Lifeboat Foundation

In the longer term, our descendants may face even more existential decisions (provided the machines allow them to make them). How might they organise society in a world in which few people can do anything that is obviously economically productive? The world might become techno-feudal, with an owning elite hiring great numbers of cheap human servants not for their value, but for the pleasure of domination. People might instead share the abundance more equally, with all enjoying the civilised leisure that was once the province of the very few. Ours is the first civilisation to view work as the highest calling. Maybe that strange prejudice will need to be discarded.

How do you organise a society in which few people do anything economically productive?

Sorry, T-Rex — blame Nemesis.

Most if not all stars in the universe might also have a twin.

While cholera rages across many regions of the world, a team of microbiologists and plant scientists has pinpointed a genetic weakness in the pandemic’s armor, which could lead to future treatments.

The current cholera pandemic began in Indonesia in 1961. Rather than fade away like its six previous worldwide outbreak predecessors, the responsible strain is thriving and actually picking up steam. A discovery, led by scientists from Michigan State University and Tufts University and featured in the current issue of PNAS, shows the key genetic change the seventh pandemic acquired to thrive for more than 50 years.

The interdisciplinary team of scientists reveal the first ever signaling network for a new bacterial signal, cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP), in the human cholera pathogen. The team also identified the first protein receptor of cGAMP as a phospholipase enzyme that remodels the V. cholerae membrane when cGAMP is produced.

Continue reading “Microbiologists and plant scientists find secret to tackling cholera” »

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have solved one of the world’s most annoying problems: how to stop the sound of a dripping tap.

The FIFA World Cup 2018 mascot goes along for the ride, too.

Crazy.

Like many other influencers, Lil Miquela Miquela posts photos of herself wearing high-end designer clothing with cleverly crafted captions. But there’s one major thing that’s different about her.

Reductions in water use first observed in 2010 continue, show ongoing effort towards “efficient use of critical water resources.”

Water use across the country reached its lowest recorded level in 45 years. According to a new USGS report, 322 billion gallons of water per day (Bgal/d) were withdrawn for use in the United States during 2015.

This represents a 9 percent reduction of water use from 2010 when about 354 Bgal/d were withdrawn and the lowest level since before 1970 (370 Bgal/d).

Floating in a sensory deprivation tanks allows you to feel completely weightless.