Lifeboat Foundation

North Carolina State University researchers have developed a weeklong high school curriculum that helps students quickly grasp concepts in both color chemistry and artificial intelligence—while sparking their curiosity about science and the world around them.

To test whether a short high school science module could effectively teach students something about both chemistry—a notoriously thorny subject—and artificial intelligence (AI), the researchers designed a relatively simple experiment involving pH levels, which reflect the acidity or alkalinity of a liquid solution.

When testing pH levels on a test strip, color conversion charts provide a handy reference: more acidic solutions turn test strips red when a lot of acidity is present and turn test strips yellow and green as acid levels weaken. Test strips turn deep purple when liquids are highly alkaline and turn blue and dark green as alkaline levels decline.

🌟 **Transform Your Life with Stoic Wisdom! 🧘‍♂️📚**
Discover the profound teachings of Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius as we embark on a journey of self-discovery. In this video, we delve into 11 crucial aspects to eliminate from your life, guided by Aurelius’ wisdom. It’s not just about passively observing; we invite you to actively engage by sharing your perspectives on each topic covered.

🌈 **An Invitation to Self-Reflection and Growth 🚀**
Join us on this transformative adventure where we explore vital aspects of human existence. Stay with us until the end for more than just knowledge; it’s an opportunity for deep self-reflection and meaningful change in your life. Subscribe and like the video to support the channel, ensuring more insightful content in the future.

Continue reading “11 Essential Eliminations for Personal Growth” »

A wave of health concern is sweeping across Europe, echoing similar patterns of pediatric pneumonia seen in China. This concern stems from the increasing prevalence of a rather understated yet potent bacterium – Mycoplasma pneumonia, known for causing “walking pneumonia,” particularly for children.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a unique bacterium with the capability of triggering a spectrum of respiratory infections, ranging from mild to severe pneumonia. This pathogen predominantly targets school-aged children, with Public Health France indicating it accounts for 30–50% of community-acquired pneumonia infections in this demographic.

Pneumonia, as it stands, is a condition where the lungs’ air sacs become inflamed, potentially filling with fluid or pus. This results in symptoms that include coughing and difficulty breathing.

ALBERT LEA, Minnesota (WCCO) — Living to 100 may seem like a major feat, but there are communities around the world where it’s common — they’re called “Blue Zones.”

Minnesota native Dan Buettner is one of the foremost experts on how they work. Buettner’s new Netflix documentary and New York Times bestsellers reveal the secret recipe to longevity.

Is phone and digital media addiction real? If so, what steps can be taken to mitigate it? This is something that a recent study published in the journal Technology, Mind, and Behavior hopes to address as a team of researchers discuss a new instrument called the Digital Media Overuse Scale (dMOS) to determine a person’s level of addiction to digital media such as their phone. This study comes at a time when smartphones and digital media device technologies are only improving and holds the potential to help scientists and clinicians make the connection between technology and psychology.

“We wanted to create a tool that was immediately useful in the clinic and lab, that reflects current understandings about how digital addiction works, that wouldn’t go obsolete once the next big tech change hits,” said Dr. Daniel Hipp, who is a research consultant at the Digital Media Treatment & Education Center in Boulder, Colorado, and lead author of the study.

For the study, the researchers developed dMOS to address the outdated methods pertaining to bridging the gap between technology and psychology, such as how we talk about technology and asking outdated questions. The goal of dMOS is to allow scientists and clinicians to conduct a variety of analyses pertaining to digital media usage, including a broad analysis such as social media as a whole or a more focused analysis such a specific social media platform such as Facebook.

Computers, cars, mobile phones, toasters: countless everyday objects contain microchips. They’re tiny, unremarkable and cheap, but since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, they’ve been at the center of a political and industrial tug of war.

Against the backdrop of the trade war between China and the US, “The Microchip War” spotlights all the aspects of this conflict. In the film, the world’s most influential actors in this industrial sector weigh in.

Continue reading “The global battle over microchips | DW Documentary” »

One of the big questions GiveDirectly is trying to answer is how to direct cash to low-income households. “Just give cash” is a fun thing to say, but it elides some important operational details. It matters whether someone gets $20 a month for two years or $480 all at once. Those add up to the same amount of money; this isn’t a Side Hustle King situation. But how you get the money still matters. A certain $20 every month can help you budget and take care of regular expenses, while $480 all at once can give you enough capital to start a business or another big project.

The latest research on the GiveDirectly pilot, done by MIT economists Tavneet Suri and Nobel Prize winner Abhijit Banerjee, compares three groups: short-term basic income recipients (who got the $20 payments for two years), long-term basic income recipients (who get the money for the full 12 years), and lump sum recipients, who got $500 all at once, or roughly the same amount as the short-term basic income group. The paper is still being finalized, but Suri and Banerjee shared some results on a call with reporters this week.

By almost every financial metric, the lump sum group did better than the monthly payment group. Suri and Banerjee found that the lump sum group earned more, started more businesses, and spent more on education than the monthly group. “You end up seeing a doubling of net revenues” — or profits from small businesses — in the lump sum group, Suri said. The effects were about half that for the short-term $20-a-month group.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — An entire county school system in coal-producing West Virginia is going solar, representing what a developer and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s office touted on Wednesday as the biggest-ever single demonstration of sun-powered renewable electricity in Appalachian public schools.

The agreement between Wayne County Schools and West Virginian solar installer and developer Solar Holler builds on historic investments in coal communities made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democratic Sen. Manchin had a major role in shaping as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Manchin, who announced this month that he wouldn’t run for reelection in the deep-red state, citing an increasingly polarized political system, was quick Wednesday to tout U.S. President Joe Biden’s 2022 landmark climate, health and tax law, which placed special emphasis on creating new clean energy jobs.

To commercialize the carbon-neutral bricks, Seratech is working together with a team of architects at London-based Carmody Groarke.

Saratech.

The brick is a product of 18 months of research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF).