Lifeboat Foundation

What just happened? Researchers have successfully deployed a fully autonomous robot to inspect the inside of a nuclear fusion reactor. This achievement – the first of its kind – took place over 35 days as part of trials at the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s Joint European Torus facility.

JET was one of the world’s largest and most powerful operational fusion reactors until it was recently shut down. Meanwhile, the robotic star of the show was, of course, the four-legged Spot robot from Boston Dynamics, souped up with “localization and mission autonomy solutions” from the Oxford Robotics Institute (ORI) and “inspection payload” from UKAEA.

Spot roamed JET’s environment twice daily, using sensors to map the facility layout, monitor conditions, steer around obstacles and personnel, and collect vital data. These inspection duties normally require human operators to control the robot remotely.

One of the most surprising predictions of physics is entanglement, a phenomenon where objects can be some distance apart but still linked together. The best-known examples of entanglement involve tiny chunks of light (photons), and low energies.

The new memory is an upgrade to its previous eight-layer, 24GB modules.

Builders knew how to keep people cool in hot, dry climates thousands of years ago. It’s time to get that knowledge back.

Particles of light can spend “negative time” passing through a cloud of extremely cold atoms – without breaking the laws of physics.

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

In the ever-evolving landscape of scientific discovery, certain paradigms periodically challenge the established norms, compelling us to reconsider the boundaries of what we deem as ‘science.’ One such paradigm is the intersection of quantum physics and metaphysical science. Despite skepticism, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that these two fields are not only compatible but also complementary. This blog delves into how quantum physics supports metaphysical science and argues for its integration into mainstream scientific discourse, underpinned by historical precedents.

“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena; it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.” — Nikola Tesla

Quantum physics, the study of particles at the smallest scales of energy levels, has fundamentally altered our understanding of reality. The principles of quantum mechanics, such as superposition, entanglement, and wave-particle duality, have revealed a universe far more intricate and interconnected than classical physics ever suggested. These concepts resonate profoundly with metaphysical science, which explores the nature of reality, consciousness, and existence beyond the physical.

An infographic about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — extraordinary architectural and artistic achievements celebrated for their grandeur and innovation. The wonders included the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only surviving wonder, which served as a monumental tomb for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu. Although the Hanging Gardens of Babylon’s actual existence and location is debated, they were described as a lush, terraced paradise built in ancient Babylon. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was a massive gold and ivory representation of the Greek god Zeus, crafted by the sculptor Phidias. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was a magnificent sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Artemis, famed for its scale and intricate decoration. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was an elaborate tomb for Mausolus, a Persian satrap renowned for its architectural splendor and sculptural detail.

Consciousness is famously unobservable. Therefore, to test for consciousness, we must study its absence rather than its presence. Stuart Hameroff here argues that by studying anesthesia we are able to understand what goes away in the brain when the light of consciousness is switched off. Hameroff finds the answer in quantum processes in the brain – recent studies suggest he is onto something.

This article is presented in association with Closer To Truth, a partner for HowTheLightGetsIn Festival 2024. The festival will feature the debate ‘The Consciousness Test’, featuring Sabine Hossenfelder, Yoshua Bengio, Nick Lane and Hilary Lawson.

A modular multicellular system has been created by mixing and matching discrete engineered bacterial cells in an artificial neural network-type architecture. The system is capable of solving multiple computational decision problems like identifying a number as prime and a letter as a vowel.