Page 5372
Oct 1, 2021
Merck’s COVID pill cuts deaths, hospitalisations
Posted by Omuterema Akhahenda in categories: biotech/medical, health
By half, it would soon ask health officials around the world to authorise its use ⤵️.
If authorised for use, it would be the first pill shown to treat COVID and a major step in controlling the pandemic.
Oct 1, 2021
From Phones to Cars and Fridges, This Taiwan Firm Powers the World. But Success Brings Problems
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: computing, mobile phones, transportation
On the northwest coast of Taiwan, nestled between mudflats teeming with fiddler crabs and sweet-scented persimmon orchards, sits the world’s most important company that you’ve probably never heard of. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of the semiconductor chips—otherwise known as integrated circuits, or just chips—that power our phones, laptops, cars, watches, refrigerators and more. Its clients include Apple, Intel, Qualcomm, AMD and Nvidia.
Inside its boxy off-white headquarters in sleepy Hsinchu County, technicians in brightly hued protective suits—white and blue for employees, green for contractors and pink for pregnant women—push polished metal carts under a sallow protective light. Above their heads, “claw machines”—nicknamed after the classic arcade game—haul 9-kg plastic containers containing 25 individual slices, or “wafers,” of silicon on rails among hundreds of manufacturing stations, where they are extracted one by one for processing, much like a jukebox selecting a record. Only after six to eight weeks of painstaking etching and testing can each wafer be carved up into individual chips to be dispatched around the planet.
“We always say that it’s like building a high-rise,” one TSMC section manager tells TIME, pointing to how his technicians diligently follow instructions dictated to them via tablet. “You can only build one story at a time.”
Oct 1, 2021
The $14 trillion reason you should care about the shipping container shortage
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: futurism
Some 90% of the world’s goods are transported by sea, which makes the current shortage a real problem.
Oct 1, 2021
Bayesian Inference for Gravitational Waves From Binary Neutron Star Mergers in 3G Observatories
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: physics, space
In the 2030’s, gravitational-wave detectors will be thousands of times more sensitive than Advanced LIGO
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory supported by the National Science Foundation and operated by Caltech and MIT. It’s designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. It’s multi-kilometer-scale gravitational wave detectors use laser interferometry to measure the minute ripples in space-time caused by passing gravitational waves. It consists of two widely separated interferometers within the United States—one in Hanford, Washington and the other in Livingston, Louisiana.
Oct 1, 2021
Euclid telescope ready for extreme space environment
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: cosmology
ESA’s Euclid mission has reached a new milestone in its development with successful testing of the telescope and instruments showing that it can operate and achieve the required performance in the extreme environment of space.
Euclid will study dark energy and dark matter. Whilst these cannot be seen directly by any telescope, their presence and influence can be inferred by observing the large scale distribution of galaxies in the universe.
Continue reading “Euclid telescope ready for extreme space environment” »
Oct 1, 2021
SpaceX Crew-3 launch date, time, and astronauts for the post-Inspiration4 mission
Posted by Atanas Atanasov in category: space travel
SpaceX’s first all-civilian mission to orbit was a success. Now it’s time for the sequel.
The SpaceX Crew-3 mission will launch no earlier than 2:43 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday, October 30. It will take off using a Falcon 9 rocket.
Oct 1, 2021
New foundation will distribute $1bn for aging research
Posted by Future Timeline in categories: biotech/medical, life extension
“The Foundation has created a unique and transparent mechanism for boosting early longevity research worldwide and ensuring mass public participation in decision making,” said Alex Zhavoronkov, Visionary Board member and an expert in AI-powered drug discovery. “This approach finally allows us to speak about getting closer to the idea of mass adoption of longevity ideas and treatments.”
“Age is the greatest risk factor for nearly every major cause of death and disability in developed nations. Therapeutically targeting biological aging is key to fulfilling the promise of 21st century medicine, and the Foundation is poised to play a central role in making this a reality,” said Matt Kaeberlein, CEO of the American Aging Association and Professor at the University of Washington, where he leads several major initiatives.
“In five years, healthy longevity will not only exist as a lab-proven concept, but will become part of everyone’s life,” said Andrea Maier, Visionary Board member and co-director of the Centre for Healthy Longevity at the National University of Singapore.
Oct 1, 2021
Waymo’s Path To Robot Truck Business Means Mastering Wind, Flares And Pedestrians On The Highway
Posted by Gemechu Taye in categories: business, robotics/AI, transportation
Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s autonomous driving company, is vague on exactly when semis controlled by its technology will be hauling cargo, without drivers, across the U.S. but has a detailed list of challenges to be mastered first, ranging from rough winds and slick roads, stray pedestrians on the highway and figuring out how robot trucks can deploy safety flares when they have to pull over.
Full Story:
Oct 1, 2021
One In Five Automotive Industry Leaders See Intelligent Systems As The Future Predominant Business Model
Posted by Gemechu Taye in categories: business, transportation
While the idea of the automobile was invented in the late 1800s in Germany and France, the true commercial revolution of the industry occurred in the 1920s in the U.S. There were 40+ years of experimentation between 1,880 and 1,920 with different form factors such as steering sticks, drive systems, and even names (like the Stanley Steamer). Brands and technologies were secondary until the true mass production of one common form, and with that development in the 1920s came the exceptional volumes and growth rates that led to the tripling of registered drivers in the U.S. between 1920 and 1930.
Full Story: