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Archive for the ‘sustainability’ category: Page 506

Nov 3, 2018

Another Tesla with Autopilot crashed into a stationary object—the driver is suing

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, sustainability, transportation

To be fair to Tesla, this problem isn’t unique to the company. Most emergency braking systems on the market today won’t stop for stationary objects at freeway speeds. These systems are not sophisticated enough to distinguish a stationary object on the road from one that’s next to or above the road. So to make the problem easier to handle, the cars may just ignore stationary objects, assuming that the driver will steer around them.


Florida man says Tesla oversold Autopilot’s capabilities.

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Nov 2, 2018

Solar Power Is About to Boom in the Sunshine State

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Florida has lagged in renewable energy use, but declining solar costs are set to change that.

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Nov 1, 2018

Elon Musk said Tesla owners will be able to drive their cars with their phones in around 6 weeks

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, mobile phones, sustainability, transportation

Tesla owners will soon be able to drive their cars with their phones, Elon Musk said.


Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday via Twitter that an upcoming software update will allow Tesla owners to drive their cars with their phones in some situations.

“Car will drive to your phone location & follow you like a pet if you hold down summon button on Tesla app,” Musk said.

Continue reading “Elon Musk said Tesla owners will be able to drive their cars with their phones in around 6 weeks” »

Oct 30, 2018

Hybrid cell turns sunlight and water into hydrogen and electricity

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

One of the main methods of producing hydrogen for fuel cells is to use artificial photosynthesis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, but these devices still suffer from some efficiency issues. Now a new hybrid device may be able to recover some of the energy that would otherwise go to waste, by producing both hydrogen and electricity.

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Oct 29, 2018

First Emitrati-made satellite launched into space

Posted by in categories: satellites, sustainability

KhalifaSat, the first-ever Emirati-manufactured satellite successfully launched into space from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Centre on October 29.

As well as KhalifaSat, the H-2A rocket also launched carrying Japan’s environment satellite, GoSat-2.

KhalifaSat is an Earth observation satellite set to monitor environmental changes, such as the effects of global warming in the North and South Poles.

Continue reading “First Emitrati-made satellite launched into space” »

Oct 29, 2018

Air pollution kills 600,000 children each year: WHO

Posted by in categories: health, sustainability

Exposure to toxic air both indoors and out kills some 600,000 children under the age of 15 each year, the World Health Organization warned Monday.

Data from the UN health body shows that every day, 93 percent of children under the age of 15—a full 1.8 billion youngsters, including 630 million under the age of five—breath dangerously polluted air.

This has tragic consequences: In 2016 alone, some 600,000 children died from acute caused by polluted air, the WHO report found.

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Oct 28, 2018

Young scientists develop enviro-friendly bricks made out of urine

Posted by in categories: climatology, sustainability

It seems unusual, but concrete brick production is a major contributor to climate change.

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Oct 26, 2018

More solar panels mean more waste and there’s no easy solution

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

https://paper.li/e-1437691924#/


Solar panels might be the energy source of the future, but they also create a problem without an easy solution: what do we do with millions of panels when they stop working?

In November 2016, the Environment Ministry of Japan warned that the country will produce 800,000 tons of solar waste by 2040, and it can’t yet handle those volumes. That same year, the International Renewable Energy Agency estimated that there were already 250,000 metric tons of solar panel waste worldwide and that this number would grow to 78 million by 2050. “That’s an amazing amount of growth,” says Mary Hutzler, a senior fellow at the Institute for Energy Research. “It’s going to be a major problem.”

Continue reading “More solar panels mean more waste and there’s no easy solution” »

Oct 25, 2018

An intense storm has wiped out a remote Hawaiian island, and it’s a sign of things to come

Posted by in categories: climatology, sustainability

  • East Island is located about 550 miles northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.
  • In early October, the island was effectively wiped off the map when Hurricane Walaka swept through it.
  • Scientists say East Island was the nesting ground for 50% of the world’s Hawaiian green sea turtles.
  • It’s unclear if the island will reappear, and scientists expect future hurricanes to be stronger and wetter due to climate change.

An 11-acre island in the Pacific Ocean has vanished after Hurricane Walaka, one of the most powerful storms to sweep through the area, struck the island in early October.

Satellite photos show that East Island, located roughly 550 miles northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, was wiped off the map during the hurricane.

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Oct 24, 2018

Air pollution leads to millions of ER visits for asthma attacks worldwide

Posted by in categories: health, sustainability, transportation

The new research suggests that:


WASHINGTON, DC (Oct. 24, 2018)— Nine to 33 million visits to the emergency room (ER) for asthma worldwide may be triggered by breathing in air polluted by ozone or fine particulate matter—pollutants that can enter the lung’s deep airways, according to a study published today.

Scientists have long known that breathing in air sullied by car emissions and other pollutants could trigger asthma attacks. However, the new study is the first to quantify air pollution’s impact on asthma cases around the globe.

Continue reading “Air pollution leads to millions of ER visits for asthma attacks worldwide” »