Lifeboat Foundation

Catherine Griffin — Science World Report

Could spiders save the bees? They just might. Scientists have created a novel bio-pesticide with the help of spider venom and a plant protein. The new pesticide is actually safe for honeybees, despite being highly toxic to a number of key insect pests.

Honeybees perform sophisticated behaviors while foraging. These behaviors, in part, are why they’re so successful. With their ability to pollinate key crop species, these insects are crucial for our food industry. And yet bee populations have been declining due to climate change and an increased use of pesticides, which can interrupt their key behaviors.

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Quality Assurance In Military Aeronautics!

THE BEST Quality Assurance In Military Aeronautic Equipment Is And By American Manufacturer(S).

THE SECOND Best Quality Assurance In Military Aeronautic Equipment Is And By European Manufacturer(S).

THE THIRD Best Quality Assurance In Military Aeronautic Equipment Is And By Israeli Manufacturer(S).

Continue reading “Quality Assurance In Military Aeronautics!” »

FUTURISM UPDATE (October 16, 2014)

MOSCOW TIMES: Russia Strengthens Air Defenses With Bases in Belarus and Central Asia http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russia-streng…09491.html

BBC: Italy pushes ahead with ‘next generation’ biofuels from waste http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29618889

Continue reading “FUTURISM UPDATE (October 16, 2014)” »

By Josh Lowensohn — The Verge

Toyota today said it’s investigated the possibility of vehicles that are capable of hovering just above the road, technology designed to improve efficiency. In an interview at Bloomberg’s Next Big Thing Summit in San Francisco, Hiroyoshi Yoshiki — the managing officer with Toyota’s technical administration group — said that the company had been studying a similar idea of flying cars at one of its “most advanced” research and development areas, but cautioned that the concept was not like actually flying around in three-dimensional space. Instead, he said, the plan is to get the car “a little bit away” from the road to reduce friction, similar to a hovercraft.

Following the interview, Yoshiki declined to elaborate on when the company began investigating the idea, how far along it is, or if it ever plans to bring it to market.

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By Ben Coxworth — GizMag

As any serious bicycle commuter will tell you, it’s important to let drivers know what you’re doing by signaling your intention to turn. Needless to say, the more visible your hand signals are, the safer you should be. That’s why a group of doctoral students at Switzerland’s EPFL research institute created the Intelligent Blinker. It’s a wrist bracelet that automatically starts flashing when the wearer raises their arm to signal.

The device (which would presumably be worn as a set of two) contains an accelerometer and a magnetometer, to detect changes in the orientation of the bracelet. When the arm moves out laterally, those sensors trigger a set of integrated LEDs to begin blinking. Depending on how enthusiastic of a signaler they are, the user can adjust the Intelligent Blinker to kick in at more or less of an angle, as desired.

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Western Canada’s most futurist-oriented longevity organization, the Lifespan Society of British Columbia, has organized a first-class life extension conference, which will take place later this fall in the heart of downtown Vancouver. The Longevity and Genetics Conference 2014 offers a full-day of expert presentations, made accessible to a general audience, with keynote on the latest developments in biorejuvination by Aubrey de Grey of SENS Research Foundation. The conference will be interactive, with a panel session for audience questions, and VIP options for further interaction with speakers.

Aubrey de Grey

Who will be there? In addition to Aubrey de Grey, there are four other speakers confirmed thus far: Dr. Angela Brooks-Wilson, Head of Cancer Genetics at the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at the BC Cancer Agency, Dr. S. Jay Olshansky, Board of Directors of the American Federation of Aging Research, and co-author of The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging, Dr. Clinton Mielke, former Mayo Clinic researcher and founder of the quantified self platform “infino.me”, and lastly, one of futurism’s most experienced and dedicated radical longevity advocates, Benjamin Best, who is currently Director of Research Oversight at the Life Extension Foundation. This conference is a multi-disciplinary event, engaging several points of interest and relevance in the longevity space, from the cellular, genetic science of aging, to the latest epidemiological and even demographic research. You can also expect discussion on personalized medicine and quantified self technologies, as well as big picture, sociological and philosophical, longevity-specific topics.

All around, the 2014 Longevity and Genetics conference, set to take place Saturday November 15, has a lot to offer, as does the host city of Vancouver. A recent study has indicated that a majority of Canadians, 59%, are in favor of life extension technology, with 47% expecting that science and technology will enable living until 120 by 2050. The Lifespan Society of British Columbia is keeping that momentum and enthusiasm alive and growing, and I’m glad they have organized such a high-calliber event. Tickets are currently still available. Learn more about the event and purchase tickets here.

Vancouver B.C.

Kurweil AI

MIT researchers discovered last year that when water droplets spontaneously jump away from superhydrophobic (water-repelling) surfaces during condensation, the droplets can gain electric charge in the process.

Now the same team has demonstrated that this process can generate small amounts of electricity, which could lead to devices that can charge cellphones or other electronics using just the humidity in the air. As a side benefit, the system could also produce clean water.

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By Scott J Grunewald — 3D Printing Industry

Why should you dress up as Star Lord this year for Halloween? Well for one, just like everyone else you loved the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and for another he’s not a giant tree so the costume is going to be easier to make. If you have a 3D printer of course!

When I stumbled on product designer Kirby Downey’s 3D Printed Star Lord Element Guns on Reddit I was blown away by the detail. I was certain that they were made from existing 3D models or official files but after a quick email it turns out that was not the case. Amazingly the gun only took about an hour to design in Solidworks and another half hour to cut it up into pieces for 3D printing.

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DeZeen Magazine

A Dutch firm specialising in floating structures has unveiled plans for a hotel shaped like a snowflake with a glass roof so that guests can watch the Northern Lights while bobbing off the coast of Tromso in Norway.

The design for the 86-room Krystall Hotel by Waterstudio has been proposed for an undisclosed site off the coast of Norway by developers Dutch Docklands International – who only build floating developments – and a group of Norwegian entrepreneurs.

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