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Aug 31, 2021

The New Thermodynamic Understanding of Clocks

Posted by in category: futurism

Investigations of the simplest possible clocks have revealed their fundamental limitations — as well as insights into the nature of time itself.

Aug 31, 2021

Amateur astronauts: SpaceX’s civilian launch on Sept. 15 is a mission like no other

Posted by in categories: government, space travel

The launch next month of the first all-civilian mission to orbit is an ambitious test for a burgeoning space industry’s futuristic dream of sending many more ordinary people to space in the next few years.

Why it matters: Companies and nations envision millions of people living and working in space without having to become professional, government-backed astronauts. Those hopes are riding on SpaceX’s next crewed mission, called Inspiration4.

Aug 31, 2021

How radio astronomy put new eyes on the cosmos

Posted by in category: space

A century ago, radio astronomy didn’t exist. But since the 1930s, it has uncovered cosmic secrets from planets next door and the faint glow of the universe’s beginnings.

Aug 31, 2021

SpaceX Starship: How the Mechazilla grabbing arm will enable a Mars rocket

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, space travel

https://youtube.com/watch?v=FduP45p-o6k

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has plans for a giant orbital arm that he claimed resembles a character from Godzilla.

Aug 31, 2021

Firms: Live global fire map of earth

Posted by in category: space

Global fire map and data. NASA | LANCE | Fire Information for Resource Management System provides near real-time active fire data from MODIS and VIIRS to meet the needs of firefighters, scientists and users interested in monitoring fires. Fire data is available for download or can be viewed through a map interface. Users can subscribe to email alerts bases on their area of interest.

Aug 31, 2021

NIH launches study of extra COVID-19 vaccine dose in people with autoimmune disease

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

Trial also will test pausing immunosuppressive medication to improve antibody response.

The National Institutes of Health has begun a clinical trial to assess the antibody response to an extra dose of an authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine in people with autoimmune disease who did not respond to an original COVID-19 vaccine regimen. The trial also will investigate whether pausing immunosuppressive therapy for autoimmune disease improves the antibody response to an extra dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in this population. The Phase 2 trial is sponsored and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, and is being conducted by the NIAID-funded Autoimmunity Centers of Excellence.

“Many people who have an autoimmune disease that requires immunosuppressive therapy have had a poor immune response to the authorized and approved COVID-19 vaccines, placing these individuals at high risk for the disease,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “We are determined to find ways to elicit a protective immune response to the vaccines in this population. This new study is an important step in that direction.”

Aug 31, 2021

Watch Rivian R1T Wade Through 3-Foot-Deep Water in Trial

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Plan ahead.

We have brought you multiple videos of Tesla cars in ‘boat mode’ wading through flooded streets across different parts of the world. Electric SUV maker, Rivian, seems to have an unofficial ‘boat mode’ as well, judging from a reasonably well performance in a recent test run.


Tesla’s rival electric SUV-maker Rivian just showcased its new R1T going through deep waters and unlike gas-powered cars, it seemed unbothered.

Continue reading “Watch Rivian R1T Wade Through 3-Foot-Deep Water in Trial” »

Aug 31, 2021

Innovative flying car batteries promise 50-mile trips on 10-minute charge

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability, transportation

The automotive electric vehicle revolution paves the way for urban air mobility, but people must not be naive to believe that electric vehicle batteries are enough for electric flight. The need for fast charging, 30 times the energy throughput, and three times the power demand requires a new generation of batteries.

Engineers at Penn State have now demonstrated two energy-dense lithium-ion batteries that can recharge with enough energy for a 50-mile eVTOL trip in five to ten minutes. These batteries could sustain more than 2,000 fast charges over their lifetime.

In the last couple of years, several prototypes have emerged – including from companies like Volocopter, Boeing, Lilium, SkyDrive. While some prototypes have included wheels, they all incorporate spinning rotors to facilitate takeoff and landing, including the air taxi shown off last year by Hyundai, which is basically a small helicopter.

Aug 31, 2021

NuScale modular nuclear reactors can produce over 2,000 kg/hour of hydrogen

Posted by in categories: economics, nuclear energy

NuScale Power, the startup specializing in the design of small modular nuclear reactors, has published new data concerning the production capacities of its NuScale Power Module (NPM). Thanks to the 25% increase in power output of an NPM, each NuScale module is now capable of producing 2,053 kg/hour of hydrogen, or nearly 50 metric tons per day.

Just one NuScale Power Module can produce 77 MWe of carbon-free electricity to power 60,000 homes in the U.S. NuScale’s flagship power plant design can house up to 12 modules for a total gross output of 924 MWe. The 924 MWe that a 12-module NuScale plant produces is enough to power nearly 700,000 homes with clean, reliable energy.

Continue reading “NuScale modular nuclear reactors can produce over 2,000 kg/hour of hydrogen” »

Aug 31, 2021

Elon Musk’s companies currently provide jobs to ~110k people worldwide

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

Elon Musk recently shared a rather interesting update on Twitter — his companies now employ about 110,000 people worldwide. This is quite impressive considering that in the grand scheme of things, Tesla, SpaceX, and Musk’s other ventures are still just getting started.

Musk’s update came as a response to a TSLA bull on Twitter who inquired if his companies had already reached the 100,000-employee milestone. Musk’s response revealed that his companies had not only met their 100,000 employee mark — they had already passed it.

Elon Musk did not share further details about his companies’ worldwide employee headcount, though there is a good chance that the lion’s share of his workers today are in the United States and China. These are the two countries where Tesla, one of Musk’s largest companies, has operational vehicle production plants, after all.