Menu

Lifeboat News #221

#221

Lifeboat News

This issue published on 12/01/20. Copyright 2020 Lifeboat Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

Cities in Space

Cities in Space® Virtual 2021: Student Competition and Conference will be held in cyberspace on February 5, 2021 at 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM CST. This event is organized by our Holly Melear and our Janet Ivey is speaking.
 
Learn more at https://steam-space.org/student-competi...ace-2021.

Evolution of Science Fiction Webinar Series

Attend “The Evolution of Science Fiction Webinar Series: Module 7, Evolution and the Late Nineteenth Century: Utopias, Robots, the Mystical, and the Martians” on January 2, 2021 at 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM EST. Host is Tom Lombardo and is organized by Tery Spataro.
 
This is an online event. Learn more at https://events.eventzilla.net/e/the-evo...38784520.

Healthy Longevity Webinars

The NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and our Professor Brian Kennedy are proud to be hosting FREE Healthy Longevity webinars on January 7, 14, 21, and February 4 and 18. They will be held 7 PM Singapore time.
 
Our Steve Horvath will be speaking at the January 7 webinar.
 
Learn more at https://nus-sg.zoom.us/webinar/register...5d58qZhg.

Planning for Transformative Change

The virtual conference Planning for Transformative Change: Strategic Talks on the Pivotal Issues of Our Time will be held each Friday, February 5 – March 19, 2021. Our Jerome Glenn, Theodore Jay Gordon, William E. Halal, Steven Hausman, and Paul Saffo will be speaking.
 
Learn more at https://mailchi.mp/8e3498c7bb8f/virtual...b-5-2021.

Space Renaissance 2021

Space Renaissance 2021 is calling for papers/abstracts by May 31, 2021.
 
Learn more at https://2021.spacerenaissance.space/ind...speeches.

Rogue Space Systems

Rogue Space Systems Corporation, a new satellite servicing company is fundraising money. Rogue is developing Orbital Robots (Orbots™) that will transport and service satellites in LEO, MEO, and GEO. In December of 2020, Rogue signed a cooperative agreement (CRADA) with the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
 
In addition to traditional fundraising efforts, Rogue is also accepting investment funds from non-traditional investors on Trucrowd, a Federal equity-based crowdfunding portal. Learn more at https://us.trucrowd.com/equity/offer-summary/Rogue.

Special Report

Read “Special Report The Future of Digital Surveillance and Healthcare: A Conversation with World Leading Philosopher Stefan Lorenz Sorgner” at https://lifeboat.com/ex/the.future.of.d....sorgner by Dinorah Delfin.
 
Biotechnologies are giving us the ability to create algorithms that allow us to better understand and monitor what is happening inside of the human body by means of implanted chips that measure bodily processes and generate biometric data.
 
By means of this data, we can also get warnings before a disease develops. The same chips can also be used to prevent future epidemics by spotting infected people and isolating them.

SpaceX

Lifeboat Foundation congratulates SpaceX on its successful Starship SN8 launch. Starship is the world’s first reusable space vehicle. Starship will transform our world, starting with making Starlink the first non-bankrupt LEO constellation, later bringing us to the Moon and then hopefully Mars.
 
We recommend that NASA redirect their funds from the dead-end SLS system towards Starship. Even if NASA continues to waste tens of billions of dollars on SLS, it is unlikely that it will ever do more than a handful of launches as the low cost Starship program makes it obsolete.
 
Learn more at https://lifeboat.com/ex/press.releases.spacex.

Books

Read “18 Miles: The Epic Drama of Our Atmosphere and Its Weather” at https://amzn.to/3dO7oZy by Christopher Dewdney. This book is winner of the American Meteorological Society’s Louis J. Battan Authors’ Award for science writing, the 2019 Science Writers & Communicators of Canada Book Award, and the 2018 Lane Anderson Award.
 
Read “Advanced Introduction to Law and Artificial Intelligence” at https://amzn.to/37xEVHc, coauthored by Woody Barfield.
 
Read “Aftershocks and Opportunities: Scenarios for a Post-Pandemic Future” at https://amzn.to/3mIse0w coedited by Alexandra Whittington. It includes chapters by Bruce Lloyd, Liselotte Lyngsø, and Nell (Eleanor) Watson.
 
Read “The Aging Gap Between Species” at http://amzn.to/2f9xb5R and “Eat Less, Live Longer — Your Practical Guide to Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition” at http://amzn.to/2x4kFZK, both by Anca Iovita.
 
Read “A Greater World is Possible: The expansion of civilization beyond the limits of our home planet is the moral issue of our time” at https://amzn.to/2KFmvvr by Adriano V. Autino.
 
