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Category: sustainability – Page 24

Using body parts from simple animals in robotics is not as controversial. But it’s still important to consider the impact on these living creatures. It may seem that bugs and jellyfish and mollusks aren’t capable of caring about how we use their bodies. But what if we’re wrong about that? Some researchers are finding that such creatures might have more awareness and feelings than expected.

Living robots also interact with the environment. What if a jellyfish outfitted with electronics got eaten? Xu is hoping to develop biodegradable electronics that wouldn’t harm other animals or pollute the ocean.

Biohybrid robots blur the line between machine and living thing. The jellyfish cyborgs are obviously still alive. But most biohybrids don’t really fit into one category or the other. Shin says of her heart-cell-covered bot: “it’s not a creature.” But it’s not a typical robot, either.

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Hydrogen energy promises a clean and sustainable future, but its production often depends on expensive platinum-based catalysts, making it costly. The industry needs more affordable alternatives to platinum to make hydrogen energy more viable.

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Researchers from the Tokyo University of Science (TUS) have developed a new catalyst called bis(diimino)palladium coordination nanosheets (PdDI). These low-cost palladium-based nanosheets match platinum’s performance in producing hydrogen.

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France just achieved a nuclear fusion breakthrough, making limitless energy virtually inevitable.

In a major achievement, France’s WEST Tokamak reactor has maintained a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes, setting a new world record in the quest for sustainable fusion energy.

énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), the experiment surpassed China’s previous record of 1,066 seconds, reaching 1,337 seconds of sustained plasma. + This milestone is a major step toward commercial fusion power, which promises unlimited, clean energy by harnessing the same process that powers the Sun. The challenge lies in achieving a self-sustaining reaction while maintaining extreme temperatures of up to 150 million°C (270 million°F) without damaging reactor components.

While WEST itself won’t become a commercial reactor, the data gathered will be instrumental in developing ITER, the world’s largest fusion project, currently under construction in southern France.

CEA scientists plan to extend reaction times further, increasing power levels and plasma stability. If successful, these advancements could bring humanity closer to realizing the long-held dream of clean, virtually limitless energy, potentially transforming global power generation in the future.

Learn more.

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Researchers have developed a reactor that pulls carbon dioxide directly from the air and converts it into sustainable fuel, using sunlight as the power source.

The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, say their solar-powered reactor could be used to make fuel to power cars and planes, or the many chemical and pharmaceutical products we rely on. It could also be used to generate fuel in remote or off-grid locations.

Unlike most carbon capture technologies, the reactor developed by the Cambridge researchers does not require fossil-fuel-based power, or the transport and storage of carbon dioxide, but instead converts atmospheric CO2 into something useful using sunlight. The results are reported in the journal Nature Energy.

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The future of space exploration is beyond imagination! From SpaceX Starship to NASA’s Artemis II, groundbreaking innovations are shaping the 2050 future world. In this video, we dive into amazing inventions you must see, including space elevators, nuclear-powered rockets, and space mining that could redefine our existence beyond Earth.

🌍 Explore the most futuristic and emerging technologies revolutionizing space travel, space stations, and massive satellite internet in outer space. Will Space-Based Solar Power solve Earth’s energy crisis? Could O’Neill Cylinders and Alderson Disks become the future of human colonies in space?

🔍 Get a detailed review of the latest advancements from SpaceX, NASA, ESA, and other space agencies working on secretive space planes and cutting-edge space habitats like Haven-2 Module and Eos-X Space.

💡 Topics Covered:
✅ SpaceX Starship & Mars Missions.
✅ NASA Artemis II & Future Moon Colonization.
✅ Space Elevators & Interplanetary Travel.
✅ Nuclear-Powered Rockets & Next-Gen Propulsion.
✅ Space Mining & Resource Extraction.
✅ Space Habitats – O’Neill Cylinders & Alderson Disks.
✅ Space-Based Solar Power – Unlimited Energy?

👨‍🚀 Join us on this journey into the future of space technology! If you’re excited about Future Space Technology That Will Change The World, hit that LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and turn on notifications for more science and technology updates from 99techspot!

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One limitation of producing biofuel is that the alcohol created by fermentation is toxic to the microbes that produce it. Now scientists are closer to overcoming this obstacle.

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have achieved a breakthrough in understanding the vulnerability of microbes to the alcohols they produce during of plant biomass.

With the national lab’s neutron scattering and simulation equipment, the team analyzed fermentation of the biofuel , an energy-packed alcohol that also can be used as a solvent or chemical feedstock.

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3D printing is revolutionizing microbial electrochemical systems (MES) by enabling precise reactor design, custom electrode fabrication, and enhanced bioprinting applications. These innovations optimize pollutant degradation and energy production, with significant implications for sustainability and environmental management.

Microbial electrochemical systems (MES) are emerging as a promising technology for addressing environmental challenges by leveraging microorganisms to transfer electrons. These systems can simultaneously degrade pollutants and generate electricity, making them valuable for sustainable wastewater treatment and energy production.

However, conventional methods for constructing MES components often lack design flexibility, limiting performance optimization. To overcome these limitations and enhance MES efficiency, innovative fabrication techniques are needed—ones that allow precise control over reactor structures and functions.

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — Beep beep — Uber rideshare users can now book a driverless ride around Austin, as the ridehailing company officially launches its partnership with Waymo.

Waymo and Uber announced in September the planned collaboration between the two companies, with rollouts poised in both Austin and Atlanta in 2025. Beginning Tuesday, Uber users can match with one of Waymo’s Jaguar I-PACE vehicles while booking an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric vehicle.

“Starting today, Austin riders can be matched with a Waymo autonomous vehicle on the Uber app, making their next trip even more special,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in the announcement. “With Waymo’s technology and Uber’s proven platform, we’re excited to introduce our customers to a future of transportation that is increasingly electric and autonomous.”

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“A good ratio of oxygen to methane is key to combustion,” said Justin Long.

Can methane flare burners be advanced to produce less methane? This is what a recent study published in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research hopes to address as a team of researchers from the University of Michigan (U-M) and the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) developed a methane flare burner with increased combustion stability and efficiency compared to traditional methane flare burners. This study has the potential to develop more environmentally friendly burners to combat human-caused climate change, specifically since methane is a far larger contributor to climate change than carbon dioxide.

For the study, the researchers used a combination of machine learning and novel manufacturing methods to test several designs of a methane flare burner that incorporates crosswinds to simulate real-world environments. The burner design includes splitting the methane flow in three directions while enabling oxygen flow from crosswinds to mix with the methane, enabling a much cleaner combustion. In the end, the researchers found that their design achieves 98 percent combustion efficiency, meaning it produces 98 percent less methane than traditional burners.

“A good ratio of oxygen to methane is key to combustion,” said Justin Long, who is a Senior Research Engineer at SwRI. “The surrounding air needs to be captured and incorporated to mix with the methane, but too much can dilute it. U-M researchers conducted a lot of computational fluid dynamics work to find a design with an optimal air-methane balance, even when subjected to high-crosswind conditions.”

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