Lifeboat Foundation

When I was ten years old, I discovered computers. My first machine was a PDP-10 mainframe system at the medical center where my father worked. I taught myself to write simple programs in the BASIC computer language. Like any ten-year-old, I was especially pleased to discover games on the computer. One game was simply labeled “ADVENT.” I opened it and saw:

You are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building. Around you is a forest. A small stream flows out of the building and down a gully.

I figured out that I could move around with commands like “go north” and “go south.” I entered the building and got food, water, keys, a lamp. I wandered outside and descended through a grate into a system of underground caves. Soon I was battling snakes, gathering treasures, and throwing axes at pesky attackers. The game used text only, no graphics, but it was easy to imagine the cave system stretching out below ground. I played for months, roaming farther and deeper, gradually mapping out the world.

Chinese mobility manufacturer BYD has introduced its new “Type A” electric school bus to transport up to thirty US students at a time. Furthermore, the new zero-emission bus is ADA capable up to 800 lbs and can travel 140 miles on a single charge. What may be most appealing to school districts, however, is the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities BYD’s Type A school bus will provide.

BYD is an acronym for “Build Your Dreams,” a motto the Chinese automaker has followed since 1995 when it was founded. BYD Auto, the subsidiary of BYD Co. Ltd. will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next year, as it sits as one of the largest auto manufacturers in China. In 2021, BYD produced over 320,000 BEVs, second in the country only to SAIC.

In addition to manufacturing unique “blade” EV batteries, BYD Auto develops and manufactures electric cars, buses, trucks, bicycles, and even forklifts – under its own monicker as well as for other OEMs like Toyota.

While renewable energy sources like wind and solar have become more common across the United States, fossil fuels remain the main source of energy. According to the U.S. Information Administration’s (EIA) International Energy Outlook 2021 (IEO2021), the global supply of fossil fuels and biofuels is expected to adequately meet global demands for liquid fuel through 2050. Renewable energy technologies have improved to become more efficient and less costly, however most renewable energies are unable to provide a constant supply of energy.

This issue inspired Shriya Tailor, a middle school student from Duluth, Georgia, to find a constant renewable energy supply that created energy at all hours of the day and in any weather condition.

She looked to space for this solution, leading her to design a prototype for a “Solar Energy Station.” Shriya says the station, made of solar cells, would need to be around 50 miles away from earth for the energy waves to be transmitted back to earth via electromagnetic fields, then collected by an antenna and converted back to electricity. Consisting of a small solar panel, switching circuit, and transmitting and receiving coils, Shriya’s prototype allowed her to test her process here on earth.

Blood plasma, cellular reprogramming, endogenous.

You may have heard a lot of talk recently about cellular reprogramming, rejuvenation or even “rejuvenation programming”, but what does that all mean and what are the 3 main strategies that several researchers and companies (maybe Altos Labs) will be further investigating?

Continue reading “3 Rejuvenation Strategies For Aging” »

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Students from eight Jewish and Arab schools spent three years building satellites and watched a live NASA feed as they took off for outer space.

This is a bit interesting. As we all know, education has been crushed by the pandemic measures. Jeff Bezos has been operating one free preschool program in Washington State where Amazon is based. Now he is adding three more such programs in Texas.

I assume he picked Texas because Blue Origin is based there and he wishes to focus more on Blue Origin. Elon Musk regularly donates to education in Texas as well, likely because Starship is currently based in Texas.

Houston city council member Karla Cisneros said the partnership will help support the development and success of some of the city’s neediest children and help the future workforce be prepared for jobs. “We are helping women get back to work, and we are giving young children a good shot at a better life,” Cisneros said in the release.

Continue reading “Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ free preschool program is coming to Houston” »

Circa 2019

Annually for three years, The Lemelson Foundation will give $100 awards to outstanding inventors in up to 270 Society Affiliate Fairs with middle school participants around the country. The prize was specially created to reward young people whose projects exemplify the ideals of inventive thinking by identifying a challenge in their community and creating solutions that will improve lives.

Invasive algae are often found in bodies of water such as lakes and ponds, but can it be used as paper? Seventh-graders, Wyatt Vick and Charley Clyne, from Zane Trace Middle School in Chillicothe, Ohio, set out to answer that question with their project, “Algae Paper,” eventually earning them the Lemelson Early Inventor Prize.

Continue reading “Harvesting wild algae to make paper” »