Lifeboat Foundation

More than one singularity.

The singularity could soon be upon us. The PESTLE framework, developed by this episode’s guest Daniel Hulme, expresses not one but six types of singularity that could occur: political, environmental, social, technological, legal and economic. ‪@JonKrohnLearns‬ and Daniel Hulme discuss how each of these singularities could bring good to the world, aligning with human interests and pushing forward progress. They also talk about neuromorphic computing, machine consciousness, and applying AI at work.

Continue reading “The Six Singularities (There’s Not Just One)” »

To address challenges of training spiking neural networks (SNNs) at scale, the authors propose a scalable, approximation-free training method for deep SNNs using time-to-first-spike coding. They demonstrate enhanced performance and energy efficiency for neuromorphic hardware.

High-precision 3D micro-/nanofabrication technologies such as two-photon polymerization are limited to photocurable polymers. Here, the authors report a “capillary-trapping” strategy to fabricate various 3D micro-scaffolds composed of different nanomaterials.

Tesla is trying something new. The automaker is offering a bundle of 3 years of subscription to Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised, Supercharging, and premium connectivity.

Tesla has been having issues selling its FSD package.

For years, CEO Elon Musk claimed that Tesla would keep increasing prices as the system got better, which he claims would then make Tesla vehicles “appreciation assets”

Microalgae such as the diatom Odontella aurita and the green alga Tetraselmis striata are especially suitable as “biofactories” for the production of sustainable materials for 3D laser printing due to their high content in lipids and photoactive pigments. An international research team led by Prof. Dr Eva Blasco, a scientist at the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials (IMSEAM) of Heidelberg University, has succeeded for the first time in manufacturing inks for printing complex biocompatible 3D microstructures from the raw materials extracted from the microalgae. The microalgae-based materials could be used in future as the basis for implants or scaffolds for 3D cell cultures.

The research has been published in Advanced Materials (“Printing Green: Microalgae-Based Materials for 3D Printing with Light”).

A new ink system, based on the microalgae Odontella aurita and Tetraselmis striata, enables the manufacturing of complex 3D microstructures with high quality and precision. (Image: Clara Vazquez-Martel)

New observations reveal neutron stars paired with stars like our Sun. Astronomers have uncovered what appear to be 21 neutron stars in orbit around stars like our Sun. The discovery is surprising because it is not clear how a star that exploded winds up next to a star like our Sun.

Most stars in our universe come in pairs. While our own Sun is a loner, many stars like our Sun orbit similar stars, while a host of other exotic pairings between stars and cosmic orbs pepper the universe. Black holes, for example, are often found orbiting each other. One pairing that has proved to be quite rare is that between a Sun-like star and a type of dead star called a neutron star.

Now, astronomers led by Caltech’s Kareem El-Badry have uncovered what appear to be 21 neutron stars in orbit around stars like our Sun. Neutron stars are dense burned-out cores of massive stars that exploded. On their own, they are extremely faint and usually cannot be detected directly. But as a neutron star orbits around a Sun-like star, it tugs on its companion, causing the star to shift back and forth in the sky. Using the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission, the astronomers were able to catch these telltale wobbles to reveal a new population of dark neutron stars.

A team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has discovered a new way that cells regulate senescence, an irreversible end to cell division. The findings, published in Cell, could one day lead to new interventions for a variety of conditions associated with aging, including neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer, as well as new therapies for a collection of diseases known as ribosomopathies.

“There is great interest in reducing senescence to slow or reverse aging or aging-associated diseases. We discovered a noncoding RNA that when inhibited strongly impairs senescence, suggesting that it could be a therapeutic target for conditions associated with aging,” said Joshua Mendell, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Molecular Biology and a member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UT Southwestern. He is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.

Dr. Mendell led the study with co-first authors Yujing Cheng, Ph.D., a recent graduate of the Genetics, Development, and Disease graduate program; and Siwen Wang, M.D., a former postdoctoral researcher, both in the Mendell Lab.

Impulse Space will use the upgraded Mira on LEO missions as well, with its first mission slated to launch in late 2025. Among the customers for Mira is in-space refueling company Orbit Fab, which will host a fuel depot on a Mira vehicle in 2026 as part of a mission to refuel the U.S. Space Force’s Tetra-5 satellite in GEO.

As it rolls out the upgraded Mira vehicle, Impulse Space is moving into development of Helios, including preparing to begin tests of the powerpack for the engine that will power the stage as well as working on tanks for the vehicle. Helios will also reuse avionics created for Mira.

“Last year was mostly about Mira and getting that LEO Express 1 mission up,” Mueller said. “This year is mostly about Helios.”

Leading The Next Wave Of Innovation In Drug Discovery, To Modulate Any Target, Every Time — Dr. P. Ryan Potts, Ph.D., VP and Head, Induced Proximity Platform, Amgen.

Dr. Ryan Potts, Ph.D. is Vice President and Head, Induced Proximity Platform at Amgen (https://www.amgen.com/science/researc…) which is focused on novel ways to bring two or more molecules in close proximity to each other to tackle drug targets that are currently considered “undruggable.” He also leads Amgen’s Research \& Development Postdoctoral Fellows Program (https://www.amgen.com/science/scienti…).

Continue reading “Dr. Ryan Potts, Ph.D. — VP and Head, Induced Proximity Platform, Amgen — Any Target, Every Time” »