Lifeboat Foundation

An interstellar precursor mission has been discussed as a priority for science for over 30 years. It would improve our knowledge of the interstellar environment and address fundamental questions of astrophysics, from the origin of matter to the evolution of the Galaxy. A precursor mission would involve an initial exploration probe and aim to test technological capabilities for future large-scale missions. With this survey we intend to identify potential backers and gauge the public’s interest in such a mission.

This survey is conducted by the International Space University (www.isunet.edu) in collaboration with the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (www.I4IS.org). Your data will not be shared with any other organisation.

New to 3D-bioprinting: Blood vessels. http://voc.tv/14JQHoo

The preview image below thanks Robert Bradbury(no not Ray Bradbury) who is no longer with us but you can find his work concerning Matrioshka Brains and he has a great life extension lecture on youtube.

The author greatly appreciates and thanks Robert J. Bradbury for doing the painstaking and often tedious original html coding job for 25 of these papers, among the many linked papers cited on this page.

Last updated on 6 July 2013.

Researchers developing large-scale quantum computers hope that playing a video game will provide the solutions they need to program their advanced machines.

The realities of VR.

NEW YORK, March 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Horizon Media, the largest and fastest growing privately held media services agency in the world, announced today its most recent research on consumer interest in virtual reality devices. The research was fielded in Finger on the Pulse, the agency’s proprietary online research community comprised of 3,000 people reflective of the U.S. population, and with the social media expertise of Horizon’s Distillery social intelligence team. The research shows that despite extensive media coverage of Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard and other virtual reality devices, fully two thirds of consumers are unaware of the technology.

Virtual reality – often referred to as “VR” – has been readily embraced by the mainstream media as the shiny, new, technological advancement. Marketers are also understandably excited about the possibilities unleashed by VR technology. But while there is interest among consumers, the survey findings suggest that companies would be well served to walk before they run when incorporating virtual reality activations into marketing plans, at least until the technology reaches greater awareness and scale.

Continue reading “Horizon Media Study Finds Two Thirds of Americans Unaware of Virtual Reality Devices” »

Two big problems have been vexing environmental scientists for decades: How to store solar energy for later use, and what to do with CO₂ that’s been captured and sequestered from coal plants? Scientists from General Electric (GE) could solve both those problems at once by using CO₂ as a giant “battery” to hold excess energy. The idea is to use solar power from mirrors to heat salt with a concentrated mirror array like the one at the Ivanpah solar plant in California. Meanwhile, CO₂ stored underground from, say, a coal plant is cooled to a solid dry ice state using excess grid power.

When extra electricity is needed at peak times, especially after the sun goes down, the heated salt can be tapped to warm up the solid CO₂ to a “supercritical” state between a gas and solid. It’s then funneled into purpose built turbines (from GE, naturally) which can rapidly generate power. The final “sunrotor” design (a prototype is shown below) would be able to generate enough energy to power 100,000 homes, according to GE.

Continue reading “GE wants to use CO2 pollution to make huge solar batteries” »

A new study claims chocolate can improve cognitive performance – joining research that indicates it can prevent heart attacks and help you lose weight. But dig a little deeper and all is not what it seems …

You may have heard of Magic Leap, future purveyors of “cinematic reality” (augmented reality) headsets. This is a company without a single commercial product, and yet it’s worth $4.5 billion. Many are invigorated by the company’s potential, but a tour of its most recent, 160,000-word, 350-page patent application — especially with current events in mind — could suggest other, less exciting applications for the emerging technology.

No one really knows what to expect from the company: by design, it’s mysterious. (Out of silence comes allure.) We’ve seen two videos, we’ve investigated its job postings, and we know that wealthy organizations love throwing money its way. But we do have access to Magic Leap’s patent applications, and it published its most recent one in late January.

People are excited about VR and AR. With reason, too: the demos, previews, and new releases we get to watch are striking. The games we imagine playing in the future are enthralling. The mere idea of a virtual or augmented world, either distinct from or mixed with the actual (boring, depressing, what-have-you) world, is enough to invigorate all of our wayward souls.

Continue reading “Here’s Magic Leap’s Covert Vision for Its Augmented Reality Headsets” »

Cataracts can be cured by regrowing the lens in the eye using stem cells, a breakthrough hailed as ‘remarkable’ by scientists.