Lifeboat Foundation

A new tool using data and AI is hoping to better predict famine and help millions experiencing food insecurity.

Six-hundred million people in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity. To meet these power needs, a mix of large public-run utility grids and standalone systems will be necessary for universal access in the region. Governments, aid organizations, and scientists are working to understand which electricity grid solution would be most cost-effective and reliable across urban, peri-urban, and rural areas.

Standalone, or “decentralized” electricity systems—most often solar power with battery storage—are usually thought to be too expensive compared to large state-run grids in all but the most remote locations. However, declining costs of solar and new battery technologies are changing the best pathways to deliver reliable power to people that currently lack access to electricity. New UC Berkeley research published today in Nature Energy finds that decentralized electricity systems in sub-saharan Africa can be designed for extremely high reliability, and that this may come at remarkably low costs in the future.

Continue reading “A new cermet that could provide a better heat exchange for solar power plants” »

Neuroscientists are debating the nature and meaning of neural activity during the critical moment of working memory when people must hold information in mind.

Scientists present dueling theories in the high-stakes quest to understand how we hold and juggle multiple pieces of information in mind.

Two of the methods he said humans might use were “body part renewal” and linking bodies with machines so that people are living their lives through an android.

But after Dr Pearson’s predictions, immortality may now be a step nearer following the launch of a new start-up.

Human is hoping to make the immortality dream a reality with an ambitious plan.

Continue reading “Humans beings on the brink of IMMORTALITY, top scientist claims” »

Judging by the breathless coverage, it can seem as if the only countries developing A.I. are the United States and China. But while companies in those two countries are leading the way in cutting-edge research and products, it’s still early for the industry and other nations are working hard to become major A.I. players. Here are six that could challenge the two juggernauts.

From Singapore to Israel, countries besides the United States and China are striving to play a role in the field of artificial intelligence.

Even in the era of AI and gene splicing, religious leaders have much to contribute in terms of moral compass and meaning.

At a recent Vatican-sponsored conference, I learned that disruptive technology and organized religion have more in common than not.

Valentina Tereshkova was the world’s first woman to go into space. She was also the first to fly without a toothbrush. This is her story.

Researchers healed mice with a genetic metabolic disorder that also affects humans by using a new editing tool to target and correct genetic mutations.

Some babies are born with the metabolic disorder phenylketonuria and need a special diet so that the amino acid phenylalanine doesn’t accumulate in the body. Excess phenylalanine delays mental and motor development. If left untreated, the children may develop mental disabilities.

The cause of this metabolic disorder is a mutation in a gene that provides the blueprint for the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (Pah). The enzyme, which is produced by the cells of the liver, metabolizes phenylalanine.