Lifeboat Foundation

By mimicking how the planet cooks up the sparkly gems, scientists discovered what may be a key ingredient for their formation.

This week, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station will power down for the last time.

Over the next few years, workers will move the radioactive fuel into storage, dismantle the plant, and clean up the site. The process is called decommissioning, and a lot of people are worried about safety, cost and where the nuclear waste will finally end up.

Continue reading “Pilgrim Is Closing. So Then What Happens To The Radioactive Waste?” »

Two teams of astronomers have announced the discovery of a Neptune-size planet in an unexpected orbit and three exocomets whizzing around nearby star Beta Pictoris.

Researchers have programmed a robot to crack an egg. It’s more important than it sounds. Mark Bruer reports.

Scientists at the University of Helsinki working in collaboration with the University of Oxford have deciphered for the first time how a virus genome is condensed inside the capsid of a virus.

“The motivation of the study was to increase our basic understanding of viral replication, but in the long term this may contribute to tackling viral disease,” says the director of the of the project, Associate Professor Juha Huiskonen from the Helsinki Institute of Life Science, HiLIFE.

The breakthrough results were achieved using cryogenic electron microscopy, a method that has in recent years revolutionised structural biology—a field of biology that aims to understand how molecules of life work at the atomic level.

Continue reading “Unveiling how the genome has condensed itself inside the virus” »

We found that eating one cup of blueberries per day resulted in sustained improvements in vascular function and arterial stiffness—making enough of a difference to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by between 12 and 15 percent.

Eating a cup of blueberries a day reduces risk factors for cardiovascular disease—according to new research led by the University of East Anglia, in collaboration with colleagues from Harvard and across the UK.

New findings published today in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition show that eating 150g of blueberries daily reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 15 percent.

Continue reading “Eating blueberries every day improves heart health” »

Energy drinks are causing potentially fatal heart disorders that are not explained by their high caffeine content, a study has found.

Experts have warned people with congenital heart conditions and high blood pressure to limit their use of the drinks after the largest study yet found they caused substantial interference in the electric signals that govern the organ.

A trial of participants between the ages of 18 and 40 revealed the speed at which the heart reset itself after beating was altered at least four hours after consuming an energy drink.

Continue reading “Energy drinks risking potentially fatal heart rhythm disruption — but it’s not the caffeine, scientists find” »

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8MTM-ANa7FI

The full-scale test will last more than 2 minutes.

A Mad Scientist conference in Austin, Texas, recently addressed robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomy, the future of space, planetary habitability, and the legal and ethical dilemmas surrounding disruptive technologies.