Lifeboat Foundation

On a cold winter day, the warmth of the sun is welcome. Yet as humanity emits more and more greenhouse gases, the Earth’s atmosphere traps more and more of the sun’s energy and steadily increases the Earth’s temperature. One strategy for reversing this trend is to intercept a fraction of sunlight before it reaches our planet. For decades, scientists have considered using screens, objects or dust particles to block just enough of the sun’s radiation—between 1 or 2%—to mitigate the effects of global warming.

A University of Utah-led study explored the potential of using dust to shield sunlight. They analyzed different properties of dust particles, quantities of dust and the orbits that would be best suited for shading Earth. The authors found that launching dust from Earth to a way station at the “Lagrange Point” between Earth and the sun (L1) would be most effective but would require astronomical cost and effort. An alternative is to use moondust. The authors argue that launching lunar dust from the moon instead could be a cheap and effective way to shade the Earth.

Continue reading “Space dust as Earth’s sun shield” »

ABB is today launching an innovative all-in-one Electric Vehicle (EV) charger, which provides the fastest charging experience on the market.

ABB’s new Terra 360 is a modular charger which can simultaneously charge up to four vehicles with dynamic power distribution. This means that drivers will not have to wait if somebody else is already charging ahead of them. They simply pull up to another plug. The new charger has a maximum output of 360 kW and is capable of fully charging any electric car in 15 minutes or less, meeting the needs of a variety of EV users, whether they need a fast charge or to top their battery up while grocery shopping.

“With governments around the world writing public policy that favors electric vehicles and charging networks to combat climate change, the demand for EV charging infrastructure, especially charging stations that are fast, convenient and easy to operate is higher than ever,” said Frank Muehlon, President of ABB’s E-mobility Division. “The Terra 360, with charging options that fit a variety of needs, is the key to fulfilling that demand and accelerating e-mobility adoption globally.”

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space firm, Blue Origin, announced it has developed a method for producing solar cells and transmission wire using only lunar regolith.

Blue Origin famously filed a legal complaint against NASA after it snubbed its lunar lander design in favor of awarding SpaceX a contract for a modified Starship lander.

RMIT

The 2021 IPCC report, however, urged scientists and engineers to double down on renewable energy efforts and consider all options.

Feb 14 (Reuters) — Tesla chief executive Elon Musk donated shares worth $1.95 billion in the world’s most valuable automaker to charity last year, a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed on Tuesday.

Musk donated about 11.6 million shares between August and December last year, according to the filing, which did not say which organization or organizations were the recipients.

The world’s second-richest person now owns around 13% of Tesla.

So please for Tech news and views from the perspective of building a humane and sustainable economic system, check them all out!
And share them with your friends!

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Episode 24 discusses:
Ben Zion and Dr. Hale discuss the two most exceptional 21st century projects (beyond those to do with building a humane and sustainable economic system, which should have rightly been achieved in the 20th century) namely Universal Superlongevity and Human-Centered-Artificial-Superintelligence, and the noble work of Ageless Partners in the life extension arena.(continued in ep. 25)

Continue reading “The #BenZion #Futurism #Podcast is back!” »

The losses for short-sellers betting against Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company have ballooned to $7.6 billion over the past month, making it the least profitable short position for hedge funds, according to data from S3 Partners.

The swift one-month surge in Tesla stock has wiped out about half of the gains short-sellers made last year betting against the company. At the end of December, short-sellers had made a $15 billion profit in 2022, making Tesla the most profitable short of the year.

Shares of Tesla have been on a rollercoaster following vehicle price cuts and a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter delivery number. But on the company’s most recent earnings call, Musk reaffirmed the company’s long-term growth target of 50%.

Even more extraordinary, during a 2021 interview on CBS 60 Minutes, former Navy pilots David Fravor and Alex Dietrich provided a detailed description of their encounter with a UAP while conducting pre-deployment training with the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group in 2004. While flying their F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft, they initially observed an area of roiling whitewater on the ocean surface below them. Hovering just above that was a “white Tic Tac looking” UAP. The whitewater may have indicated the presence of a larger UAP below, or that the UAP they were observing had recently emerged from the sea below it, indicating the occurrence of unidentified undersea phenomena (UUP).

The implications of these observations are profound. Society may be on the verge of answering one of the greatest questions regarding our existence — are we alone? Yet, the vast majority of established scientists across the globe have shown little interest, and this remains the case with the ocean science community.

How is it that these anomalous observations have not risen to the level of other science priorities, such as climate change? Simply put, stigma. The attention given by many non-scientific, fringe enthusiasts to the UAP arena has tainted the topic, repulsing those who rightly seek to maintain their scientific integrity and professional reputation. Additionally, the U.S. government thwarted objective analysis of UAPs out of a concern that adversaries would use them as a psychological warfare tool to sow mass hysteria and panic.

Whether or not Blue Origin puts a lander on the Moon, it might play a key role in sustaining lunar operations. Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company has revealed that it can produce solar cells and transmission wire using simulated Moon regolith. The firm’s Blue Alchemist technique uses molten electrolysis to separate the lunar soil’s aluminum, iron and silicon from bound oxygen to extract key materials. The process can build solar cells, cover glass and aluminum wire using only sunlight and the reactor’s silicon.

This approach would not only save explorers the trouble of importing material, but would be kinder to both the Moon and Earth. There are no carbon-based emissions, no chemicals and no need for water. The resulting solar cells can operate on the Moon for over a decade despite a “harsh” environment, Blue Origin claims.

As Ars Technica explains, Blue Origin is pitching this as a solution for NASA’s Artemis program and missions to Mars. The space agency could establish bases or other long-term installations while minimizing the environmental impact. While the concept of using regolith to build outposts isn’t new, earlier efforts have largely focused on habitats rather than the power supplying those off-world facilities.