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The proposed innovative design leads to unprecedented power conversion efficiency and improved versatility. A recently developed wirelessly powered 5G relay could accelerate the development of smart factories, report scientists from Tokyo Tech. By adopting a lower operating frequency for wireless power transfer, the proposed relay design solves many of the current limitations, including range and efficiency. In turn, this allows for a more versatile and widespread arrangement of sensors and transceivers in industrial settings.

One of the hallmarks of the Information Age is the transformation of industries towards a greater flow of information. This can be readily seen in high-tech factories and warehouses, where wireless sensors and transceivers are installed in robots, production machinery, and automatic vehicles. In many cases, 5G networks are used to orchestrate operations and communications between these devices.

To avoid relying on cumbersome wired power sources, sensors and transceivers can be energized remotely via wireless power transfer (WPT). However, one problem with conventional WPT designs is that they operate at 24 GHz. At such high frequencies, transmission beams must be extremely narrow to avoid energy losses. Moreover, power can only be transmitted if there is a clear line of sight between the WPT system and the target device. Since 5G relays are often used to extend the range of 5G base stations, WPT needs to reach even further, which is yet another challenge for 24 GHz systems.

A study led by Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan has revealed a link between gut microbiota and Parkinson’s disease (PD). The researchers found a reduction in the gut bacteria of genes responsible for synthesizing the essential B vitamins B2 and B7. They also identified a relationship between the lack of these genes and low levels of agents that help maintain the integrity of the intestinal barrier. This barrier prevents toxins from entering the bloodstream, which causes the inflammation seen in PD. Their findings, published in npj Parkinson’s Disease, suggest that treatment with B vitamins to address these deficiencies can be used to treat PD.

PD is characterized by a variety of physical symptoms that hinder daily activities and mobility, such as shaking, slow movement, stiffness, and balance problems. While the frequency of PD may vary between different populations, it is estimated to affect approximately 1–2% of individuals aged 55 years or older.

Various physiological processes are heavily influenced by the microorganisms found in the gut, which are collectively known as gut microbiota. In ideal conditions, gut microbiota produce SCFAs and polyamines, which maintain the intestinal barrier that prevents toxins entering the bloodstream. Toxins in the blood can be carried to the brain where they cause inflammation and affect neurotransmission processes that are critical for maintaining mental health.

In late 2019 the previously unremarkable galaxy SDSS1335+0728 suddenly started shining brighter than ever before. To understand why, astronomers have used data from several space and ground-based observatories, including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), to track how the galaxy’s @brightness has varied. In a study out today, they conclude that they are witnessing changes never seen before in a galaxy – likely the result of the sudden awakening of the massive black hole at its core.

“Imagine you’ve been observing a distant galaxy for years, and it always seemed calm and inactive,” says Paula Sánchez Sáez, an astronomer at ESO in Germany and lead author of the study accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. “Suddenly, its [core] starts showing dramatic changes in brightness, unlike any typical events we’ve seen before.” This is what happened to SDSS1335+0728, which is now classified as having an ‘active galactic nucleus’ (AGN) — a bright compact region powered by a massive black hole — after it brightened dramatically in December 2019 [1].

Some phenomena, like supernova explosions or tidal disruption events — when a star gets too close to a black hole and is torn apart — can make galaxies suddenly light up. But these brightness variations typically last only a few dozen or, at most, a few hundreds of days. SDSS1335+0728 is still growing brighter today, more than four years after it was first seen to ‘switch on’. Moreover, the variations detected in the galaxy, which is located 300 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, are unlike any seen before, pointing astronomers towards a different explanation.

The legal system is struggling to keep up with the criminalization of deepfake revenge porn, raising concerns about privacy, consent, and the need for more resources to detect and prove the authenticity of digital evidence.

Questions to inspire discussion.

