Lifeboat Foundation

The Kidney Project’s implantable bioartificial kidney, one that promises to free kidney disease patients from dialysis machines and transplant waiting lists, took another big step toward becoming reality, earning a $650,000 prize from KidneyX for its first-ever demonstration of a functional prototype of its implantable artificial kidney.

KidneyX is a public–private partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) founded to “accelerate innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases.”

Continue reading “The Kidney Project successfully tests a prototype bioartificial kidney” »

Chip shortage should last until mid-2023.

Low-end smartphones and PCs to get more expensive because of chip prices.

Circa 2006

MIT researchers are putting a tiny gas-turbine engine inside a silicon chip about the size of a quarter. The resulting device could run 10 times longer than a battery of the same weight can, powering laptops, cell phones, radios and other electronic devices.

It could also dramatically lighten the load for people who can’t connect to a power grid, including soldiers who now must carry many pounds of batteries for a three-day mission — all at a reasonable price.

Continue reading “Engine on a chip promises to best the battery” »

A new interpretation of quantum mechanics sees agents as playing an active role in the creation of reality. Blake Stacey outlines the case for QBism and its radical potential.

The pandemic shut down our university when I was in the middle of giving a lecture. We had been anticipating the possibility for a few days, but it was still impeccable timing. I finished my spiel, out came the phones, and suddenly we weren’t going to see each other post-spring break after all. For the rest of the term, I did what so many teachers found themselves doing: gamely trying to soldier on. I scrounged and borrowed a whiteboard, easel and webcam, set myself up in the nicest light the house had to offer, and did my best to convey graduate-level physics to an audience of tiny rectangles. And like so many other teachers, I learned there’s nothing like a radical change of circumstances for driving one to re-evaluate what the essential ideas of a subject must be.

Apple and Tesla have a lot in common, but there’s much to be desired — oddly enough — when it comes to how their products work together.

Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc. have a lot in common, but there’s much to be desired — oddly enough — when it comes to how their products work together.

Both companies are known for design, advanced technology and a controlling approach to their ecosystems. Tesla’s cars use a giant iPad-like screen instead of physical controls, and customers can use a smartphone as their key. It’s also steadily moving toward autonomous driving. That’s led people to call Tesla the Apple of carmakers. Elon Musk even tried to sell Tesla to Apple, and consumers frequently say that a Tesla is an “iPhone on wheels.”

Continue reading “Tesla and Apple Are a Clear Match, But Their Products Oddly Don’t Work Well Together” »

2021 Cryonics Institute Annual General Meeting SUNDAY — SEPT 12 2021.

ZOOM Virtual Meeting CI will be live-streaming the meeting on Zoom.

Registration is free:

Continue reading “Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Cryonics Institute AGM. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar” »

Today, wireless charging is little more than a gimmick for high-end smartphones or pricey electric toothbrushes. But a new approach that can charge devices anywhere in a room could one day allow untethered factories where machinery is powered without cables. As the number of gadgets we use has steadily grown, so too has the number of cables and chargers cluttering up our living spaces. This has spurred growing interest in wireless charging systems, but the distances they work over are very short, and they still have to be plugged into an outlet. So, ultimately, they make little difference.

This is only a prototype though, and considering the dramatic increase in efficiency between the first and second versions, this efficiency gap could be closed. A more pressing concern might be the cost and complexity of retrofitting buildings with massive aluminum plates in the walls.

Continue reading “This Room Can Wirelessly Charge Devices Anywhere Within Its Walls” »

Earlier this year, researchers found a deposit of rare-earth minerals off the coast of Japan that could supply the world for centuries, according to a study.

The study, published in the journal Nature in April 2,018 says the deposit contains 16 million tons of the valuable metals.

Rare-earth minerals are used in everything from smartphone batteries to electric vehicles. By definition, these minerals contain one or more of 17 metallic rare-earth elements (for those familiar with the periodic table, those are on the second row from the bottom).

Continue reading “Japan Discovered a Rare-Earth Mineral Deposit That Can Supply The World For Centuries” »

Arizona, and Georgia will introduce the system first, with Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah also signed up.

The “first locations” to use the system will be airport security checkpoints run by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Apple says.

Americans usually need some form of state ID only to travel by air domestically, unlike other countries, in which a passport is widely used.

Continue reading “US states to accept driver’s licence on iPhones” »