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Blog – Page 28

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), have developed an innovative solar-powered method to transform sewage sludge—a by-product of wastewater treatment—into green hydrogen for clean energy and single-cell protein for animal feed.

Published in Nature Water, the sludge-to-food-and-fuel method tackles two pressing global challenges: managing waste and generating sustainable resources. This aligns with NTU’s goal of addressing humanity’s greatest challenges, such as climate change and sustainability.

The United Nations estimates that about 2.5 billion more people will be living in cities by 2050. Along with the growth of cities and industries comes an increase in , which is notoriously difficult to process and dispose of due to its complex structure, composition, and contaminants such as and pathogens.

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Modern communication networks rely on optical signals to transfer vast amounts of data. But just like a weak radio signal, these optical signals need to be amplified to travel long distances without losing information.

The most common amplifiers, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), have served this purpose for decades, enabling longer transmission distances without the need for frequent signal regeneration. However, they operate within a limited spectral bandwidth, restricting the expansion of optical networks.

To meet the growing demand for high-speed , researchers have been seeking ways to develop more powerful, flexible, and compact amplifiers. Even though AI accelerators, , and high-performance computing systems handle ever-increasing amounts of data, the limitations of existing are becoming more evident.

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Abstract

Agriculture is a sector that plays a crucial role in ensuring food security and sustainable development. However, traditional agriculture practices face challenges such as inefficient irrigation methods and lack of real-time monitoring, leading to water waste and reduced crop yield. Several systems that attempt to address these challenges exist, such as those based on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G/4G cellular technology; but also encounter difficulties such as low transmission range, high power consumption, etc. To address all these issues, this paper proposes a smart agriculture monitoring and automatic irrigation system based on LoRa. The system utilizes LoRa technology for long-range wireless communication, Blynk platform for real-time data visualization and control, and ThingSpeak platform for data storage, visualization, and further analysis. The system incorporates multiple components, including a sensor node for data collection, a gateway for data transmission, and an actuator node for irrigation control. Experimental results show that the proposed system effectively monitors collected data such as soil moisture levels, visualizes data in real time, and automatically controls irrigation based on sensor data and user commands. The system proposed in this study provides a cost-effective and efficient solution for sustainable agriculture practices.

Smart Agriculture, Internet of Things, LoRa, Power Consumption, Real-Time Monitoring.

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How does the human brain learn to see? Research from Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, and Goethe University Frankfurt explores how early visual experiences restructure circuits in the visual cortex. This research sheds light on the fundamental mechanisms of brain development and visual perception.

Explore the research.

How early visual experience builds reliable brain circuits Because it does it so well, we often take for granted how our brain creates reliable visual representations of our surroundings that are critical for guiding our behavior. While scientists understand a lot about how mature neural circuits support reliable vision, the sequence of developmental events before and after birth that build these circuits is not clear. Collaborating scientists at Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, and Goethe University Frankfurt have discovered how early visual experience dramatically changes the brain networks that process vision – changes that are essential for establishing reliable visual perception.

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Yesterday, Pulsar Fusion unveiled a revolutionary new space propulsion design called the Sunbird.
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Each is calculated to be just 20 to 30% the mass of Earth and completes one full trip around the star in only a few days.

These findings have caught many people’s attention because they point to greater precision in detecting smaller, more elusive planets.

“It’s a really exciting find – Barnard’s Star is our cosmic neighbor, and yet we know so little about it,” said Ritvik Basant, Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago and first author on the study. “It’s signaling a breakthrough with the precision of these new instruments from previous generations.”

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For the first time, it has been confirmed that individual neurons represent the concepts we learn, regardless of the context in which they are encountered, challenging previous beliefs.

A study led by Dr. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, head of the Neural Mechanisms of Perception and Memory Research Group at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, has provided the first direct evidence of how neurons in the human brain store memories independently of the context in which they are acquired.

Published in Cell Reports.

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