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Mar 17, 2022

Australian researchers claim ‘giant leap’ in technology to produce affordable renewable hydrogen

Posted by in categories: energy, government, sustainability

The achievement, published in the peer-reviewed Nature Communication journal today, could see the Morrison government’s so-called hydrogen stretch goal of $2 a kilogram to make the fuel competitive reached as soon as 2025, the Hysata chief executive, Paul Barrett, said.

“We’ve gone from 75% [efficiency] to 95% – it’s really a giant leap for the electrolysis industry,” Barrett said.

Renewable energy from sources such as wind and solar is making big inroads into the power sector, supplying more than a third of eastern Australia’s electricity in the final three months of 2021. However, decarbonising industry and some transport, such as trucking, is likely to be tougher unless fuels such as hydrogen become much cheaper.

Mar 17, 2022

Science of Aliens, Part 11

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, science

Could Aliens Get Cancer? What is it´s root cause and would cancer evolve in an Alien Biosphere?

Mar 17, 2022

Dr. Douglas Willard — Game Changing Development Program, Space Technology Mission Directorate, NASA

Posted by in categories: economics, education, engineering, government, space travel

Advancing Space Tech For Future Missions — Dr. Douglas Willard, Ph.D., Game Changing Development Program, Space Technology Mission Directorate, NASA


Dr. Douglas E. Willard, PhD, (https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/game_changing_de…g-willard/) is Program Element Manager, Game Changing Development Program, Space Technology Mission Directorate, at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Continue reading “Dr. Douglas Willard — Game Changing Development Program, Space Technology Mission Directorate, NASA” »

Mar 17, 2022

Will your digital twin make you healthier? | Jacqueline Alderson | TEDxPerth

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

Would you share your data for the common good? Biomechanist Jacqueline Alderson shows how sophisticated simulations based on real data can help prevent disease, illness and injury. Jacqueline Alderson is an Associate Professor of Biomechanics at the University of Western Australia and Adjunct Professor of Human Performance, Innovation and Technology at the Auckland University of Technology. She has always been curious about movement — whether it’s helping surgeons make best practice decisions or helping AFL players avoid knee injuries. She now travels the world to share her knowledge in human movement, wearable tech and artificial intelligence and its role in tracking, analysing and intervening in the human condition. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Mar 17, 2022

Wormholes May Be Lurking in the Universe — Here Are Proposed Ways of Finding Them

Posted by in categories: cosmology, information science, physics

Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity profoundly changed our thinking about fundamental concepts in physics, such as space and time. But it also left us with some deep mysteries. One was black holes, which were only unequivocally detected over the past few years. Another was “wormholes” – bridges connecting different points in spacetime, in theory providing shortcuts for space travellers.

Wormholes are still in the realm of the imagination. But some scientists think we will soon be able to find them, too. Over the past few months, several new studies have suggested intriguing ways forward.

Black holes and wormholes are special types of solutions to Einstein’s equations, arising when the structure of spacetime is strongly bent by gravity. For example, when matter is extremely dense, the fabric of spacetime can become so curved that not even light can escape. This is a black hole.

Mar 17, 2022

Hidden Passage: Could We Spy a Traversable Wormhole in the Milky Way’s Heart?

Posted by in category: cosmology

Stojkovic and Dai say that by monitoring the motions of stars on our side—such as S2, a known star orbiting about 17 light-hours from Sagittarius A*—we could look for tiny but perceptible accelerations caused by a wormhole’s presence. If telescopic observations of S2’s motion reach a precision of 0.000001 meter per second squared, the duo calculate such measurements could reveal the “imprint” of a star not much larger than our sun pulling on S2 from the wormhole’s far side.

If wormholes do exist, there is some question as to whether they link two points in our own universe or in two different parallel universes. For Dai and Stojkovic’s purposes, however, the difference is academic, because either scenario should produce similar detectable effects. Of course, finding a small acceleration that corresponded to a star on the other side would not be proof of the wormhole’s existence, perhaps instead hinting at unseen smaller black holes nearby, for example. But it might point in that direction. If no such acceleration were detected, given the expectation that a supermassive black hole orbited by stars would exist at a wormhole’s other side, then the presence of such a passageway in Sagittarius A* could be seemingly ruled out.

Cosimo Bambi of Fudan University in China, who was not involved in the paper, notes that a failure to find any anomalous motions could carry implications just as large as those for a success. But he cautions that any excitement about such measurements would be somewhat premature. “Of course, [this study] may be too optimistic,” he says. “But in principle, it’s possible. We cannot exclude [wormholes], right now, from current observations. Sometimes you discover something even if you don’t discover anything.”

Mar 17, 2022

Neurons That Drive Competition and Social Behavior Within Groups Identified

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Summary: Neurons in the anterior cingulate store social rank information to inform upcoming decisions. The findings could shed new light on social deficits associated with ASD and schizophrenia.

Source: Mass General.

New research in mice has identified neurons in the brain that influence competitive interactions between individuals and that play a critical role in shaping the social behavior of groups.

Mar 17, 2022

MIT’s Robot Cheetah Looks Hilariously Awkward Teaching Itself to Run

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

The MIT engineers behind the robot mini cheetah released a video showcasing its new running and terrain-traversing skills on Thursday.

Mar 17, 2022

Startup Builds Brain-Reading Helmet That Scans Your Brain in Infrared

Posted by in categories: neuroscience, wearables

US-based Kernel released a piece of wearable helmet tech called the Kernel Flow that uses near-infrared light to scan your brain with lasers.

Mar 17, 2022

The experiments trying to crack physics’ ‘biggest’ question: what is dark energy?

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

Dark energy is a completely unknown source making up 70% of the universe. Will any of the new projects designed to find out what it is succeed?