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May 28, 2020

A Virus-Hunter Falls Prey to a Virus He Underestimated

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Peter Piot, 71, one of the giants of Ebola and AIDS research, is still battling a coronavirus infection that hit him “like a bus” in March.

May 27, 2020

What Bill Gates hopes we learn from coronavirus

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Vox interviewed Bill Gates in 2015 about his fears of a global pandemic. Now that we’re living in that reality, what does he think comes next?

Watch our 2015 interview with Bill Gates here: https://youtu.be/9AEMKudv5p0

Continue reading “What Bill Gates hopes we learn from coronavirus” »

May 27, 2020

Chinese Researchers Disrupt Malware Attack That Infected Thousands of PCs

Posted by in category: cybercrime/malcode

Chinese baidu and qihoo 360 researchers disrupt double gun botnet malware attack that infected thousands of pcs.

May 27, 2020

German firm introducing game-changing solar-wind-wave energy platform

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability

A German power firm will launch demonstrations of a one-of-a-kind, triple-threat power generating platform off Iraklio, Greece, later this year.

SINN Power has been testing wave converter modules for five years. Buoys attached to steel frame components generate energy as waves push them up and down. The modular nature of the platform is unique in the industry.

“The has been a key element since we started developing maritime technologies that allow flexibility and a wide variety of applications,” according to SINN Power CEO Philipp Sinn. “The floating platform can supply to islands across the world … and contribute to the worldwide implementation of offshore wind farms.”

May 27, 2020

Scientists develop the most heat-resistant material ever created

Posted by in categories: materials, transportation

A group of scientists from NUST MISIS developed a ceramic material with the highest melting point among currently known compounds. Due to the unique combination of physical, mechanical and thermal properties, the material is promising for use in the most heat-loaded components of aircraft, such as nose fairings, jet engines and sharp front edges of wings operating at temperatures above 2000 degrees C. The results are published in Ceramics International.

May 27, 2020

Mobile Nuclear Microreactor Development: A Military-Civilian Symbiosis

Posted by in categories: computing, military, nuclear energy

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The US Department of Defense has been working with American companies for the past year on a project to develop a prototype for a portable nuclear microreactor, a device intended for use by the US military in security scenarios around the world. The US Department of Energy is also involved in the project, with the aim of providing electricity to remote sites that are difficult to link to the grid. The project thus represents a symbiosis between military and civilian technological development.

A symbiotic relationship between military and civilian aspects of technological development gained momentum in the US after the end of WWII. This was particularly visible among applications in the communication, computing, and aerospace fields, but was also present in the field of nuclear technology. Some technology projects were presented as dual-use in order to justify the cost of their development.

One example of nuclear energy symbiosis was the development of nuclear power-generating reactors. By 1956, more than a decade after the destruction of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by nuclear bombs, only the UK’s Calder Hall nuclear power plant, which had four reactors each producing 60 MW electricity (MWe), was in operation. However, as of December 2019, 443 nuclear power generators were operating worldwide, with a total output of 395 gigawatts electric (GWe)—an average output of nearly 900 MWe per reactor.

May 27, 2020

Mysterious ‘Fermi Bubbles’ may be the result of black hole indigestion 6 million years ago

Posted by in category: cosmology

Twin shock waves produced by the galaxy’s central black hole could have inflated the gargantuan Fermi Bubbles about 6 million years ago, a new study suggests.

May 27, 2020

Why are neural networks so powerful?

Posted by in categories: information science, robotics/AI

It is common knowledge that neural networks are very powerful and they can be used for almost any statistical learning problem with great results. But have you thought about why is this the case? Why is this method more powerful in most scenarios than many other algorithms?

May 27, 2020

Novel insight reveals topological tangle in unexpected corner of the universe

Posted by in categories: biological, computing, cosmology, mathematics, nanotechnology, particle physics

Just as a literature buff might explore a novel for recurring themes, physicists and mathematicians search for repeating structures present throughout nature.

For example, a certain geometrical structure of knots, which scientists call a Hopfion, manifests itself in unexpected corners of the universe, ranging from , to biology, to cosmology. Like the Fibonacci spiral and the golden ratio, the Hopfion pattern unites different scientific fields, and deeper understanding of its structure and influence will help scientists to develop transformative technologies.

Continue reading “Novel insight reveals topological tangle in unexpected corner of the universe” »

May 27, 2020

Why we might not get a coronavirus vaccine

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Politicians have become more cautious about immunisation prospects. They are right to be.