on aperture diameter, scaling current space telescope technologies to aperture sizes beyond 10 m does not appear economically viable. Without a breakthrough in scalable technologies for large telescopes, future advances in astrophysics may slow down or even completely stall. Thus, there is a need for cost-effective solutions to scale space telescopes to larger sizes.

The FLUTE project aims to overcome the limitations of current approaches by paving a path towards space observatories with large aperture, unsegmented liquid primary mirrors, suitable for a variety of astronomical applications. Such mirrors would be created in space via a novel approach based on fluidic shaping in microgravity, which has already been successfully demonstrated in a laboratory neutral buoyancy environment, in parabolic microgravity flights, and aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The boom in AI funding rounds requiring a lot of capital at speed has increased attention to funding via SAFE notes.

Although the Human Genome Project announced the completed sequencing of 20,000 human genes more than 20 years ago, scientists are still working to grasp how fully formed beings emerge from basic genetic instructions.

This change ‘is analogous to changing the direction of a new battleship in a few minutes,’ researcher Gerrit Schellenberger said.

If you’ve ever wanted to explore the corners of your favorite PlayStation 2 title, check out PS2 Cam Acolyte which already supports a handful of horror games.

Researcher Kenneth Hu, Ph.D., runs an immunology lab studying cell-to-cell interactions in the tumor microenvironment and how that dictates the body’s response to immunotherapy. Here, he shares how he got started in the field and how he hopes his research will influence future advances in cancer immunotherapy.

Closing in on the theoretical maximum efficiency, devices for turning heat into electricity are edging closer to being practical for use on the grid, according to University of Michigan research.

Tesla has officially broken ground on its new Megafactory project to build Megapacks for energy storage in China.

The Megafactory in Lathrop, California, was Tesla’s first dedicated factory to produce Megapacks, which were previously produced at Gigafactory Nevada.

It is still ramping up to its full capacity of 40 GWh worth of Megapacks, a battery pack for utility-scale energy storage projects, but it has already helped Tesla break new records of energy storage deployment almost every quarter.

The first FLO Ultra DC fast chargers are rolling off the assembly line at the company’s Auburn Hills, Michigan, factory – and they’re pretty powerful.

The 320 kW FLO Ultra DC fast chargers feature a dual-port power configuration. The EV charging company designed them to comply with the federal government’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program (NEVI) standards and the Buy America Act, including 98% uptime. They can charge most EVs to 80% in just 15 minutes.

The FLO Ultra DC fast chargers feature the new FLO motorized cable management system. The EZLift system is designed to keep cables off the ground and provide extended reach, allowing the cable to reach EVs no matter where the port is located. The motorized system makes the cables feel lighter and easier to maneuver.