Tag Archives: floating

Floating Tanks: A Comprehensive Solution for PTSD Recovery Post-Bushfires

Posted on by
Reply
Flotation tanks promising treatment for PTSD

Flotation tanks, often found in luxury spas, show potential for PTSD relief.

Dave Stamboulis / Alamy

A shipping container equipped with three mobile flotation tanks is headed to Maui, Hawaii, aiming to alleviate the mental health crisis following the devastating wildfires—the deadliest in U.S. history. While flotation tanks are typically associated with high-end spas, they offer significant promise in treating anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If the initial deployment proves beneficial, additional units could be dispatched to disaster areas worldwide.

In August 2023, a series of wildfires erupted in Maui, resulting in the tragic loss of 102 lives and the destruction of countless homes and businesses. Since then, there has been an alarming rise in the risk of depression and anxiety, with increased concerns regarding PTSD in the hardest-hit areas.

“Maui lacks the necessary infrastructure to tackle a mental health crisis of this scale,” says Justin Feinstein, a clinical neuropsychologist and founder of a nonprofit dedicated to mental health solutions. “Many individuals are resorting to self-medication. We are witnessing a sharp increase in alcohol consumption, suicidal tendencies, and PTSD cases.”

On May 2nd, Feinstein revealed at the Embodied Mind Summit in Los Angeles that the float unit would provide complimentary sessions for first responders and wildfire survivors, while also gathering long-term data on the efficacy of floatation therapy as a mental health intervention.

Float therapy, or Float-REST (Environmental Stimulus Reduction Therapy), involves lying in a serene pool infused with Epsom salts that allow for effortless floating. The water and air are maintained at body temperature, earplugs minimize noise, and lights are turned off to create an environment free from sensory distractions.

This innovative tank was conceived by neuroscientists in the 1950s to investigate whether the brain requires sensory input to maintain consciousness. The findings indicated that individuals remained aware but reported a profound sense of relaxation.

Feinstein has dedicated over a decade to researching the mental and physical impacts of flotation therapy. His studies suggest that it can significantly reduce anxiety in both volunteers without prior mental health conditions and those suffering from anxiety disorders, depression, and PTSD. Feinstein notes that its calming effects are comparable to those of benzodiazepines, a common class of sedative.

While the precise mechanisms are still being explored, buoyancy is believed to aid in diminishing sensory input and limiting movement, promoting a tranquil state for both body and mind. Studies indicate that within moments of floating, breathing patterns and heart rates decrease, blood pressure drops, and brain activity transitions away from self-referential thinking toward restorative, sleep-like states.

Having resided in Maui since 2020, Feinstein collaborated with Floataway, a UK-based company, to develop a cost-effective, modular float pod that can be easily assembled in a matter of days. The Maui Calm Project aims to deploy these tanks in the region this summer, with the hope of establishing a network of portable floatation units to combat PTSD in disaster-stricken areas.

Sarah Garfinkel, a professor at University College London who examines the physiological basis of PTSD, emphasizes the importance of a relaxing approach in treating this condition. “Hyperarousal is a fundamental aspect of PTSD, often leading to heightened physical responses,” she states. “Floating seems to cultivate a sense of internal safety, which could radically shift our understanding and treatment methods for PTSD. I am truly excited about this research.”

If you or someone you know needs support, please reach out to the British Samaritans at 116123 (samaritans.org) or the US Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 (988lifeline.org). For services in other countries, visit bit.ly/SuicideHelplines.

Topics:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Floating Tanks Introduced to Combat PTSD Following Catastrophic Wildfires

Posted on by
Reply

Floatation Tanks: A Promising Solution for PTSD Relief

Image Credit: Dave Stamboulis / Alamy

A mobile unit containing three floatation tanks is en route to Maui, Hawaii, in response to the mental health crisis ignited by the catastrophic wildfires, which were the deadliest in U.S. history. Floatation therapy, often found in upscale spas, is emerging as a viable treatment for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If this initiative proves successful, similar units could be deployed in disaster-stricken areas worldwide.

In August 2023, devastating wildfires erupted in Maui, resulting in the tragic loss of 102 lives and destroying thousands of homes and businesses. Following these events, the risk of depression and anxiety has surged by over 50%, highlighting the urgent need for PTSD interventions.

“Maui lacks the infrastructure to manage a mental health crisis of this scale,” states Justin Feinstein, a clinical neuropsychologist and founder of a nonprofit organization, the Float Research Collective. “People are resorting to self-medication. Alcohol consumption is rising, and rates of suicide and PTSD are increasing.”

