April 2017 – Lifeboat News: The Blog https://lifeboat.com/blog Safeguarding Humanity Sat, 03 Jun 2017 23:36:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 Dubai is to test the feasibility of hyperloop trains https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/dubai-is-to-test-the-feasibility-of-hyperloop-trains Mon, 01 May 2017 06:42:32 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/dubai-is-to-test-the-feasibility-of-hyperloop-trains

FOR years Elon Musk, a South African-born tech entrepreneur, has been telling anyone who will listen that the future of travel is the hyperloop. (Although he thinks it might also be driverless cars. Or perhaps affordable space travel.) Dubai may be about to test the limits of Mr Musk’s imagination.

The hyperloop is a train that moves along a tube that is kept at a thousandth of the normal atmospheric pressure at sea level. Because air resistance is one of the biggest obstacles to high-speed travel, all but eliminating it means that hair-raising velocity becomes possible. The proposed technology could shunt passengers along tunnels at perhaps 745mph, which is faster than a jet plane.

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These New Quantum Materials Can Conduct Electricity at Nearly the Speed of Light https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/these-new-quantum-materials-can-conduct-electricity-at-nearly-the-speed-of-light Mon, 01 May 2017 06:22:31 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/these-new-quantum-materials-can-conduct-electricity-at-nearly-the-speed-of-light

Physicists have been testing the properties of new 2D quantum materials that could usurp graphene as the ‘wonder materials’ of the future.

These materials, which can conduct electricity at nearly the speed of light, could replace silicon in the next generation of hyper-speed computers. One could even form the basis of a new “exotic superconductor” that could actually break time-reversal symmetry — or reverse the flow of time.

“Finally, we can take exotic, high-end theories in physics and make something useful,” says one of the researchers, Jing Xia, from the University of California, Irvine.

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DARPA Funds Brain-Stimulation Research to Speed Learning https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/darpa-funds-brain-stimulation-research-to-speed-learning Mon, 01 May 2017 06:02:31 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/darpa-funds-brain-stimulation-research-to-speed-learning

DARPA announced the Targeted Neuroplasticity Training, or TNT, program last March, and work now has begun on the effort to discover the safest and most effective ways to activate a natural process called “synaptic plasticity.”

Plasticity is the brain’s ability to strengthen or weaken its neural connections to adapt to changes in the environment. For TNT Program Manager Dr. Doug Weber, such plasticity is about learning.

“We’re talking about neural plasticity, or how the neurons, which are the working units in the brain, how their function changes over time as we train on new skills,” he said during a recent interview with DoD News.

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Time travel is ‘possible’ — mathematically anyway https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/time-travel-is-possible-mathematically-anyway Sun, 30 Apr 2017 21:42:29 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/time-travel-is-possible-mathematically-anyway

A researcher crunches the numbers on time travel using his own TARDIS. Also, a weird new material could be the real-world version of a flux capacitor.

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China and Europe May Build A “Moon Village” in the 2020s https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/china-and-europe-may-build-a-moon-village-in-the-2020s Sun, 30 Apr 2017 16:22:32 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/china-and-europe-may-build-a-moon-village-in-the-2020s

In recent years, multiple space agencies have shared their plans to return astronauts to the Moon, not to mention establishing an outpost there. Beyond NASA’s plan to revitalize lunar exploration, the European Space Agency (ESA), Rocosmos, and the Chinese and Indian federal space agencies have also announced plans for crewed missions to the Moon that could result in permanent settlements.

As with all things in this new age of space exploration, collaboration appears to be the key to making things happen. This certainly seems to be the case when it comes to the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the ESA’s respective plans for lunar exploration. As spokespeople from both agencies announced this week, the CNSA and the ESA hope to work together to create a “Moon Village” by the 2020s.

The announcement first came from the Secretary General of the Chinese space agency (Tian Yulong). On earlier today (Wednesday, April 26th) it was confirmed by the head of media relations for the ESA (Pal A. Hvistendahl). As Hvistendahl was quoted as saying by the Associated Press: “The Chinese have a very ambitious moon program already in place. Space has changed since the space race of the ’60s. We recognize that to explore space for peaceful purposes, we do [need] international cooperation.”

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US Marines could use robots with machine guns to lead beach invasions https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/us-marines-could-use-robots-with-machine-guns-to-lead-beach-invasions Sun, 30 Apr 2017 04:22:31 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/us-marines-could-use-robots-with-machine-guns-to-lead-beach-invasions

The US Marines could one day use amphibious tanks and robots with machine guns to storm beaches.

Researchers are quietly testing around 50 weaponised robots at the Navy’s Camp Pendleton base in California.

Using high-tech drones and weaponised robots on the front line could help protect the lives of soldiers, the US Navy said.

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China Is Racing Ahead of the US in the Quest to Cure Cancer With CRISPR https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/china-is-racing-ahead-of-the-us-in-the-quest-to-cure-cancer-with-crispr Sun, 30 Apr 2017 02:42:30 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/china-is-racing-ahead-of-the-us-in-the-quest-to-cure-cancer-with-crispr

While China does this, the people in the USA who use cancer to pay for their third homes and quarterly trips to Tahiti write papers saying CRISPR is a WMD and needs to be made illegal LOL.

Here’s hoping China is able to pull it off.


On Friday, a team of Chinese scientists used the cutting-edge gene-editing technique CRISPR-Cas9 on humans for the second time in history, injecting a cancer patient with modified human genes in hopes of vanquishing the disease.

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What humans will look like in 1,000 years https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/what-humans-will-look-like-in-1000-years Sun, 30 Apr 2017 02:02:48 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/what-humans-will-look-like-in-1000-years

We can become cyborgs, computers, or Martians.

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Canada’s largest province to launch universal basic income trial https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/canadas-largest-province-to-launch-universal-basic-income-trial Sat, 29 Apr 2017 21:11:16 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/canadas-largest-province-to-launch-universal-basic-income-trial

Canada’s largest province is to trial universal income, becoming the first North American government to test the progressive policy for decades.

Some 4,000 people in Ontario will be given at least C$16,989 (£9,850) a year under the scheme, with no conditions or restrictions attached.

Participants living in three settlements in Ontario will be selected at random to participate in the radical scheme, which advocates hail as a solution to poverty and costly bureaucracy.

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Fasetto Link: 2TB of storage in the palm of your hand https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/fasetto-link-2tb-of-storage-in-the-palm-of-your-hand Sat, 29 Apr 2017 21:10:57 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2017/04/fasetto-link-2tb-of-storage-in-the-palm-of-your-hand

This tiny wireless cube has 2TB of storage.

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