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Dec 19, 2021

Quantum effects make magnetene surprisingly slippery

Posted by in categories: chemistry, quantum physics

The ultra-slippery nature of a two-dimensional material called magnetene could be down to quantum effects rather than the mechanics of physical layers sliding across each other, say researchers at the University of Toronto in Canada and Rice University in the US. The result sheds light on the physics of friction at the microscopic scale and could aid the development of reduced-friction lubricants for tiny, implantable devices.

Two-dimensional materials are usually obtained by shaving atomically thin slices from a sample of the bulk material. In graphene, a 2D form of carbon that was the first material to be isolated using this method, the friction between adjacent layers is very low because they are bound together by weak van der Waals forces, and therefore slide past each other like playing cards fanning out in a deck. For magnetene, the bulk material is magnetite, a form of iron oxide with the chemical formula Fe3O4that exists as a 3D lattice in the natural ore. The bonds between layers are much stronger in magnetene than in graphene, however, so its similarly low-friction nature was a bit of a mystery.

Dec 19, 2021

50 Years Ago, Scientists Were Genetically Modifying Mosquitoes

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

In 1971, scientists turned to genetics to control disease-spreading mosquitoes without DDT. Today, there are a variety of pesticide-free methods.

Dec 19, 2021

Amazon to launch an Instacart-like service in the US next year, report says

Posted by in category: futurism

Amazon’s online grocery delivery efforts are reportedly set to ramp up in the US and Europe in 2022.

Dec 19, 2021

Cosmologists Close in on Logical Laws for the Big Bang

Posted by in categories: cosmology, mathematics, physics

Physicists are translating commonsense principles into strict mathematical constraints for how our universe must have behaved at the beginning of time.

Dec 19, 2021

Massive attack against 1.6 million WordPress sites underway

Posted by in category: futurism

Wordfence analysts report having detected a massive wave of attacks in the last couple of days, originating from 16,000 IPs and targeting over 1.6 million WordPress sites.

The threat actors target four WordPress plugins and fifteen Epsilon Framework themes, one of which has no available patch.

Some of the targeted plugins were patched all the way back in 2018, while others had their vulnerabilities addressed as recently as this week.

Dec 19, 2021

Elon Musk Shares Video of Starship Steering Its Mighty Engines

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, space travel

Billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared a video on Twitter of the giant Starship and its steering engines, a sign production may be back on track.

Dec 19, 2021

Google staffs up to build OS for unknown ‘innovative AR device’

Posted by in categories: augmented reality, business, computing, mobile phones

The company’s current Glass hardware is built on Android.


Google is hiring an “Augmented Reality OS” team focused on building software for an “innovative AR device,” according to job listings spotted by 9to5Google. The team is led by Mark Lucovsky, who announced he’d joined the company this week. Lucovsky previously worked at Meta developing an in-house alternative to Android to power the company’s hardware, and also co-authored the Windows NT operating system.

According to Google’s job listings, the Augmented Reality OS team is building “the software components that control and manage the hardware on [its] Augmented Reality (AR) products.” This is far from Google’s first stab at developing AR software, and follows the company’s work on ARCore for Android and Tango. The company’s Google Glass, which is aimed at the business and enterprise market, is currently built on Android.

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Dec 19, 2021

Quantifying Biological Age: Blood Test #6 in 2021

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Join us on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/MichaelLustgartenPhD

Levine’s Biological age calculator is embedded as an Excel file in this link from my website:
https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/09/09/quantifying-biological-age/

Dec 19, 2021

Andrew Ng: Forget about building an AI-first business. Start with a mission

Posted by in categories: business, robotics/AI

An AI pioneer reflects on how companies can use machine learning to transform their operations and solve critical problems.

Dec 19, 2021

JinkoSolar launches next-generation N-type solar modules

Posted by in category: energy

JinkoSolar has announced that it has launched the 2021 series of Tiger Neo modules. The new technology promises to be much more efficient.


The new Tiger Neo adopts N-type TOPCon technology with further enhancements in performance, power, energy density and reliability. In mass production, the new module delivers a maximum power output of up to 620 watts and an ultra-high conversion efficiency of up to 22.30 per cent.

JinkoSolar’s N-type TOPCon technology provides about 5 per cent to 6 per cent more efficiency than mono PERC and about 3 per cent to 4 per cent more energy generation. Mass produced from 182mm wafers, the new Tiger Neo modules feature Multi-Busbar (MBB) and half-cut cell technology to reduce internal resistance loss, and the circular solder strip design increases optical gain so that the module has an ultra-high efficiency of up to 22.30 per cent.

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