Lifeboat Foundation

The precise understanding of shear banding emergence in amorphous solids is still a mystery, due to the intrinsic entangling of three elementary local atomic motions: shear, dilatation and rotation.

Recently, researchers from the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMCAS) have unveiled the spatiotemporal sequence of shear band in amorphous solids through decoupling and quantitatively characterizing the highly entangled shear, dilatation and rotation flow units.

The results were published in Physical Review Research.

High-performance, micro-sized electrochemical energy storage devices are essential for future miniaturized electronic devices, such as smart medical implants, wireless sensors, and the Internet of Things. Microbatteries (MBs) typically show higher energy density and more stable voltage output than micro-supercapacitors.

However, current MBs involve tedious construction procedures and unsatisfactory electrochemical performance. In addition, no methods exist to construct or manipulate a liquid microelectrode.

A joint research team led by Prof. Qu Liangti from Tsinghua University, Prof. Zhang Zhipan from the Beijing Institute of Technology, and Prof. Liu Feng from the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMCAS) recently proposed a dual-plating strategy to rapidly construct new zinc–bromine microbatteries (Zn–Br₂ MBs) with ultrahigh areal energy density and polarity-switchable functionality.

For his work on liquid metal batteries that could enable the long-term storage of renewable energy, MIT Professor Donald Sadoway has won the 2022 European Inventor Award, in the category for Non-European Patent Office Countries.

Sadoway is a longtime supporter and friend of MIT’s Materials Research Laboratory and is the John F. Elliott Professor of Materials Chemistry in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

“By enabling the large-scale storage of renewable energy, Donald Sadoway’s invention is a huge step towards the deployment of carbon-free electricity generation,” says António Campinos, President of the European Patent Office. “He has spent his career studying electrochemistry and has transformed this expertise into an invention that represents a huge step forward in the transition to green energy.”

Wing-like rigid sails are leaping from the rarified world of yacht racing to the backs of cargo ships.

There they go again. The firm BAR Technologies has roots in the elite environment of the America’s Cup hyper-competitive racing series, and lately it has been applying its know-how to design rigid sails for cargo ships. That’s right, wind power is making a comeback on the high seas, and the global shipping industry is down for it. Well, beginning to be down for it. Rigid sails for cargo ships are still in the tryout phase, but that could change as Russia continues to pinch the global fuel supply and climate goals kick in.

Continue reading “High-Tech Hard Sails Transform Old Cargo Ships Into Racing Yachts” »

Any control of the Moon would be temporary and localized.

In an op/ed space policy experts explain why China is unlikely to try exert power over the Moon.

Ritu Raman leads the Raman Lab, where she creates adaptive biological materials for applications in medicine and machines.

It seems that Ritu Raman was born with an aptitude for engineering. You may say it is in her blood since her mother is a chemical engineer, her father is a mechanical engineer, and her grandfather is a civil engineer. Throughout her childhood, she repeatedly witnessed firsthand the beneficial impact that engineering careers could have on communities. In fact, watching her parents build communication towers to connect the rural villages of Kenya to the global infrastructure is one of her earliest memories. She still vividly remembers the excitement she felt watching the emergence of a physical manifestation of innovation that would have a long-lasting positive impact on the community.

Continue reading “MIT’s Raman Lab: At the Forefront of Building With Biology” »

https://youtu.be/AmwuYrr4TfY

The story of future video games starts when artificial intelligence takes over building the games for players — while they play them. And human brains are mapped by virtual reality headsets.

This sci fi documentary also covers A.I. npc characters, Metaverse scoreboards, brain to computer chips and gaming, Elon Musk and Neuralink, and the simulation hypothesis.

Continue reading “Timelapse of Future Gaming Worlds (2030 & Beyond)” »

Cancer researchers have discovered how mutated cells can sense the Goldilocks sweet spots in a human body.

Led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, an international group of researchers has shed new light on how cancer thrives.

Previous studies have shown how cancer cells can sense the stiffness of the environment they are in, from hard bone and tough muscle to soft, fatty tissue.