Lifeboat Foundation

A sapphire-colored dye called methylene blue is a common ingredient in wastewater from textile mills.

But University at Buffalo scientists think it may be possible to give this industrial pollutant a second life. In a new study, they show that the dye, when dissolved in water, is good at storing and releasing energy on cue.

Continue reading “This bright blue dye is found in fabric. Could it also power batteries?” »

There’s no doubt traveling the solar system would be an amazing experience, but how long would it take?

Researchers have demonstrated that telomerase gene therapy does not increase the risk of cancer, even in strains of mice that are particularly susceptible to cancer [1].

A tale of telomeres

Short telomeres trigger cellular senescence and are thought to be one of the primary hallmarks of aging, which has led to various researchers seeking ways to restore the telomeres in order to prevent cells from dying and to encourage division and tissue regeneration. We won’t go over the basics of telomeres and how they influence aging here, but if you would like to learn more, check out our telomeres article, which explains it all.

Elysium Health has released a new supplement called Basis which can help keep your body healthy as you age. According to a double-blind, placebo controlled study, the supplement increases your body’s levels of NAD+, which support important activities within our cells and contributes to our health.

Tesla’s Semi truck has already made some city-to-city trips, but how does it fare on cross-country jaunts — you know, what it’ll be doing when it enters service? Just fine, if you ask Elon Musk. In response to an Electrek piece on the Semi’s latest visit (to Arkansas trucking behemoth J.B. Hunt), the CEO noted that the Semi has been traveling thousands of miles entirely by itself, using the existing Supercharger network. The only necessary help is an “extension cord” to help the truck plug in. To be exact, it’s a system of cords that plugs into multiple stations at once to top up the Semi’s giant battery before the company’s Megachargers come online.

That solo travel is likely meant in part to reassure customers (including J.B. Hunt) that the Semi is already capable of handling long-distance trips without escorts. However, it does leave a few open questions. How long does it take to top up using Superchargers, and how likely is it that drivers could rely on them when Megachargers aren’t available? While it’s easy for a Tesla-operated truck to cross the US using the existing framework, it’d be another matter with thousands of third-party trucks in service. This is a significant step toward the Semi hitting the road in earnest, but there are many more steps to go.

Continue reading “Tesla’s Semi truck is traveling cross-country ‘alone’” »

https://paper.li/e-1437691924#/

The old boundaries of the human self are being blurred by technology. The risks are real, but the potential is astounding.

Scotrenewables Tidal Power, a Scottish engineering company, is focused on an energy source they call “tidal energy generation.” A video promoting their solution: They have plenty to show for their efforts, namely, the world’s most powerful operational tidal turbine, the SR2000 2MW.

A reduction in manufacturing and installation costs plus simple, quick and low cost maintenance strategies will be key to success.

Continue reading “Tidal energy turbine company is showing good results” »

GENEVA (AP) — Experts from scores of countries are meeting to discuss ways to define and deal with “killer robots” — futuristic weapons systems that could conduct war without human intervention.

The weeklong gathering is the second this year at U.N. offices in Geneva to focus on such lethal autonomous weapons systems and explore ways of possibly regulating them, among other issues.

Some top advocacy groups say governments and militaries should be prevented from developing such systems, which have sparked fears and led some critics to envisage harrowing scenarios about their use.

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Philosophers have debated the nature of “nothing” for thousands of years, but what has modern science got to say about it? In an interview with The Conversation, Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, explains that when physicists talk about nothing, they mean empty space (vacuum). This may sound straightforward, but experiments show that empty space isn’t really empty – there’s a mysterious energy latent in it which can tell us something about the fate of the universe.

Rees was interviewed for The Conversation’s Anthill podcast on Nothing. This Q&A is based on an edited transcript of that interview.