Read “Androids and Intelligent Networks in Early Modern Literature and Culture: Artificial Slaves” at https://amzn.to/2C98GRP by Kevin LaGrandeur and “Surviving the Machine Age: Intelligent Technology and the Transformation of Human Work” at https://amzn.to/2WhKR10 coedited by Kevin LaGrandeur.
 
Read “Arrival Mind” at https://amzn.to/3jKouLb and “Upgrade” at https://amzn.to/36LpgnN, both by Louis B. Rosenberg.
 
“Arrival Mind” is a ‘picture book for grown-ups’ about the dangers of artificial intelligence. “Upgrade” is a dystopian graphic novel about human society willfully designing itself out of existence.
 
Read “The Cambridge Handbook of the Law of Algorithms” at https://amzn.to/2KDOsne edited by Woody Barfield.
 
Read “Dead Precedents: How Hip-Hop Defines the Future” at https://amzn.to/2CHD9WW by Roy Christopher. This book uses the concerns and conceits of cyberpunk literature to thoughtfully remap hip-hop’s spread from around the way to around the world.
 
Read “Detecting Concealed Information and Deception: Recent Developments” at https://amzn.to/38FE1YK by J. Peter Rosenfeld.
 
Read “Global Technological Change: From Hard Technology to Soft Technology — Second Edition” at https://amzn.to/3hbXSSS and “The Future of Humanity: Global Civilization and China’s Rejuvenation” at https://amzn.to/2LVUNe9 by Zhouying Jin.
 
Read “Handbook of Small Satellites: Technology, Design, Manufacture, Applications, Economics and Regulation” at https://amzn.to/3hedSUJ, “Space 2.0: Revolutionary Advances in the Space Industry” at https://amzn.to/2KxW7DP, “Handbook of Satellite Applications” at https://amzn.to/3pm0AYT, “Preparing for the Next Cyber Revolution: How Our World Will Be Radically Transformed — Again!” at https://amzn.to/3nNZrZX, “The New Gold Rush: Riches of Space Beckon!” at https://amzn.to/3hhGj42, and “Global Space Governance: An International Study” at https://amzn.to/2JnTB2w, all authored, edited, or coedited by Joseph N. Pelton.
 
Read “How to Be a Rocket Scientist” at https://amzn.to/31RcdwX and “Cybersecurity for Kids Puzzle Book: Fun Learning Cyber Security Basics Through Word Searches, Crosswords, Cryptograms, Logic Puzzles, Coloring, and More” at https://amzn.to/38w9AUM, both by Brett Hoffstadt.
 
Read “How To Develop The Solar System and Beyond: A Roadmap to Interstellar Space” at https://amzn.to/3aEY6kq by Giorgio Gaviraghi, John Lee, Pier Marzocca, Joseph Miller, Armen V. Papazian, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, and Amalie Sinclair.
 
Read “In Search of Consciousness and the Theory of Everything: Towards the Final Answers to the Mystery of Existence” at https://amzn.to/2SpYRls by Abed Peerally.
 
Read “Laundrygate: Strange Stories About the Future” at https://amzn.to/2KToJqM by Tery Spataro. This book is a collection of short stories about the unimagined consequences of technology and the creation of new realities.
 
Read “Modified: Living as a Cyborg” at https://amzn.to/3gYUBWZ, coedited by Chris Hables Gray.
 
Building off the highly successful The Cyborg Handbook, this new collection of essays, interviews, and creative pieces brings together a set of compelling personal accounts about what it means to live as a cyborg in the twenty-first century.
 
Read “Moon: An Illustrated History: From Ancient Myths to the Colonies of Tomorrow” at https://amzn.to/2QWT7TF by David Warmflash.
 
Read “The Oppenheimer Alternative” at https://amzn.to/3ho8gHp. On the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb, Hugo and Nebula-winning author Robert J. Sawyer takes us back in time to revisit history… with a twist.
 
While J. Robert Oppenheimer and his Manhattan Project team struggle to develop the A-bomb, Edward Teller wants something even more devastating: a bomb based on nuclear fusion — the mechanism that powers the sun.
 
Teller’s research leads to a terrifying discovery: by the year 2030, the sun will eject its outermost layer, destroying the entire inner solar system — including Earth.
 
As the war ends with the use of fission bombs against Japan, Oppenheimer’s team, plus Albert Einstein and Wernher von Braun, stay together — the greatest scientific geniuses from the last century racing against time to save our future.
 
Read “Replacing Aging” at https://amzn.to/38p4ole by Jean M. Hébert.
 
