At the heart of a distant galaxy, scientists saw a fountain of material moving away from the central supermassive black hole — and back.
Category: sustainability – Page 121
China’s solar industry has invested $130 billion in 2023, dominating the global solar supply chain and widening the technology and cost gap with other countries.
Xijian/iStock.
A new report by Wood Mackenzie reveals that China will control over 80 percent of the world’s production of polysilicon, wafers, cells, and modules — the critical components of solar panels — from 2023 to 2026.
A recent study published in AGU Advances examines how the conservation and protection of two Alaskan forests, Tongass and Chugach, are essential in fighting the effects of climate change due to their expanse for wildlife habitats, abundant carbon stocks, and landscape integrity. This study was led by researchers from Oregon State University and holds the potential to help scientists better understand the steps that need to be taken to mitigate the long-term effects of climate change by preserving the resources of today.
Tongass National Forest (Credit: Logan Berner)
“More thoroughly safeguarding those forests from industrial development would contribute significantly to climate change mitigation and species adaptation in the face of the severe ecological disruption that’s expected to occur over the next few decades as the climate rapidly gets warmer,” said Dr. Beverly Law, who is a Professor Emeritus of Global Change Biology & Terrestrial Systems Science at Oregon State University and lead author of the study.
The rim-less electric motor promises to offer similar performance figures when compared to its fossil-fuelled counterparts.
An electric jet engine is silently taking flight in the suburbs of Prince Edward Island in North America that promises to deliver similar performance to its fossil-fuelled counterparts.
Canada-based Duxion Motors has successfully completed the ground test of its patented eJet Motor, which, according to it, is “poised to make high-speed electric aviation a reality,” said its website. The ground tests with a scaled prototype included both low-speed and high-speed testing.
According to its founders, the automobile sector has made significant progress toward sustainable transportation, whereas the aviation industry has lagged. One of the key factors contributing to this gap is a lack of high-power, lightweight electric propulsion, which it aims to fulfill.
Another good use for AI. Fighting disinformation.
About 60% of adults in the US who get their news through social media have, largely unknowingly, shared false information, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center. The ease at which disinformation is spread and the severity of consequences it brings — from election hacking to character assassination — make it an issue of grave concern for us all.
One of the best ways to combat the spread of fake news on the internet is to understand where the false information was started and how it was disseminated. And that’s exactly what Camille Francois, the chief innovation officer at Graphika, is doing. She’s dedicated to bringing to light disinformation campaigns before they take hold.
Nigerian oil and gas regulator protests innocence after FBI says $50,000 in funds stolen from a wind turbine provider ended up in his account.
Oneka.
Out of the total water available on the planet, just about three percent is fresh water that can be used. The rest is salty sea water unsuitable for drinking or industrial usage, and desalination plants have helped put this water to some use.
Japanese scientists have developed a new type of plastic that’s strong at room temperature, but can be easily broken down on demand into its base components. In seawater, it starts to break down into food for marine life, and just to top it off, it can self-heal and remember past shapes.
Plastic is everywhere in our modern world, for better or worse. Its toughness makes it an extremely useful material for everything from household items to vehicle parts, but that same toughness makes it hard to break down for recycling or disposal.
In the new study, scientists at the University of Tokyo developed a new plastic material that can be broken down more easily, either in recycling plants or in nature. It’s based on a class of plastic called an epoxy resin vitrimer, which are strong at room temperature but can be reshaped and molded with a bit of added heat. Normally, vitrimers are brittle, but the team improved the recipe by adding a molecule called polyrotaxane.