Lifeboat Foundation

Li-ion batteries and other emerging lithium-based battery technologies are currently used to power a wide range of devices, including smartphones, laptops, tablets and cameras. Despite their advantages, batteries containing lithium do not always retain their performance over time.

One of the main reasons for the performance decay observed in some Li-based batteries is that the lithium contained within them sometimes becomes inactive or “dead.” This “dead lithium” can cause capacity decay and thermal runaway, which can ultimately reduce a battery’s lifespan and impair its performance.

Researchers at Zhejiang University of Technology in China and Argonne National Laboratory in the U.S. have recently devised a strategy to restore inactive lithium in Li metal anodes. This strategy, outlined in a paper published in Nature Energy, is based on a chemical reaction known as iodine redox.

With some unfortunate scifi examples.

What is it that gives meaning to your life? Is death necessary to give life meaning? Nicola is not quite convinced of that, and in this episode, he’ll tell you why along with why he’d like a longer life in good health instead.

Continue reading “Death, life, and meaning walk into a bar… — YouTube” »

Physics World

System works in minutes and is claimed to be as sensitive as PCR tests.

It can track objects the size of a golf ball traveling at up 30000 kilometers per hour in LEO.

There’s a new giant space radar in Costa Rica that can track orbital debris as small as two centimeters. It was built by LeoLabs, a company that provides commercial radar tracking services for objects in Low Earth Orbit, which has declared the site fully operational less than a year after breaking ground. LeoLabs CEO Dan Ceperley said it’s the “most advanced commercial space radar of its kind” — one that’s capable of tracking objects the size of a golf ball traveling at up 30000 kilometers per hour.

The radar can keep an eye on both active satellites and space junk, which make up the vast majority of man-made objects found in LEO. They’re also the risks LeoLabs’ customers — made up of satellite operators, defense, space and regulatory agencies, insurance and scientific institutions — want to keep tabs on.

Continue reading “New space radar in Costa Rica can track even tiny orbital debris” »

Multi-resistant pathogens are a serious and increasing problem in today’s medicine. Where antibiotics are ineffective, these bacteria can cause life-threatening infections. Researchers at Empa and ETH Zurich are currently developing nanoparticles that can be used to detect and kill multi-resistant pathogens that hide inside our body cells. The team published the study in the current issue of the journal Nanoscale (“Inorganic nanohybrids combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria hiding within human macrophages”).

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are being swallowed by a human white blood cell. Colorized, scanning electron microscopic (SEM) image. (Image: CDC/NIAID)

In the arms race “mankind against bacteria”, bacteria are currently ahead of us. Our former miracle weapons, antibiotics, are failing more and more frequently when germs use tricky maneuvers to protect themselves from the effects of these drugs. Some species even retreat into the inside of human cells, where they remain “invisible” to the immune system. These particularly dreaded pathogens include multi-resistant staphylococci (MRSA), which can cause life-threatening diseases such as sepsis or pneumonia.

New AI-based handwriting analysis of the Great Isiah Scroll reveals the work of 2 scribes—one mirroring the other. Via Ars Technica.

Most scholars thought the Isaiah Scroll was copied by a single author. New handwriting analysis just revealed otherwise.

Advances in machine learning have made it possible to automate a growing array of coding tasks, from auto-completing segments of code and fine tuning algorithms… See More.

Programs such as GPT-3 can compose convincing text. Some people are using the tool to automate software development and hunt for bugs.

Perseverance has performed a test of its MOXIE instrument to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen for the first time on Mars.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Arm is the technology company of the hour. Or one of, at least. The chip designer rose to great heights in the mobile phone biz and now its many license holders are looking to twist an ARM processor into something more computer-shaped. Arm is finding increasing number of advocates from Intel and AMD’s firm customers too: perhaps the most notable among them being Apple, with the M1 chip in MacBooks and the new iMac, but Amazon, Microsoft, and Arm’s prospective buyer, Nvidia, all have skin in the game.

Yet Intel has a plan: a brand new foundry business. That which will offer flexibility in a way that was largely ruled out by oppressive x86 licenses and Intel’s unwillingness to share in the past. It’s what Arm offers, after all. A way for companies to design a chip as they see fit, and leave the unwanted features on the cutting room floor.