Read “Rise of the Space Age Millennials: The Space Aspirations of a Rising Generation” at https://amzn.to/3p9NAW9 by Laura Forczyk.
 
Read “The Transhumanism Handbook” at https://amzn.to/2DCJCQA, edited by Newton Lee. Also read his “Google It: Total Information Awareness” at https://amzn.to/2UZRKp9 and “Facebook Nation: Total Information Awareness” at https://amzn.to/2V0Gp8k.
 
Read “The Vanished Seas” at https://amzn.to/3mMTQSk. This is a science fiction mystery by Catherine Asaro. Read an interview about her book at https://whatever.scalzi.com/2020/07/09/...ne-asaro. Visit her Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/CatherineAsaro.
 
Read “Voyager: Photographs from Humanity’s Greatest Journey” at https://amzn.to/34P6Q3x. Our Garry Hunt was a member of the Voyager imaging team. (Garry received 2 NASA Awards for the Voyager Project with two additional NASA Awards in 1986 and 1990.)

YouTube Duo

Sebastian Todor and Jixuan Wang join our Space Settlement Board. This couple works on the YouTube Channel “2 The Future” at https://www.youtube.com/c/JixuanSebastian, making videos on future technologies, ranging from transportation technologies to biotechnology, with the main focus on human spaceflight.

Blog

Mark Parkins joins our blog team with the post “Sirtuins Activation — What They Can Offer Longevity & How they May Help Extend Life” at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/sirtu...end-life
 
Recent interesting blog posts include:
 
“The Air Force Is Putting Death Rays on Fighter Jets. Yes, Death Rays” by Quinn Sena at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/11/the-a...ath-rays
 
“Apollo 13: ‘Houston, We’ve Had a Problem’” by Alberto Lao at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/apoll...-problem
 
“Artificial intelligence co-pilots US military aircraft for the first time” by Derick Lee at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/artif...rst-time
 
“Astronomers Just Found Cosmic ‘Superhighways’ For Fast Travel Through The Solar System” by Jim Brownfield at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/astro...r-system
 
“China is Creating Biologically Enhanced Super Soldiers, Says US Spy Chief” by Raphael Ramos at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/china...py-chief
 
“Chuck Yeager, 1st to break sound barrier, dead at 97” by Heather Blevins at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/chuck...ad-at-97
 
“Colorado student, scientist named Time’s ‘Kid of the Year’” by Genevieve Klien at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/color...the-year
 
“Contact lenses worthy of James Bond to zoom and film in a blink of an eye” by Jeremy Dylan Batterson at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/conta...f-an-eye
 
“Coronavirus: Should I start taking vitamin D?” by Poopeh Morakkabati at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/coron...itamin-d
 
“The country’s first commercial space center is coming to Houston” by Brent Ellman at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/the-c...-houston
 
“Cybersecurity giant FireEye says it was hacked by govt-backed spies who stole its crown-jewels hacking tools” by Raphael Ramos at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/cyber...ng-tools
 
“Drug reverses age-related cognitive decline within days” by Kevin Huang at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/drug-...hin-days
 
“Elon Musk says Mars economy will run on cryptocurrency” by Montie Adkins at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/elon-...currency
 
“Europe Is Launching a Giant Claw to Grab Space Junk” by Muhammad Furqan at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/11/europ...ace-junk
 
“Experiment takes ‘snapshots’ of light, stops light, uses light to change properties of matter” by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/exper...f-matter
 
“French army gets ethical go-ahead for bionic soldiers” by Shane Hinshaw at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/frenc...soldiers
 
“Google outage: YouTube, Docs and Gmail knocked offline” by Muhammad Furqan at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/googl...-offline
 
“‘Guardians’ of the galaxy: US Space Force members get a new name” by Omuterema Akhahenda at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/guard...new-name
 
“Here is the once in a lifetime Bethlehem Christmas Star Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn as seen through the telescope” by TJ Wass at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/here-...elescope
 
“It was honestly one of the most awesome experiences I’ve ever had, feeling the power of the raptors on the way up is indescribable!” by Heather Blevins at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/austi...-awesome
 
“Japanese Spacecraft Returns Asteroid Samples to Earth” by Brent Ellman at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/japan...to-earth
 
“Jupiter and Saturn swing by the moon this week ahead of a ‘Great Conjunction’” by Eamon Everall at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/jupit...junction
 
“Jupiter and Saturn will come within 0.1 degrees of each other, forming the first visible ‘double planet’ in 800 years” by Quinn Sena at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/jupit...00-years
 
“LED lights found to kill coronavirus: Global first in fight against COVID-19” by Eli Sklar at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/led-l...covid-19
 
“Lifeboat Foundation congratulates SpaceX on its successful SN8 Launch!” by Eric Klien at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/lifeb...8-launch
 
“Liquid Blood Found In Remains Of 42,000-Year-Old Mummified Foal” by Shane Hinshaw at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/11/liqui...ied-foal
 
“Lower current leads to highly efficient memory” by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/lower...t-memory
 
“Making the First Martians: Building an Economy on Mars” by Lola Heavey at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/11/makin...-on-mars
 
“Molecular mechanism of long-term memory discovered” by Kevin Huang at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/11/molec...scovered
 
“NASA’s spacecraft spots China’s Chang’e 5 lander on the moon” by Roger Dufur at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/nasas...the-moon
 
“Neuroscientists investigate the relationship between language and cognitive functions” by Genevieve Klien at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/neuro...unctions
 
“New gravitational ‘superhighway’ system discovered in the Solar System” by Alberto Lao at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/new-g...r-system
 
“Oral drug blocks SARS-CoV-2 transmission” by Kevin Huang at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/oral-...smission
 
“Radishes grown in space for first time” by Future Timeline at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/radis...rst-time
 
“Researchers Invent Material That Could Create Invisibility Cloak” by Raphael Ramos at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/resea...ty-cloak
 
“SpaceX’s 1st upgraded Dragon cargo ship docks itself at space station with science, goodies and new airlock” by Alberto Lao at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/space...-airlock
 
“Stanford engineers invent a sonar device that works outside the water” by Brent Ellman at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/stanf...he-water
 
“Titanium atom that exists in two places at once in crystal to blame for unusual phenomenon” by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/titan...enomenon
 
“U.S. Army Forges Ahead With Its Railgun As Navy’s Commitment To The Tech Is Questioned” by Quinn Sena at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/09/u-s-a...estioned
 
“U.S. Billionaires Gained $1 Trillion Since The Pandemic Started” by Chuck Black at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/11/u-s-b...-started
 
“Undergraduate Math Student Pushes Frontier of Graph Theory” by Genevieve Klien at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/11/under...h-theory
 
“Why We Should Exercise Regularly — Ten Amazing Benefits” by Mark Parkins at https://lifeboat.com/blog/2020/12/why-w...benefits

Growing Membership

We now have over 4,100 donors!
 
Recent donations/pledges we have received since our last newsletter:
 
Dave Davies: $200, Michael Dickey: $85, Kenneth P. Weiss: $85, Amy L. Fletcher: $75, Bill Barbour: $25, Alexia Idoura: $25, Matthew L. McGuirl: $25, Casino Zonder Licentie: $11, Anonymous: $10.10 (including 0.00000547 bitcoins), Rebecca R. Cooper: $10, Susan Cutforth: $10, Anthony L. Haynor: $10, Tommy Ledbetter: $10, Alexander Macrae: $10, Craig Olschansky: $10, Patrik Sandin: $10, Roland Schiefer: $10, David Shumaker: $10, Hamilton Electricians: $5, Mercer Heating and Cooling: $5, White Hat Casinos: $5, Internet Florist: $4, Electrician Grande Prairie: $3, Expert Blender Reviews: $2, Falls Church Tow Truck: $2, Gift Baskets & Hampers: $2, Official Fishing Network: $2, Palm City Appliance & Air Conditioning: $2, True Appliance Repair: $2, Accountants of Cary: $1, Accountants of Columbia: $1, Accountants of Concord: $1, Accountants of Durham: $1, Accountants of Fayetteville: $1, Accountants of Greensboro: $1, Accountants of Greenville: $1, Accountants of North Charleston: $1, Accountants of Raleigh: $1, Accountants of Winston-Salem: $1, Ask Any Difference: $1, AutoKitsLab: $1, Bonuscasino88: $1, Bonuscasino88 – riiwiwekms Gemix: $1, Btcgosu Casino Guide: $1, Buffett.online: $1, The Coconut Bowl Shop: $1, Mr Data Cabler: $1, Frisco Car Detail: $1, High Point Deck and Fence: $1, Le Meilleurs Choix: Destructeur Diabete: $1, Los Angeles Car Detail: $1, Mizz Marketing: $1, OutdoorViewer: $1, Pet Fish Planet: $1, Plano Car Detail: $1, Pressure Washing Pros Round Rock TX: $1, Sacramento Drywall: $1, San Diego Detailing: $1, San Francisco Car Detailing: $1, Smart Pressure Washer: $1, Swindon Pro Electricians: $1, Westlake Recovery: $1, and Mindey Indriunas: $0.60 (composed of 1 namecoin).