On May 2nd, Feinstein announced the Embodied Mind Summit in Los Angeles, where free floatation therapy sessions will be provided for first responders and wildfire survivors, while simultaneously gathering long-term data on float therapy’s efficacy for mental health treatment.

Float therapy, also referred to as environmental stimulus reduction therapy, entails lying in a shallow pool saturated with Epsom salt, allowing the body to float effortlessly. The pool’s water and the surrounding air are maintained at body temperature, with earplugs minimizing noise and the lights turned off to create an environment free of sensory distractions.

This innovative tank design originated with neuroscientists in the 1950s to explore whether the brain would deactivate without external stimulation. Surprisingly, participants remained conscious but reported heightened relaxation.

Feinstein has dedicated more than a decade to researching the treatments and the mental and physical effects of float therapy. His studies indicate significant reductions in anxiety for both healthy individuals and those with various mental health disorders, such as depression and PTSD. Feinstein notes that the effects can be almost as impactful as benzodiazepines, a common sedative.

While the exact mechanisms remain unclear, floatation therapy appears to alleviate external sensory input and reduce bodily movement, thereby inducing a state of tranquility in both the body and mind. Research indicates that shortly after floating, breathing and heart rates decrease, along with blood pressure, and brain activity shifts from self-referential thoughts and emotional processing to states resembling restorative sleep.

Residing in Maui since 2020, Feinstein collaborated with the UK-based company Floataway to develop a cost-effective, modular float pod that can be assembled rapidly in various locations, unlike traditional tanks. The Maui Calm Project aims to introduce these tanks in the region and begin data collection this summer. If successful, the initiative seeks to establish a fleet of portable tanks for deployment in disaster areas to combat PTSD.

According to Sarah Garfinkel, a professor at University College London studying the physical basis of PTSD, prioritizing body-calming techniques represents a crucial evolution in the treatment of this condition. “Hyperarousal is a core feature of PTSD, leading to heightened reactive physiological responses,” she explains. “It seems that floating could offer a sense of internal safety, which may transform our understanding and management of PTSD. I’m eager to see the results of this research.”

If you or someone you know needs support, please contact the British Samaritans at 116123 (samaritans.org); or the U.S. Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 (988lifeline.org). For services in other countries, visit bit.ly/SuicideHelplines.

Topics:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Can Floating Data Centers Meet the Growing Energy Demands of AI?

Posted on by
Reply
Panthalassa Floating Data Center Prototype

Panthalassa Floating Data Center Prototype

Panthalassa

Data centers powering the AI revolution are consuming more electricity than many small countries. According to an
International Energy Agency report,
energy demand could soar to 945 terawatt hours per year by 2030, surpassing Japan’s entire electricity consumption.
As AI technology continues to evolve, the hunger for power has led companies to consider not just earthly solutions but also outer-space options to harness constant solar energy.
Intriguingly, startup Panthalassa is working on an autonomous floating data center that harnesses computational power in the open sea.

Recently, the Oregon-based company announced $140 million in funding, stating that its innovative platform could bypass overloaded power grids while offering carbon-free computing at sea. However, it remains to be seen if relocating computing power offshore can truly ease the challenges faced by current data centers; it might simply replace one expensive issue with another.

“Wave energy is a well-established technology, but the ocean presents a brutal environment,” warns Jonathan Koomey, a data center energy utilization expert at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
“Saltwater and wave action can lead to mechanical malfunctions.”

Shaped like a golf ball atop a tee, Panthalassa’s floating data center stands 85 meters high (almost the height of Big Ben) and is constructed from sheet steel.
These structures are towed into position and can autonomously generate power to run AI workloads without relying on grid electricity, zero emissions, or traditional engines.

The “tee” section of the platform features a long tube with an open base that captures seawater as waves cause it to rise and fall. This movement forces water through the tube into the hollow “ball” section, which floats primarily due to trapped air.
The dynamic movement of water activates turbines that generate electricity, powering the vehicle’s GPUs, computing hardware, and satellite communication systems.

Conventional data centers consume significant quantities of water for cooling AI hardware.
In contrast, Panthalassa’s servers are housed in enclosed modules below the water surface, allowing the container walls to act as heat exchangers that dissipate heat into the cooler seawater.
While ocean mixing helps eradicate waste heat, the implications for local marine ecosystems remain uncertain.

Panthalassa aims to achieve what few data center operators have dared: to maintain crucial computing infrastructure beyond the oversight of human engineers.
“Our data consistently identifies power and network issues as the leading causes of data center outages,” states Jacqueline Davis of the Uptime Institute, a global authority on data center performance.
“These complications can be particularly challenging to manage in remote locales with limited or no staffing.”
Panthalassa did not respond to inquiries from the New Scientist before this article was published.

Automation within data centers mostly focuses on monitoring and analysis, with physical human intervention often necessary during unusual events, such as manual compressor restarts.

This presents a significant challenge for Panthalassa. Latency is another hurdle.
Data processed on the floating platform is sent to users on land via Starlink satellites, which have limited bandwidth and higher latency compared to fiber optic cables.
Consequently, while the node may work effectively for long-duration AI workloads—such as training advanced mathematical models—applications that require swift responses, like chatbots and search assistants, could face challenges.

“Constraints in power are most severely impacting extensive AI training data centers,” noted Davis. She suggests that Panthalassa’s model is more plausible when power demands for advanced AI become significant enough to align with AI training needs.
Until then, floating data centers may struggle to remain competitive with land-based options.

Although Panthalassa’s approach is innovative, the concept of offshore data centers isn’t entirely new.
Aikido Technologies is developing floating data centers integrated with offshore wind platforms, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is exploring ship-based computing systems designed to exploit ocean energy sources.
Past initiatives, like Microsoft’s underwater Natick project, have examined whether housing servers in or near water enhances cooling and efficiency.

Nevertheless, offshore computing remains predominantly experimental. Besides engineering challenges, firms must demonstrate that ocean-based systems can economically compete with traditional data centers linked to power grids and fiber networks.
“Data centers can achieve economies of scale by building at larger sizes, which is why they are typically so extensive today,” remarks Koomey.
“Scaling up to accommodate the fixed costs of computing is considerably more challenging and riskier on water.”

Topics:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Physicist Develops Floating Time Crystal: A Breakthrough in Quantum Physics

Posted on by
Reply

A groundbreaking team of scientists at New York University has successfully developed a unique version of an exotic phase of matter where particles are acoustically suspended and interact through sound wave exchanges.

Morel et al. observed a revolutionary type of time crystal with particles suspended on a cushion of sound while interacting through sound waves. Image credit: David Song / New York University.

Time crystals—collections of particles that “keep time”—are poised to transform fields like quantum computing and data storage.

The particles present in this innovative time crystal defy Newton’s third law of motion, which posits that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, emphasizing a balance in forces.

Unlike traditional particles, these new particles interact independently, are not strictly bound by equilibrium forces, and exhibit non-reciprocal movement.

Remarkably, these time crystals are visible to the naked eye and are housed in a compact, one-foot-tall device that can easily be held in hand.

“The speaker emits sound waves, allowing us to place small particles at the pressure nodes, effectively suspending them against gravity,” stated Leela Elliott, an undergraduate at New York University.

The time crystal is constructed using Styrofoam beads that are suspended by these sound waves, initially employed as an acoustic levitation device to maintain the beads in the air.

“We discovered that a simple system of two particles suspended within an acoustic standing wave can spontaneously oscillate and generate time crystal effects due to their unbalanced interactions,” explained Mia Morell, a graduate student at NYU.

“When these airborne particles interact, they do so by exchanging scattered sound waves.”

“Specifically, larger particles scatter more sound than smaller ones,” she added.

“Consequently, the influence of large particles on small particles is greater than the reverse.”

“This results in an asymmetry in interactions between small and large particles.”

“Imagine two ferries of different sizes approaching a pier,” she said.

“Each ferry creates waves that displace the other, but the impact varies based on size.”

This discovery broadens the scope of potential applications for these crystals, promising advancements in technology and industry.

“Time crystals exhibit a high degree of autonomy, making independent decisions and persisting on their path,” stated Professor David Greer of New York University.

“They are intriguing not only for their potential applications but also due to their visually exotic and complex structure.”

“In contrast, our system stands out because it’s surprisingly straightforward.”

The team’s key findings were published in the Physical Review Letters.

