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Dec 20, 2021

Efficiency breakthrough cuts cost of fusion power

Posted by in categories: innovation, nuclear energy

Tokamak Energy has announced a more efficient design for the cryogenic electronics in fusion reactors. This provides a 50% reduction in the power needed for the cooling of high-temperature superconducting magnets.

Dec 20, 2021

3 Reasons Workers Will be Flush With Job Opportunities in 2022

Posted by in category: employment

As workers move around, forecasters predict additional jobs will continue to open up in the new year, giving job-switchers even more opportunities to choose from, says Julia Pollak, chief economist with the job-search site ZipRecruiter.

“We’ve seen substantial job growth in recent months, all taking place without the labor force participation rate changing,” Pollak tells CNBC Make It. She says it’s “an exciting moment for job seekers who are benefiting from employers offering hiring incentives and reducing their requirements” to fill a sharply rising number of vacancies.

Here are three reasons why Pollak believes workers will continue to have their pick of jobs in 2022, and what it will take for more Americans to rejoin the labor force.

Dec 20, 2021

Shellac for printed circuits

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, robotics/AI, sustainability

More precise, faster, cheaper: Researchers all over the world have been working for years on producing electrical circuits using additive processes such as robotic 3D-printing (so-called robocasting) with great success, but this is now becoming a problem. The metal particles that make such 3D substrates electrically conductive are exacerbating the problem of electronic waste, especially since the waste generated is likely to increase in the future in view of new types of disposable sensors, some of which are only used for a few days.

This constitutes unnecessary waste, according to Gustav Nyström, head of Empa’s Cellulose & Wood Materials lab: “There is an urgent need for materials that balance electronic performance, cost and sustainability.” To develop an environmentally friendly ink, Nyström’s team therefore set ambitious goals: metal-free, non-toxic, biodegradable. And with in mind: easily formable and stable to moisture and moderate heat.

Dec 20, 2021

China EV teardown: A $4,500 ‘alternative to walking’

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

SAIC-GM-Wuling uses cheap parts but makes them easy to replace.


TOKYO — At 28,800 yuan ($4,500), the Hongguang Mini EV has become a big seller in certain Chinese cities and villages. In Japan, a Nagoya University professor disassembled the electric vehicle to discover what kind of alchemy the manufacturer used to set such a low price.

Dec 20, 2021

Tesla Appears To Be Selling New Cars With Batteries From 2017

Posted by in category: transportation

I’m sort of confused as to exactly what’s going on here but it’s worth talking about.

Dec 20, 2021

Why Is December 21 The Shortest Day Of The Year?

Posted by in categories: education, physics, space

The empirical fact of short winter days and long winter nights has been known essentially forever, and has driven enormous amounts of human activity including the construction of monuments like the passage tomb at Newgrange that I keep banging on about in previous posts about timekeeping. The correct explanation of the phenomenon has only been understood for around 400 years, dating back to Johannes Kepler’s description of the orbits of the planets.

The change in the relative length of days and nights is due to a combination of the motion of the Earth about the Sun, and the rotation of the Earth on its axis. Specifically, it happens because the Earth’s axis is tilted by about 23 degrees relative to the axis of its orbit. And because angular momentum is conserved, that axis stays pointing in the same direction through the whole orbit, in the same way that a gyroscope on a gimbal mount will remain pointed in the same direction in space as it’s moved around.

Continue reading “Why Is December 21 The Shortest Day Of The Year?” »

Dec 20, 2021

Scientists Taught Human Brain Cells In a Dish How to Play ‘Pong’

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI

And they’re faster than AI.

Researchers at Cortical Labs, a biotechnology startup, have successfully taught human brain cells in a petri dish how to play the 2D table tennis simulation video game “Pong”.

Continue reading “Scientists Taught Human Brain Cells In a Dish How to Play ‘Pong’” »

Dec 20, 2021

France Built the World’s First Carbon-Negative Public Building. And It’s Made of Hemp?

Posted by in categories: health, materials

It’s a sports hall.

A French architecture and landscaping company from the town of Croissy-Beaubourg has completed the country’s first hempcrete public building: Pierre Chevet sports hall.

The 4,000-square foot (380 square meters) building includes an exercise hall and changing rooms. What is Hempcrete? A mixture of hemp with lime and water, the sports hall that’s made of Hempcrete is a carbon-negative building.

Continue reading “France Built the World’s First Carbon-Negative Public Building. And It’s Made of Hemp?” »

Dec 20, 2021

A New Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Will Put China ‘20 to 30 Years Ahead’ of the West

Posted by in category: military

JF-22 will reach speeds of up to Mach 30.

A Chinese physicist revealed that a new wind tunnel in Beijing will “soon” be unveiled that will put China decades ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to testing hypersonic weapons technology, a South China Morning Post article reveals.

In an online lecture last week, Han Guilai, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, revealed new information about the JF-22 wind tunnel in Beijing, which will be capable of simulating flights at Mach 30 — 30 times the speed of sound and approximately 6.2 miles (10 km) per second. The launch date for the JF-22 wind tunnel is currently classified.

Continue reading “A New Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Will Put China ‘20 to 30 Years Ahead’ of the West” »

Dec 20, 2021

Cuttlefish-Like Robots Are Far More Efficient Than Propeller-Powered Machines

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

And they could soon help explore the deep sea.

New York-based firm Pliant Energy Systems is building a marine system reminiscent of the cuttlefish with its rippling underwater motion, a report from The Economist reveals.

Continue reading “Cuttlefish-Like Robots Are Far More Efficient Than Propeller-Powered Machines” »