Lifeboat Foundation

Transforming base materials into gold was one of the elusive goals of the alchemists of yore. Now Professor Raffaele Mezzenga from the Department of Health Sciences and Technology at ETH Zurich has accomplished something in that vein. He has not of course transformed another chemical element into gold, as the alchemists sought to do. But he has managed to recover gold from electronic waste using a byproduct of the cheesemaking process.

Electronic waste contains a variety of valuable metals, including copper, cobalt, and even significant amounts of gold. Recovering this gold from disused smartphones and computers is an attractive proposition in view of the rising demand for the precious metal.

However, the recovery methods devised to date are energy-intensive and often require the use of highly toxic chemicals. Now, a group led by ETH Professor Mezzenga has come up with a very efficient, cost-effective, and above all far more sustainable method: with a sponge made from a protein matrix, the researchers have successfully extracted gold from electronic waste.

A team of Chinese scientists introduced a quantum communication technique that they say could help secure Web 3.0 against the formidable threat of quantum computing.

Their approach, called Long-Distance Free-Space Quantum Secure Direct Communication (LF QSDC), promises to improve data security by enabling encrypted direct messaging without the need for key exchange, a method traditionally vulnerable to quantum attacks.

They add the approach not only enhances security but also aligns with the decentralized ethos of Web 3.0, offering a robust defense in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

At any given time, there are roughly 100,000 missing people in the U.S. These hackers are using their skills in computer forensics to follow digital footprints.

Explore groundbreaking research at Harvard General Hospital, decoding the heart-kidney connection using ‘organ-on-a-chip’ tech.

The proliferation of wearable devices—from smart watches to AR glasses—necessitates ever-smaller on-board energy solutions that can deliver bursts of power while remaining unobtrusive.

Scientists leverage additive-free 3D printing process to construct exceptionally customizable and high-performing graphene-based micro-supercapacitors tailored for on-chip energy storage.

We hope you bought an SSD last year when prices were affordable.

India’s government has approved $15.2 billion worth of investments in semiconductor fabrication plants, including a Tata Group proposal to build the country’s first major chipmaking facility.

Watch some of the biggest names in physics debate the mysteries of the quantum and its future, including Roger Penrose, Sabine Hossenfelder, Avshalom Elitzur, Michio Kaku, Suchitra Sebastian, Priya Natarajan, Joscha Bach, Erik Verlinde, Hilary Lawson and Bjørn Ekeberg.

From string theory to quantum gravity and quantum computers, the quantum discourse is all the buzz in physics and beyond. But what is possible and what mere fantasy? Can we bring together relativity and quantum mechanics? Will we ever find a unified theory to explain our universe?

Continue reading “The quantum world: Dreams and delusions | Roger Penrose, Sabine Hossenfelder, Michio Kaku, and more!” »

“They are the GPU cartel and they control all supply” Scott Herkelman, former AMD Radeon chief, has something to say about NVIDIA practices. Scott Herkelman & Jensen Huang, Source: AMD/NVIDIA According to the article on Wall Street Journal (via Tom’s Hardware), NVIDIA might be delaying data center GPU orders if customers start eyeing other options. […].