In the US growing building sector carbon emissions a threat to 2050 net-zero goal.
U.S. economywide greenhouse gas emissions fell 12% from 2005 to 2019, but direct emissions from the building sector were higher, according to an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation report this week.
Why we should be performing interstellar archaeology and how Avi Loeb and his team at the Galileo Project plan to recover an interstellar object at the bottom of the ocean.
“Any chemically-propelled spacecraft sent by past civilizations into interstellar space, like the five we had sent so far (Voyager 1 & 2, Pioneer 10 & 11, and New Horizons), remained gravitationally bound to the Milky Way long after these civilizations died. Their characteristic speed of tens of kilometers per second is an order of magnitude smaller than the escape speed out of the Milky Way. These rockets would populate the Milky Way disk and move around at similar speeds to the stars in it.
Continue reading “Why a Group of Scientists Plan to Search for Alien Technology with Avi Loeb” »
Read this about a potential environmental disaster that can be stopped.
To sign and send a letter to the Canadian government access it here.
https://act.newmode.net/action/greater-victoria-climate-hub/oil
A volunteer with severe liver disease will soon undergo a procedure that could lead them to grow a second liver.
Actual universal basic income going on 💸💵💰🪙
STIMULUS checks have given Americans a feel for universal basic income (UBI) – but folks in certain states and cities are getting used to this idea.
UBI is a set of recurring payments that individuals get from the government. These can be paid out every month, several times a year, or just once annually.
Continue reading “Thousands of Americans eligible for direct payments worth up to $2,550” »
Solar cells are vital for the green energy transition. They can be used not only on rooftops and solar farms but also for powering autonomous vehicles, such as planes and satellites. However, photovoltaic solar cells are currently heavy and bulky, making them difficult to transport to remote locations off-grid, where they are much needed.
In a collaboration led by Imperial College London, alongside researchers from Cambridge, UCL, Oxford, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin in Germany, and others, researchers have produced materials that can absorb comparable levels of sunlight as conventional silicon solar cells, but with 10,000 times lower thickness.
The material is sodium bismuth sulfide (NaBiS2), which is grown as nanocrystals and deposited from solution to make films 30 nanometers in thickness. NaBiS2 is comprised of nontoxic elements that are sufficiently abundant in the earth’s crust for use commercially. For example, bismuth-based compounds are used as a nontoxic lead replacement in solder, or in over-the-counter stomach medicine.
“Everyone can quantum.”
Chinese multinational technology company Baidu just released its first quantum computer on Thursday. The first superconducting quantum computer, “Qian Shi” can integrate hardware, software, and many applications. Baidu also introduced the world’s first all-platform quantum hardware-software integration solution — Liang Xi — that provides access to various quantum chips via mobile app, PC, and cloud.
Qian Shi is expected to solve data that a standard computer cannot calculate and problems that cannot be solved. This development is also thought to be a breakthrough in artificial intelligence, computational biology, material simulation, and financial technology.
It’s a big step forward in understanding exoplanets.
Humanity’s giant space telescope has captured evidence of carbon dioxide in a planet outside of the solar system for the first time. According to a Thursday press release.
The detection was made using Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) and took the form of a small bump between 4.1 and 4.6 microns on the spectrum related to the exoplanet’s atmosphere. The evidence helps shine a light on how planets are formed.
Continue reading “NASA’s Webb Detects Carbon Dioxide in Exoplanet Atmosphere” »
Just 1 kilo of hydrogen fuel can do the same as around 9.9 pounds of diesel.
French-based company Alstom broke new ground in transportation. The company announced the world’s first hydrogen train, the Coradia iLint, reached Bremervörde, Lower Saxony, Germany.
This regional train only emits steam and condensed water while operating with a low noise level. With this breakthrough, it has been aimed to contribute to the greenest rail network globally, Alstom says.
The Rhythm of Crust Production on Earth
Many rocks on Earth form from molten or semi-molten magma. This magma is derived either directly from the mantle—the predominantly solid but slowly flowing layer below the planet’s crust—or from recooking even older bits of pre-existing crust. As liquid magma cools, it eventually freezes into solid rock.
Through this cooling process of magma crystallization, mineral grains grow and can trap elements such as uranium that decay over time and produce a sort of stopwatch, recording their age. Not only that, but crystals can also trap other elements that track the composition of their parental magma, like how a surname might track a person’s family.
