Lifeboat Foundation

What do you think?

The idea of using spaceships to travel from one point on the Earth’s surface to another has been around since at least the 1960s, but the cost and complexity of the idea have meant it’s been little more than a pipe dream.

In principle, the approach isn’t that different from the one used by intercontinental ballistic missiles. A rocket is used to blast the payload, be it a nuclear weapon or a passenger spaceship, on a big looping trajectory into space before re-entering the atmosphere on the other side of the planet.

Continue reading “Japan Wants to Build Intercontinental Passenger Spaceships by the Early 2040s” »

Interesting.

Like other militaries, the Israel Defense Forces for years looked like one organization from the outside, but its services were balkanized in using different networks and data services, an IDF digital leader said in an interview.

“Killer Robots” may seem far fetched, but as @AlexGatopoulos explains, the use of autonomous machines and other military applications of artificial intelligence are a growing reality of modern warfare.

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Continue reading “AI and the military: Friend or Foe? | Project Force” »

But while science fiction provides military planners with a tantalizing glimpse of future weaponry, from exoskeletons to mind-machine interfaces, the genre is always about more than flashy new gadgets. It’s about anticipating the unforeseen ways in which these technologies could affect humans and society – and this extra context is often overlooked by the officials deciding which technologies to invest in for future conflicts.

Imagined worlds

Continue reading “Militaries are plundering sci-fi for technology ideas” »

Russia has unveiled the Sukhoi Checkmate, a new fifth-generation fighter jet intended to supplement the Su-57 and conquer the international market.

A mockup of the aircraft was presented in a grand ceremony on the opening day of the MAKS airshow in Moscow on July 20, 2021.

“We have been working on the project for just slightly longer than one year. Such a fast development cycle was possible only with the help of advanced computer technologies and virtual testing,” Yuri Slyusar, CEO of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), said at the event.

Getting blood to a wounded soldier could be the difference between life and death. A drone swarm is one way to make that happen in battle.

Blood is usually a finite quality on a battlefield. Battles can cause a number of injuries, from the minor to the critical. If a soldier can get the wound closed in time, they can staunch the loss, but keeping the patient alive may require an influx of new blood. As medics work to aid their comrades, they could receive help from an unusual source: delivery drones, bringing literal fresh blood to the battlefield.

A drone swarm capable of delivering blood was part of Autonomous Advance Force 4.0, an exercise by the United Kingdom’s armed forces in which Royal Marines Commandos trained with modern technology for future war. The July exercise took place in Cumbria and Dorset, with a release announced July 17.

Continue reading “Drones could help save soldiers’ lives by delivering blood on demand” »

A collaboration between documentary filmmaker Neil Halloran and Nobel Peace Prize — Research and Information, this short data-driven film simulates a nuclear blast in a major city in order to tally the estimated deaths that would result. Using data from leading researchers and highlighting present day technology developments, the film illustrates the very real danger nuclear weapons still pose to humanity and life on Earth.

In the language of Morse code, the letter “S” is three short sounds and the letter “O” is three longer sounds. Put them together in the right order and you have a cry for help: S.O.S. Now an NIH-funded team of researchers has cracked a comparable code that specialized immune cells called macrophages use to signal and respond to a threat.

In fact, by “listening in” on thousands of macrophages over time, one by one, the researchers have identified not just a lone distress signal, or “word,” but a vocabulary of six words. Their studies show that macrophages use these six words at different times to launch an appropriate response. What’s more, they have evidence that autoimmune conditions can arise when immune cells misuse certain words in this vocabulary. This bad communication can cause them incorrectly to attack substances produced by the immune system itself as if they were a foreign invaders.

The findings, published recently in the journal Immunity, come from a University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) team led by Alexander Hoffmann and Adewunmi Adelaja. As an example of this language of immunity, the video above shows in both frames many immune macrophages (blue and red). You may need to watch the video four times to see what’s happening (I did). Each time you run the video, focus on one of the highlighted cells (outlined in white or green), and note how its nuclear signal intensity varies over time. That signal intensity is plotted in the rectangular box at the bottom.

The future of fighter jets is coming, seemingly with more international power and disruptive technologies than predicted. As the US forges ahead to become 1st nation field sixth-generation fighter jet, other major air forces fear falling behind in the competitive race. The US, Europe, Japan, and China have made unbelievable investments looking for unique next-level capabilities like stealth, robust avionics, and navigation systems to present the most technologically advanced fighter jet. But one particular trend is crucial for all 6th gen prototypes. Artificial Intelligence is about to begin a new era of air combat.