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When listen to void of space, we hear no alien signals, but could the galaxy be quiet because ancient empires slumber inside it? Watch my exclusive video Planetary Archives & Stasis Vaults: https://nebula.tv/videos/isaacarthur–… Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur Get a Lifetime Membership to Nebula for only $300: https://go.nebula.tv/lifetime?ref=isa… Use the link gift.nebula.tv/isaacarthur to give a year of Nebula to a friend for just $30. Join this channel to get access to perks: / @isaacarthursfia Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net Join Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a… Facebook Group: / 1,583,992,725,237,264 Reddit: / isaacarthur Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content. SFIA Discord Server: / discord Credits: Dormant Alien Empires Episode 455a; July 14, 2024 Produced, Narrated & Written: Isaac Arthur Editors: Darius Said & Mark Surber Graphics: Mihail Yordanov Jeremy Jozwik Ken York YD Visual LegionTech Studios Sergio Botero Udo Schroeter Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator Lombus, “Cosmic Soup” Sergey Cheremisinov, “Labyrinth” Stellardrone, “Red Giant”, “The Divine Cosmos” Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images.

137 countries around the world have signed a “net-zero” climate change agreement to end fossil fuel use and achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050. Hydrogen is being touted as the next green energy source because it emits only water and oxygen when utilized as an energy source. Hydrogen production methods are divided into gray hydrogen, blue hydrogen, and green hydrogen depending on the energy source and carbon emissions. Among them, green hydrogen production method is the most eco-friendly method that produces hydrogen without carbon emissions by electrolyzing water using green energy.

A research team led by Dr. Albert Sung Soo Lee of the Convergence Research Center for Solutions to Electromagnetic Interference in Future-Mobility and Materials Architecturing Research Center at Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) with collaboration with Professor Chong Min Koo’s group at Sungkyunkwan University has developed an oxidatively stable molybdenum-based MXene as electrocatalyst support in anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers. As it is stable against oxidative high voltage conditions, if it is applied as a carrier for electrolysis catalysts, it can be used as an oxygen evolution reaction electrode material for green hydrogen production to reduce the cost of green hydrogen production.

The research has been published in Applied Catalysis B: Environment and Energy (“Unveiling the role of catalytically active MXene supports in enhancing the performance and durability of cobalt oxygen evolution reaction catalysts for anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers”).

Scientists at the European Space Agency have designed and 3D printed bricks that are similar to LEGO pieces and are made out of 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite dust. The pieces, called ESA Space Bricks, are part of an initiative to develop clean and sustainable buildings on the Moon that lunar settlers could live and work in. In theory, astronauts could use materials readily available on the lunar surface to build structures, launch pads, and other vital pieces of infrastructure without having to solely rely on Earth-made supplies.

But why did the scientists end up going with the LEGO-inspired design for their ESA Space Bricks? While the bricks are not currently intended to be used to construct anything on the Moon, their existence does prove to researchers that it is possible to 3D print durable interlocking building bricks out of lunar materials.

“Nobody has built a structure on the Moon, so it was great to have the flexibility to try out all kinds of designs and building techniques with our space bricks,” says ESA Science Officer Aidan Cowley. “It was both fun and useful in scientifically understanding the boundaries of these techniques.”

JAXA has not said who the attackers were, but most cybersecurity observers are pointing the finger at state actors working for China.

“The fact that a space agency was targeted with a sophisticated complex attack indicates a state actor with goals to compromise data, not just gather intelligence or send a political message, with the lead suspect being a China affiliated cyber security private company of some sort,” said Irina Tsukerman, a geopolitical analyst and the president of Scarab Rising, a global strategy advisory firm. “Such an attack is likely the work of either a state-backed independent hacker, possibly part of an intelligence gathering gang, whose methods could potentially be analyzed and compared to prior such attacks, or it could be attributed to a private cybersecurity company, most likely affiliated with China, in which case prior incidents could be harder to detect. The most interesting detail was the description of the attack and the fact that the attacker used several different types of malware and nevertheless went undetected.

Four-legged animals are innately capable of agile and adaptable movements, which allow them to move on a wide range of terrains. Over the past decades, roboticists worldwide have been trying to effectively reproduce these movements in quadrupedal (i.e., four-legged) robots.

Computational models trained via reinforcement learning have been found to achieve particularly promising results for enabling agile locomotion in quadruped robots. However, these models are typically trained in simulated environments and their performance sometimes declines when they are applied to real robots in real-world environments.

Alternative approaches to realizing agile quadruped locomotion utilize footage of moving animals collected by motion sensors and cameras as demonstrations, which are used to train controllers (i.e., algorithms for executing the movements of robots). This approach, dubbed “imitation learning,” was found to enable the reproduction of animal-like movements in some quadrupedal robots.