I would toss in Crows.
For the first time in the U.S., research with cephalopods might require approval by an ethics committee.
NASA has announced an updated plan to continue New Horizons’ mission of exploration of the outer solar system.
Beginning in fiscal year 2025, New Horizons will focus on gathering unique heliophysics data, which can be readily obtained during an extended, low-activity mode of operations.
While the science community is not currently aware of any reachable Kuiper Belt object, this new path allows for the possibility of using the spacecraft for a future close flyby of such an object, should one be identified. It also will enable the spacecraft to preserve fuel and reduce operational complexity while a search is conducted for a compelling flyby candidate.
New Zealand is the latest market where Tesla launched its Non-Tesla Supercharger Pilot program, which allows for the recharging of other electric vehicles at Superchargers.
According to the company, six Supercharging sites are now available for all EVs (compatible with the locally used CCS2 charging connector, natively used also by Tesla). That’s about a third of all Supercharging stations in New Zealand.
Australia was included in the program in early 2023, and currently, it seems that more than half (roughly 30 locations) were opened to all EVs.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — As the City of Austin works toward reducing its carbon footprint, city officials are working to expand programs and infrastructure to help make electric vehicle technology more accessible citywide.
Amy Atchley, senior lead with Austin Energy’s EV equity program, spoke Tuesday at MOVE America 2023, a mobility conference held in downtown Austin. Atchley’s presentation centered around providing EV access to underserved community members, particularly as the city moves toward a 2040 goal of net zero carbon emissions.
With that goal in mind, she noted transportation is the leading emitter of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In order to achieve that benchmark, she said the city must have at least 40% of its vehicle miles traveled done via electric vehicle technology by 2030.
Tesla’s vehicles come with various unique features, including the ability to use the mobile app to perform several different functions remotely. In a repost of another account pointing to the ability to set cabin temperature remotely, Tesla highlighted that preconditioning will also warm up the vehicle’s battery, helping to optimize range and overall performance.
On Wednesday morning, Tesla reposted a @WholeMarsBlog post on X describing the ability to pre-set cabin temperature remotely using the mobile app when it’s hot outside, meaning owners will “never get into a car that’s too hot or too cold again.”
Tesla piggybacked on the concept, pointing out that when users remotely precondition their cars during the winter, their batteries will also be warmed to the ideal temperature to improve vehicle performance.
Engineers at MIT and in China are aiming to turn seawater into drinking water with a completely passive device that is inspired by the ocean, and powered by the sun.
In a paper appearing in the journal Joule, the team outlines the design for a new solar desalination system that takes in saltwater and heats it with natural sunlight.
The configuration of the device allows water to circulate in swirling eddies, in a manner similar to the much larger “thermohaline” circulation of the ocean. This circulation, combined with the sun’s heat, drives water to evaporate, leaving salt behind. The resulting water vapor can then be condensed and collected as pure, drinkable water. In the meantime, the leftover salt continues to circulate through and out of the device, rather than accumulating and clogging the system.
Water is still an issue around the world.
Engineers at MIT and China have jointly developed a solar-powered system that extracts fresh water from seawater so efficiently it is “cheaper than tap water,” says one of the researchers who invented the system. The inventors say the system could provide clean drinking water sustainably to off-grid coastal communities and families living near a sea water source.
From MIT News:
Continue reading “New solar device makes desalinated seawater cheaper than tap water” »
Pat Bennett’s prescription is a bit more complicated than “Take a couple of aspirins and call me in the morning.” But a quartet of baby-aspirin-sized sensors implanted in her brain are aimed at addressing a condition that’s frustrated her and others: the loss of the ability to speak intelligibly. The devices transmit signals from a couple of speech-related regions in Bennett’s brain to state-of-the-art software that decodes her brain activity and converts it to text displayed on a computer screen.
Bennett, now 68, is a former human resources director and onetime equestrian who jogged daily. In 2012, she was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks neurons controlling movement, causing physical weakness and eventual paralysis.
The human brain, with its intricate network of approximately 86 billion neurons, is arguably among the most complex specimens scientists have ever encountered. It holds an immense, yet currently immeasurable, wealth of information, positioning it as the pinnacle of computational devices.
Grasping this level of intricacy is challenging, making it essential for us to employ advanced technologies that can decode the minute, intricate interactions happening within the brain at microscopic levels. Thus, imaging emerges as a pivotal instrument in the realm of neuroscience.
The new imaging and virtual reconstruction technology developed by Johann Danzl’s group at ISTA is a big leap in imaging brain activity and is aptly named LIONESS – Live Information Optimized Nanoscopy Enabling Saturated Segmentation. LIONESS is a pipeline to image, reconstruct, and analyze live brain tissue with a comprehensiveness and spatial resolution not possible until now.
