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The widespread adoption of electric vehicles greatly relies on the development of robust and fast-charging battery technologies that can support their continuous operation for long periods of time. One proposed energy storage solution to improve the endurance of electric vehicles entails the use of so-called structural batteries.

Structural batteries are batteries that can serve two purposes, acting both as structural components of vehicles and solutions. Instead of being external components that are added to an electronic or electric device, these batteries are thus directly embedded into the structure.

Researchers at Shanghai University and their collaborators recently devised a promising strategy to fabricate highly performing structural batteries with customizable geometric configurations. Their strategy, outlined in a paper published in Composites Science and Technology, enables the 3D-printing of structural lithium-ion batteries for different geometrical configurations.

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Lithium-metal batteries could exhibit significantly higher energy densities than lithium-ion batteries, which are the primary battery technology on the market today. Yet lithium-metal cells also typically have significant limitations, the most notable of which is a short lifespan.

Researchers at University of Science and Technology of China and other institutes recently introduced a new electrolyte design that could be used to develop highly performing lithium-metal pouch cells with longer lifespans. This electrolyte, presented in a paper in Nature Energy, has a unique nanometer-scale solvation structure, with pairs of ions densely packed together into compact ion-pair aggregates (CIPA).

“The primary objectives of our recent work are to markedly accelerate the practical applications of lithium-metal batteries and offer deep mechanistic understandings of this complicated system,” Prof. Shuhong Jiao, co-author of the paper, told Tech Xplore.

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Cities around the globe are experiencing increased flooding due to the compounding effects of stronger storms in a warming climate and urban growth. New research from the University of California, Irvine suggests that urban form, specifically the building density and street network of a neighborhood, is also affecting the intensity of flooding.

For a paper published today in Nature Communications, researchers in UC Irvine’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering turned to statistical mechanics to generate a new formula allowing to more easily assess flood risks presented by land development changes.

Co-author Mohammad Javad Abdolhosseini Qomi, UC Irvine associate professor of civil and environmental engineering who holds a joint appointment in UC Irvine’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, said that he and his colleagues were inspired by how physicists study intricate systems such as disordered porous solids, glasses and complex fluids to develop universal theories that can explain city-to-city variations in flood hazards.

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Peel apart a smartphone, fitness tracker or virtual reality headset, and inside you’ll find a tiny motion sensor tracking its position and movement. Bigger, more expensive versions of the same technology, about the size of a grapefruit and a thousand times more accurate, help navigate ships, airplanes and other vehicles with GPS assistance.

Now, scientists are attempting to make a motion sensor so precise it could minimize the nation’s reliance on global positioning satellites. Until recently, such a sensor — a thousand times more sensitive than today’s navigation-grade devices — would have filled a moving truck. But advancements are dramatically shrinking the size and cost of this technology.

For the first time, researchers from Sandia National Laboratories have used silicon photonic microchip components to perform a quantum sensing technique called atom interferometry, an ultra-precise way of measuring acceleration. It is the latest milestone toward developing a kind of quantum compass for navigation when GPS signals are unavailable.

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Researchers have successfully demonstrated negative entanglement entropy using classical electrical circuits as stand-ins for complex quantum systems, providing a practical model for exploring exotic quantum phenomena and advancing quantum information technology.

Entanglement entropy quantifies the degree of interconnectedness between different parts of a quantum system. It indicates how much information about one part reveals about another, uncovering hidden correlations between particles. This concept is essential for advancing quantum computing and quantum communication technologies.

To understand what negative entanglement entropy means, we will first need to know what entanglement and entropy are.

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In short, companies are no longer hiding their optimism over replacing human labor with AI, an unfortunate reality for those looking to maintain a stable job.

Despite tech conglomerate Cisco posting $10.3 billion in profits last year, it’s still laying off 5,500 workers as part of an effort to invest more in AI, SFGATE reports.

It joins a litany of other companies like Microsoft and Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, that have used AI as justification for the mass culling of its workforce.

The layoffs at Cisco came to light in a notice posted with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week, affecting seven percent of its staff.

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As of August 2024, the global employment landscape is facing significant turbulence, with more than 130,000 employees laid off across nearly 400 companies. Tech giants like Google, IBM, Apple, Amazon, SAP, Meta, and Microsoft have contributed to these staggering figures, indicating a major recalibration within the job market.

According to industry experts, this trend is accelerating as the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation prompts companies to streamline operations. Amidst this upheaval, Ramesh Alluri Reddy, CEO of TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship, sheds light on layoffs, workforce reshaping, and the potential for recovery.

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