Lifeboat Foundation

An electromechanical device allows researchers to control and study how a nanoscale beam buckles when compressed.

The buckling of a column or other structural element is typically something that engineers want to avoid, but a new device offers a way to control this type of deformation on microscopic scales. The design combines small actuators and circuits that generate mechanical and electrostatic forces on a nanoscale beam, causing it to buckle to the left or to the right. By manipulating the beam’s deformation, researchers may be able to harness buckling for sensitive detectors or for testing the relationship between thermodynamics and computing.

To improve access to large data sets, scientists are looking to cloud-based solutions for data management.

In the coming decade, big projects like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) are each expected to produce an exabyte of data yearly, which is about 20 times the digital content of all the written works throughout human history. This information overload requires new thinking about data management, which is why scientists have begun to look to the “cloud.” In such a scenario, data would be stored and analyzed remotely, with the advantage that information would become more accessible to a wider scientific community. Efforts are underway to create “science clouds,” but disagreements remain over their structure and implementation. To discuss these details, around 60 scientists came together for The Science Cloud meeting in Bad Honnef, Germany. The attendees shared lessons from past and ongoing projects in the hope of building the groundwork for a future scientific computing infrastructure.

In the ’80s, the spy agency investigated the “Gateway Experience” technique to alter consciousness and ultimately escape spacetime. Here is everything you need to know.

She turned to me the other morning and said, “You heard of The Gateway?” It didn’t register in the moment. She continued, “It’s blowing up on TikTok.” Later on, she elaborated: It was not in fact the ill-fated ’90s computer hardware company folks were freaking out about. No, they’ve gone further back in time, to find a true treasure of functional media.

The intrigue revolves around a classified 1983 CIA report on a technique called the Gateway Experience, which is a training system designed to focus brainwave output to alter consciousness and ultimately escape the restrictions of time and space. The CIA was interested in all sorts of psychic research at the time, including the theory and applications of remote viewing, which is when someone views real events with only the power of their mind. The documents have since been declassified and are available to view.

Continue reading “How to Escape the Confines of Time and Space According to the CIA” »

For nearly 40 years, materials called ‘strange metals’ have flummoxed quantum physicists, defying explanation by operating outside the normal rules of electricity.

Now research led by Aavishkar Patel of the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Quantum Physics (CCQ) in New York City has identified, at long last, a mechanism that explains the characteristic properties of strange metals.

In the August 18 issue of Science, Patel and his colleagues present their universal theory of why strange metals are so weird—a solution to one of the greatest unsolved problems in condensed matter physics.

Dr. Michio Kaku, the renowned theoretical physicist, walks us through the evolutionary journey of computing, from analog to digital to the quantum era.

Quantum computers hold immense promise because of their ability to tap into the weirdness of quantum mechanics. If nature allows us full access to its secrets, we could boost computing power exponentially, which in turn would allow us to solve all types of complex problems.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the largest institutes in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), conducts and supports basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases. The Bacterial Pathogenesis and Antimicrobial Resistance Unit (chief John Dekker) in the Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology in the Division of Intramural Research (DIR) within NIAID seeks candidates for a postdoctoral fellowship position in microbial genomics.

This position will offer a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of pathogen genomics, systems biology, and clinical infectious diseases. The lab uses a variety of genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, imaging, and molecular approaches to study bacterial pathogens and antimicrobial resistance, with a focus on intra-host evolution in the context of infection. Access to state-of-the-art short-and long-read sequencing, metabolomics, optical, and computational resources is available. See more information about the Bacterial Pathogenesis and Antimicrobial Resistance Unit under chief John P. Dekker and an example of their recent work.

Brain-computer interfaces are devices that allow for direct communication between the brain and external devices, such as computers or prosthetics. As significant investments flow into R&D, cutting-edge companies are gearing up for human trials. These trials aim to showcase and fine-tune the potential of these interfaces to treat conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and depression.

While these technologies’ immediate use is for treating conditions, they also have the potential to access vast information at unprecedented speeds. As it stands today, the field not only aims to aid recovery, but also enhance existing cognitive functions. These goals introduce various ethical and… More.

Can cutting-edge technology transform the way humans learn, remember and evolve?

Continue reading “How Neuroscience Is Bringing Superhuman Memory Closer To Reach” »

Trinity and IBM Dublin simulate superdiffusion on a quantum computer, marking a milestone in quantum physics.

Quantum physicists at Trinity have teamed up with IBM Dublin in an innovative project, successfully simulating superdiffusion on a quantum computer. This significant accomplishment is among the initial results of the TCD-IBM predoctoral scholarship program.

Credits: Trinity College Dublin.

Continue reading “Quantum simulation reveals the secrets of superdiffusion” »

Scientists working in connectomics, a research field occupied with the reconstruction of neuronal networks in the brain, are aiming at completely mapping of the millions or billions of neurons found in mammalian brains. In spite of impressive advances in electron microscopy, the key bottleneck for connectomics is the amount of human labor required for the data analysis. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany, have now developed reconstruction software that allows researchers to fly through the brain tissue at unprecedented speed. Together with the startup company scalable minds they created webKnossos, which turns researchers into brain pilots, gaining an about 10-fold speedup for data analysis in connectomics.

Billions of nerve cells are working in parallel inside our brains in order to achieve behaviours as impressive as hypothesizing, predicting, detecting, thinking. These neurons form a highly complex network, in which each nerve cell communicates with about one thousand others. Signals are sent along ultrathin cables, called axons, which are sent from each neuron to its about one thousand “followers.”

Continue reading “10-fold Speed up For The Reconstruction of Neuronal Networks” »