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Dec 6, 2021

Scientists develop a less-flammable lithium-ion battery that uses water

Posted by in category: futurism

Researchers have developed a prototype lithium-ion battery that uses water as an electrolytic solution. The water replaces a flammable organic solvent.

The good news, according to the team of scientists, is that their prototype is durable, can be quickly recharged, and is free from the risk of catching fire. (Just a reminder that gasoline in ICE cars is flammable, folks.)

In the abstract published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, the abstract states that the prototype achieves “higher ionic conductivity, environmental benignancy, and high safety.”

Dec 6, 2021

How India Became the New Hope for Tech Investors

Posted by in categories: business, innovation

This year has witnessed a breakout for India’s startups. Companies going public in 2021 have raised record cash. But they also face unique challenges to grow even bigger.

For exclusive insights from Bloomberg’s technology reporters around the world, sign up for Fully Charged, a daily newsletter from Bloomberg Technology: https://www.bloomberg.com/account/newsletters/technology?utm…=quicktake.

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Dec 6, 2021

Chinese rover spots ‘mystery house’ on far side of Moon

Posted by in categories: habitats, space

While the nature of the object can only be speculated until Yutu-2 gets closer, it is unlikely to be a bunker left behind by an interplanetary species.

It is more likely to be a boulder or a piece of debris, like several others in that region of the moon.

The Yutu-2 rover was launched in 2018 by China as part of the Chang’e-4 lunar lander mission. It entered lunar orbit on December 12, 2019, before scripting history on January 3, 2020, by becoming the first mission to accomplish a soft landing on the lunar surface.

Dec 6, 2021

Clearview AI is closer to getting a US patent for its facial recognition technology

Posted by in categories: internet, robotics/AI

Critics argue that the company violates privacy.


Clearview AI, the company known for its facial recognition technology that fills its database with images it scrapes from the web, is a step closer to obtaining a US patent for its controversial tech. The company has received a “notice of allowance” from the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Dec 6, 2021

New Brain Maps Can Predict Behaviors

Posted by in categories: mapping, neuroscience

Rapid advances in large-scale connectomics are beginning to spotlight the importance of individual variations in the neural circuitry. They also highlight the limitations of “wiring diagrams” alone.

Dec 6, 2021

Valley snow and sub-zero temps possible as winter weather returns to Reno area

Posted by in category: futurism

After unseasonably warm temperatures, a series of winter storms will bring snowy and frigid conditions to Reno and Tahoe.

Dec 6, 2021

Galaxy Discovered With No Trace of Dark Matter

Posted by in category: cosmology

An international team of astronomers led by researchers from the Netherlands has found no trace of dark matter in the galaxy AGC 114,905, despite taking detailed measurements over a course of forty hours with state-of-the-art telescopes. They will present their findings in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

When Pavel Mancera Piña (University of Groningen and ASTRON, the Netherlands) and his colleagues discovered six galaxies with little to no dark matter, they were told “measure again, you’ll see that there will be dark matter around your galaxy.” However, after forty hours of detailed observations using the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico (United States), the evidence for a dark matter-free galaxy only became stronger.

The galaxy in question, AGC 114,905, is about 250 million light-years away. It is classified as an ultra-diffuse dwarf galaxy, with the name ‘dwarf galaxy’ referring to its luminosity and not to its size. The galaxy is about the size of our own Milky Way but contains a thousand times fewer stars. The prevailing idea is that all galaxies, and certainly ultra-diffuse dwarf galaxies, can only exist if they are held together by dark matter.

Dec 6, 2021

The world’s biggest laser: Function, fusion power and solving a supernova

Posted by in categories: cosmology, nuclear energy, satellites

If someone told you that the world’s biggest laser was in California that has something to do with space and national defence, you might imagine it was a super-weapon designed to blast enemy satellites out of the sky. But the reality is quite different. The new laser is a unique research tool for scientists, capable of creating the extreme conditions that exist inside stars and nuclear explosions.

The giant laser is located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, California, and it goes by the rather cryptic name of the National Ignition Facility (NIF). That’s because, in the context of nuclear science, “ignition” has a very specific meaning according to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It refers to the point at which a fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining – a condition that is found inside the sun and other stars, but is extremely difficult to achieve in an earthbound laboratory. Triggering nuclear fusion requires enormously high temperatures and pressures, and that’s where NIF’s giant laser comes in.

Dec 6, 2021

Elon Musk’s Mars Roadster comments reveal a big SpaceX problem

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, space travel, sustainability

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk launched his red Tesla Roadster electric car on a tour of the Solar System. But did it really orbit Mars?

Dec 6, 2021

Sean Carroll: Is Consciousness Emergent?

Posted by in categories: cosmology, neuroscience, physics

Theoretical physicist Sean Carroll joins us to discuss whether it make sense to think of consciousness as an emergent phenomenon, and whether contemporary physics points in this direction.

We discussed Sean’s essay responding to Philip’s book ‘Galileo’s Error,’ and Philip’s counter-response essay. Both are available here: https://conscienceandconsciousness.com/2021/08/01/19-essays-on-galileos-error/

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