Lifeboat Foundation

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A new space race is upon us. But unlike the cold war-driven days of the 1960’s and early 1970’s, it is now a multi-player competition to dominate and exploit the final frontier. The U.S. and Russia have been joined by the European Union, China, India and Japan, as well as numerous commercial space ventures, such as SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Where does NASA sit in all of this, in the rapidly changing world of the second space race. In Seeking Delphi episode #35, host Mark Sackler gets an overview of where the agency is headed, from former NASA program director for launch systems, Dan Dumbacher. There’s also a very special announcement of the upcoming ASCEND** space conference, slated for Las Vegas in November of 2020.

** Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery.

Solid-state batteries are the holy grail of battery technology for automakers, but it’ll be a while before they reach production.

In sala operatoria oltre ai chirurghi c’erano alcuni ingegneri. Il paziente, un ragazzino di 13 anni, ha un grave problema congenito, la microtia, che comporta il mancato sviluppo dell’orecchio esterno (colpisce 5 bambini su 10mila). Grazie alla stampa 3D i medici dell’ospedale pediatrico Meyer di Firenze gli hanno ricostruito l’orecchio da zero. Sei ore di operazione, partita da una Tac con cui è stata acquisita l’esatta forma delle cartilagini. Poi, grazie a un software, è stata realizzata una copia delle cartilagini: dal modello è stato possibile vedere la porzione di cartilagini da prelevare. Per essere più precisi sulla forma, cercando di ottenere un risultato il più naturale possibile, è stato usato come modello un orecchio della mamma del ragazzino.

Una volta in sala operatoria la copia è stata fondamentale per plasmare le cartilagini ottenendo un orecchio “normale”. L’intervento è stato simulato più volte dal team dell’ospedale pediatrico fiorentino. Questo, come spiega lo staff del Meyer, ha consentito di affinare la tecnica arrivando a un risultato di grandissima precisione, riducendo anche tempi di esecuzione e anestesia. Il bambino tra qualche mese verrà sottoposto a un secondo intervento per ricostruire con la stessa tecnica anche il secondo orecchio.

“Per un bambino con una malformazione che era così evidente, il recupero estetico acquista una grande valenza psicologica e sociale – spiega il capo dell’equipe chirurgica Flavio Facchini, specialista in chirurgia plastica e ricostruttiva -. Lui non aveva problemi di udito, ma la malformazione gli creava grande disagio”.

His technology platforms have benefited genomics, diagnostics, and drug screening.

Generating endless energy with zero emissions by just slamming hydrogen atoms together has been somewhat of a pipe dream for decades. Now, scientists may be getting a tiny step closer to feasible fusion power, thanks to a futuristic experiment and dozens of plasma guns.

Eighteen of 36 plasma guns are in place on the machine that could make fusion power a reality. Those guns are the key components of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX), which uses a new approach to the problem. PLX, if it works, will combine two existing methods of slamming single-proton hydrogen atoms together to form two-proton helium atoms. That process generates enormous amounts of energy per speck of fuel, much more than splitting heavy atoms (fission) does. The hope is that the method pioneered in PLX will teach scientists how to create that energy efficiently enough to be worthwhile for real-world use.

The promise of fusion is that it produces tons of energy. Every time two hydrogen atoms merge into helium, a small portion of their matter converts into a whole lot of energy.

Saturday, October 26th at 7:00 PM

Or join the Live Stream, info is at www.Perpetual.Life.

Here’s my new story for Quartz on cyborg and #transhumanist bill of rights! It offers a look at the various ideas around the world surrounding this provocative issue:

Transhumanists are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be human. Our governing principles may need to progress along with them.

Okay, Science time.

• Article
• Published: 21 October 2019

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