Lifeboat Foundation

Chandrayaan-3’s landing on the Moon and subsequent sulfur detection has propelled lunar ice research forward, aiding NASA ’s plans for a sustainable lunar station. These developments highlight the growing collaboration in space exploration.

Building a space station on the Moon might seem like something out of a science fiction movie, but each new lunar mission is bringing that idea closer to reality. Scientists are homing in on potential lunar ice reservoirs in permanently shadowed regions, or PSRs. These are key to setting up any sort of sustainable lunar infrastructure.

In late August 2023, India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the lunar surface in the south polar region, which scientists suspect may harbor ice. This landing marked a significant milestone not only for India but for the scientific community at large.

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have developed a comprehensive plan to introduce perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells into the marketplace, setting the stage for a world energized by widespread, cost-effective renewable energy, both in Saudi Arabia and globally.

The authors of the article, published in esteemed journal Science, include Prof. Stefaan De Wolf and his research team at the KAUST Solar Center. The team is working on improving solar efficiency to meet Saudi Arabia’ solar targets.

Perovskite/silicon tandem technology combines the strengths of two materials – perovskite’s efficient light absorption and silicon’s long-term stability – to achieve record-breaking efficiency. In 2023, the De Wolf laboratory reported two world records for power conversion efficiency, with five achieved globally in the same year, showing rapid progress in perovskite/silicon tandem technology.

Equatic-1 will be built in two phases over the next 18 months.

UCLA and Equatic, a startup formed by UCLA researchers, are gearing up for the construction of Equatic-1.

Equatic-1, a $20 million ocean-based carbon removal plant in Singapore, will remove carbon generated by 850 people annually.

Continue reading “Singapore to have world’s largest ocean-based CO2 removal plant” »

Li Auto, a Chinese EV automaker, has just unveiled the 7-seater Mega.

Li Auto, a Beijing-based automaker, has just unveiled what it has called the world’s biggest electric vehicle (EV). Called the Mega, this is tailored towards large family consumers in China (the world’s most crowded car market).

Continue reading “China’s Li Auto just unveiled the world’s biggest EV” »

Recycling previous metals from electronic waste is very expensive and, at a large scale, often requires exorbitant amounts of power and very expensive machines to recycle efficiently. However, scientists have discovered a food byproduct, whey protein, capable of recovering gold from electronic waste, making the recycling process substantially more efficient than it once was. With this byproduct, the energy cost of the entire recycling process can be 50 times lower than the value of the gold extracted from electronic components. The team found they could extract around 450mg of gold from 20 motherboards using this method.

This magical organic material comes in the form of whey proteins, a byproduct of dairy. Scientist Raffaele Mezzenga from the Department of Health Sciences and Technology discovered that an organic sponge made from whey proteins is exceptionally good at extracting metals from electronic components. To make this sponge, the scientists denature whey proteins under an acidic bath and high temperatures so the substance turns into a gel. Then, the scientists dry the gel, creating a sponge out of the whey protein fibrils.

But before the sponge can be used, the electronic waste must be prepared so it can do its job. First, electronic waste is dissolved in an acid bath to ionize the metals; then, the sponge is placed in the metal ion solution. Once in the bath, the ionized metals attach to the protein sponge, like a magnet picking up metal shavings. Mezzenga and his team of scientists discovered that most metal ions can adhere to the sponge, but gold ions do so a lot more efficiently.

Dubai, a city known for pushing the boundaries of innovation and technology, is set to redefine its transportation landscape with two groundbreaking projects. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai has recently entered into partnerships with international experts to develop sustainable and futuristic transport solutions. The first memorandum focuses on the development of the Floc Duo Rail system, while the second aims to create a solar-powered rail bus system. These initiatives mark a significant leap forward in Dubai’s commitment to embracing advanced technologies, sustainability, and the future of urban mobility.

Designer: Urban-Mass Company and RAIL BUS Inc.

Nissan has been revealed as the potential savior of Fisker. The Japanese automaker is reportedly talking with Fisker to invest in the company and partner on electric pickup trucks.

Earlier today, we reported on Fisker’s disastrous fourth-quarter results showing that the electric vehicle startup lost $400 million in 2023 and it now has less than $400 million of cash on hands.

The automaker had to admit that it wouldn’t be able to continue operations past next year without a big cash injection.

Until recently, chalcopyrite-based solar cells have achieved a maximum energy conversion efficiency of 23.35%, as reported in 2019 by Solar Frontier, a former Solar Energy company based in Japan. Further boosting this efficiency, however, has so far proved challenging.

Researchers at Uppsala University and at the First Solar European Technology Center AB (former Evolar AB) in Sweden recently attained a higher efficiency of 23.64% in chalcopyrite-based solar cells. This efficiency, reported in Nature Energy, was achieved using two primary techniques, namely high-concentration silver alloying and steep back-contact gallium grading.

“A primary objective of our study was to increase the efficiency of CIGS-based thin-film solar cells to ultimately lower the price per Watt-peak of corresponding large-scale modules,” Jan Keller, first author of the paper, told Phys.org. “Our work makes use of the findings from many research groups around the world, obtained during the last decades.”

A chemical etching method for widening the pores of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) could improve various applications of MOFs, including in fuel cells and as catalysts. Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan and East China Normal University in China developed the new method with collaborators elsewhere in Japan, Australia, and China, and their work was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

MOFs are porous materials composed of metal clusters or ions interconnected by carbon-based (organic) linker groups. Varying the metallic and organic components generates a variety of MOFs suitable for a wide range of applications, including catalysis, chemical separation, and gas storage.

Some MOFs have clear potential for catalyzing the chemical reactions inside fuel cells, which are being explored as the basis of renewable energy systems. Because they don’t use fossil fuels, fuel cells could play a key role in the transition to a low-or zero-emissions economy to combat climate change.