Lifeboat Foundation

After a long search, a cosmic mystery has an answer. Astronomers have made the very first unambiguous detection of a radioactive molecule in space — an isotope of aluminium, found in the heart of a rare nova.

Scientists have long been searching for ²⁶ AlF — or Aluminium monofluoride — containing ²⁶ Al, but a direct observation has been exceptionally illusive.

We’ve known about the presence of ²⁶ Al in space for decades. In 1984, NASA’s HEAO 3 satellite data was used to identify gamma-ray radiation originating from the beta decay of the isotope. According to these observations, there’s roughly two solar masses of ²⁶ Al in the Milky Way.

Continue reading “Astronomers Have Made The First Detection of a Radioactive Molecule in Space” »

Taking public transportation to the next level.

Read more

This discovery and its method will now pave the way for the discovery of other galaxies that have been cannibalized by other larger galaxies.

The researcher discovers conclusive proof of a galaxy that was cannibalized by neighbouring Andromeda.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made a silicon chip that distributes optical signals precisely across a miniature brain-like grid, showcasing a potential new design for neural networks.

These cells pack together tightly. To accommodate the curving that occurs during embryonic development, it has been assumed that epithelial cells adopt either columnar or bottle-like shapes.

However, a group of scientists dug deeper into this phenomenon and discovered a new geometric shape in the process.

They uncovered that, during tissue bending, epithelial cells adopt a previously undescribed shape that enables the cells to minimize energy use and maximize packing stability. The team’s results will be published in Nature Communications in a paper called “Scutoids are a geometrical solution to three-dimensional packing of epithelia.”

Continue reading “New geometric shape used by nature to pack cells efficiently” »

This is the next generation of robotic prosthetics. Here’s how they work.

Watch the full TED Talk here: http://bit.ly/2LQErPg

This innovative new technique makes tattoos more than just decoration 💉.

An app for Glass aimed at factory workers can understand spoken language and respond with oral responses. Next up: image recognition.