_____

Mia C. Morell et al. 2026. Non-reciprocal wave-mediated interactions power the classical time crystal. Physics Review Letters, 136, 057201; doi: 10.1103/zjzk-t81n

Source: www.sci.news

First-Ever Measurement of Floating Exoplanet’s Mass by Astronomers

Posted on by
Reply

Gravitational microlensing surveys have unveiled populations of free-floating planets. Although their masses haven’t been directly measured due to distance-related challenges, statistics suggest that many of these rogue planets possess less mass than Jupiter. Recently, astronomers identified a groundbreaking microlensing event, termed KMT-2024-BLG-0792/OGLE-2024-BLG-0516. This event involved an exoplanet with approximately 21.9% of Jupiter’s mass, situated 9,785 light-years (3,000 parsecs) from the Milky Way’s center.

An artist’s impression of a free-floating exoplanet. Image credit: Sci.News.

Traditionally, planets are linked to stars, but research indicates that many traverse the galaxy independently.

Known as free-floating or rogue planets, these celestial bodies lack stellar companions.

Due to their low light emissions, they are primarily detected through their gravitational influences, a technique known as microlensing.

A significant challenge of this discovery method is determining the distances to these planets, complicating mass measurements.

This has left much of the data regarding these solitary objects speculative.

In a recent study, Dr. Subo Dong from Peking University and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and collaborators discovered a new free-floating planet, KMT-2024-BLG-0792/OGLE-2024-BLG-0516, via a brief microlensing event.

In contrast to prior approaches, they utilized a novel strategy by observing the microlensing phenomenon concurrently from Earth and space, leveraging multiple ground-based surveys alongside ESA’s Gaia space telescope.

Variations in the timing of light captured by these different locations facilitated measurements of microlens parallax, enabling researchers to calculate the planet’s mass and position through finite source modeling.

“Based on comparisons with the statistical characteristics of other microlensing events and simulation predictions, we conclude that this object didn’t originate as an isolated entity (like a brown dwarf) but likely formed within a protoplanetary disk (like a planet),” the astronomers noted.

“Subsequent dynamic processes likely ejected it from its formation site, resulting in a free-floating object.”

For further details, check out the study published in this month’s Science: paper.

_____

Subo Dong et al. 2026. Microlensing of free-floating planets caused by heavy objects in Saturn’s vicinity. Science 391 (6780): 96-99; doi: 10.1126/science.adv9266

Source: www.sci.news

Astronomers discover floating crystals preventing cooling in high-mass white dwarf stars

Posted on by
Reply

Astronomers have proposed a new theory to explain why a mysterious population of white dwarfs has stopped cooling for at least 8 billion years.

This diagram shows a white dwarf and the moon. Image credit: Giuseppe Parisi.

White dwarfs are the remains of stars without a nuclear energy source that gradually cool over billions of years, eventually freezing from the inside out to a solid state.

Recently, it was discovered that a population of frozen white dwarfs maintains a constant brightness for a period comparable to the age of the universe, indicating the existence of an unknown, powerful energy source that inhibits cooling.

“We find that the classical picture that all white dwarfs are dead stars is incomplete,” said astronomer Dr Simon Bruin from the University of Victoria.

“To stop these white dwarfs from cooling, we need some way to generate additional energy.”

“We didn’t know how this happened, but now we have an explanation for this phenomenon.”

The researchers say that in some white dwarfs, the dense plasma inside them doesn’t just freeze from the inside out.

Instead, the solid crystals that form when frozen tend to float because they are less dense than the liquid.

As the crystals float upwards, the heavier liquid moves downwards.

As heavy material is transported toward the star’s center, gravitational energy is released, and this energy is enough to interrupt the star’s cooling process for billions of years.

Dr Antoine Bedard, an astronomer at the University of Warwick, said: “This is the first time this transport mechanism has been observed in any type of star, and it’s very interesting because it’s not every day that a completely new astrophysical phenomenon is discovered.”

“We don’t know why this happens in some stars and not others, but it’s probably due to the star’s composition.”

“Some white dwarfs are formed by the merger of two different stars,” Dr Bruin said.

“When these stars collide to form white dwarfs, the star’s composition changes, allowing the formation of floating crystals.”

White dwarfs are routinely used as an indicator of age, and the cooler a white dwarf is, the older it is considered to be.

However, the extra delay in cooling seen in some white dwarfs means that some stars at certain temperatures may be billions of years older than previously thought.

“This new discovery will not only require a revision of astronomy textbooks, but will also require a reexamination of the processes astronomers use to determine the age of stellar populations,” Dr. Blouin said.

of the team paper Published in today’s diary Nature.

_____

A. Bedard other. Buoyant crystals stop the white dwarf from cooling. Nature, published online March 6, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07102-y

Source: www.sci.news