Futurism – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Apr 20
2021

Electron-Ion Collider: The Future of Particle Accelerators Is Here

Behind the scenes of the Electron-Ion Collider, green accelerators that waste no energy, and chiral magnetic effect results debuting this summer.

When the Electron Ion Collider received the go-ahead in January 2020, it became the only new major accelerator in the works anywhere in the world.

“All the stars aligned,” said Elke-Caroline Aschenauer, Brookhaven National Laboratory Staff Scientist and a leader in developing the EIC plans. “We have the technology to build this unique particle accelerator and detector to do the measurements that, together with the underlying theory, can for the first time provide answers to longstanding fundamental questions in nuclear physics.”

Apr 19
2021

Ultra-white paint cools surfaces

The researchers believe that this shade of white may be the polar opposite equivalent of the blackest black – known as “Vantablack” – which absorbs up to 99.9% of visible light. An earlier version developed by the Purdue team in October last year reflected 95.5% of sunlight. However, this latest version is even more efficient with up to 98.1% reflected and keeps surfaces even cooler.

Typical commercial white paint gets warmer, rather than cooler. Paints on the market that are designed to reject heat reflect only 80%-90% of sunlight and can’t make surfaces cooler than their surroundings.

Apr 19
2021

Plasma device designed for consumers can quickly disinfect surfaces

Prototype has proven 99% effective.

Apr 18
2021

Washington state lawmakers vote to phase out gasoline cars by 2030

The bill awaits Gov. Jay Inslee’s signature.

Washington state lawmakers have passed a measure that would phase out the sale of gas-powered vehicles starting in 2030. The Clean Cars 2030 initiative passed Thursday as an amendment to a bill that requires state utilities prepare for an electric-vehicle future. The bill now awaits Gov. Jay Inslee’s signature.

That’s five years earlier than planned gas vehicle bans in California and Massachusetts, and the first ban on gas cars passed by legislators, rather than by an executive order. The bill passed Washington’s Senate by a vote of 25–23 and a vote of 54–43 in the House. The bill bans the sale, purchase, or registration of non-EVs from model year 2030 and later, and would include vehicles bought in another state and brought into Washington state.

The Clean Cars 2030 measure depends on the state approving a tax on vehicle miles traveled, which would help pay for new transportation infrastructure in the state, according to the bill.