Lifeboat Foundation

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Ecologists from Mexico’s National Autonomous university on Friday relaunched a fundraising campaign to bolster conservation efforts for axolotls, an iconic, endangered fish-like type of salamander.

The campaign, called “Adoptaxolotl,” asks people for as little as 600 pesos (about $35) to virtually adopt one of the tiny “water monsters.” Virtual adoption comes with live updates on your axolotl’s health. For less, donors can buy one of the creatures a virtual dinner.

In their main habitat the population density of Mexican axolotls (ah-ho-LOH’-tulz) has plummeted 99.5% in under two decades, according to scientists behind the fundraiser.

Architect Tariq Khayyat has designed The Fold, a sculptural housing development in Dubai that features curved facades and aims to create a “communal oasis” behind a main road.

The Fold, which comprises 28 terraced townhouses, is located along the large Al Wasl Road in Dubai’s Jumeirah district and was designed to have a more organic feel than neighbouring developments.

“We wanted to plant a tulip field on the Al Wasl Road,” Tariq Khayyat Design Partners founder Khayyat told Dezeen.

OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman has quit the firm, he said Friday, hours after the Microsoft-backed giant abruptly fired its chief executive Sam Altman and assured that Brockman would remain at the startup. Brockman’s sudden departure adds to the day’s uncertainties at OpenAI, following closely on the heels of its maiden developer conference led by Altman.

“I’m super proud of what we’ve all built together since starting in my apartment 8 years ago. We’ve ben through tough & great times together, accomplishing so much despite all the reasons it should have been impossible,” wrote Brockman in a message to OpenAI team. “But based on today’s news, I quit. Genuinely wishing you all nothing but the best. I continue to believe in the mission of creating safe AGI that benefits all of humanity.”

OpenAI earlier said that Brockman was stepping down as chairman of the board, but will remain at the firm. Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI with Altman, is a close confidant of the former OpenAI chief executive.

A journey of a billion miles and back begins with a launch.

OSIRIS-REx’s goal: Travel to asteroid Bennu, collect a sample, and return it home. But why Bennu? Meet the NASA Explorers looking for clues to our early solar system in a sample of asteroid rock.

Continue reading “NASA Explorers Season 6, Episode 1: Launch” »

Imagine a house that also turns into a robot 😀 Then you can just move it super easily anywhere: D.

When was the last time you sat down to watch a YouTube video by a real estate company? We’re going to assume never, because who even knew that real estate companies had YouTube accounts?

Japan’s Mitsui Real Estate Residential, however, not only has a YouTube account, but their recently posted video is becoming wildly popular. The company managed to combine their housing expertise with the fail-safe giant robot genre to create a short animated series about apartment buildings that transform into giant robots!

Continue reading “Buildings transform into giant robots in Japanese real estate company’s anime commercial【Video】” »

We spent 90 minutes with the pin and its founders at Humane’s SF offices.

A few hours after this morning’s big unveil, Humane opened its doors to a handful of press.

A few hours after this morning’s big unveil, Humane opened its doors to a handful of press. Located in a nondescript building in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, the office is home to the startup’s hardware design teams.

Continue reading “Humane’s AI Pin up close” »

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said that the digital home-share company will reap the benefits of artificial intelligence more than hotels, at least in the near term.

“The reason we know this is because AI is mostly changing… the digital world a lot faster than the physical world,” Chesky told reporters during a meeting in New York City on Tuesday. “Because we have more of a digital product, we can actually adapt and change faster.”

Chesky also said that hotels are not going to be different five years from now because of AI, but that Airbnb “will be transformed.”

Asteroid starships are built by hollowing out an asteroid and creating a habitat inside plus adding a propulsion system.

Image credit: David A. Hardy, Erik Wernquist, Roy Scarfo, Wikipedia.
#interstellar #asteroid #starship #spacecolonization #spacecraft #ProjectHyperion

A recent study published in AGU Advances examines how the conservation and protection of two Alaskan forests, Tongass and Chugach, are essential in fighting the effects of climate change due to their expanse for wildlife habitats, abundant carbon stocks, and landscape integrity. This study was led by researchers from Oregon State University and holds the potential to help scientists better understand the steps that need to be taken to mitigate the long-term effects of climate change by preserving the resources of today.

Tongass National Forest (Credit: Logan Berner)

“More thoroughly safeguarding those forests from industrial development would contribute significantly to climate change mitigation and species adaptation in the face of the severe ecological disruption that’s expected to occur over the next few decades as the climate rapidly gets warmer,” said Dr. Beverly Law, who is a Professor Emeritus of Global Change Biology & Terrestrial Systems Science at Oregon State University and lead author of the study.