There is a new feature is about to make electric cars way easier to use. Automakers and suppliers from around the world have agreed to a system that makes it possible to charge electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids without ever actually plugging them into a wall outlet. For more, check out this USA Today story.
Month: November 2020
Sound waves power new advances in drug delivery and smart materials
Researchers have revealed how high frequency sound waves could revolutionize the field of ultrasound-driven chemistry. Researchers have revealed how high-frequency sound waves can be used to build new materials, make smart nanoparticles and even deliver drugs to the lungs for painless, needle-free vaccinations. For more, check out this Science Daily story.
The Rocket Engine That Proves Solar Thermal Propulsion Isn’t Just a Crazy Theory
Engineers are designing a rocket engine powered by the sun. Engineers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory are prototyping a previously theoretical rocket design that could someday take spacecraft to interstellar space. Their plan? Use heat from the sun, rather than combustion, to power a rocket engine. For more, check out this Yahoo…
Huge Radio Telescope to Close in Blow to Science
Officials said operating the massive telescope is too dangerous given the significant damage it recently sustained. The National Science Foundation announced Thursday that it will close the huge telescope at the renowned Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico in a blow to scientists worldwide who depend on it to search for planets, asteroids and extraterrestrial life….
China made an artificial star that’s 6 times as hot as the sun…
…and it could be the future of energy. Imagine if we could replace fossil fuels with our very own stars. And no, we’re not talking about solar power: We’re talking nuclear fusion. And recent research is helping us get there. Meet the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, or EAST.EAST is a fusion reactor based in Hefei,…
Hubble Spots ‘Bizarre Glow’ After An ‘Impossible’ Explosion In Space
Scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have seen a violent explosion billons of light-years that lasted just half a second. The brightest infrared light from a short gamma-ray burst ever seen, the “bizarre glow” was spotted using the orbiting telescope in May 2020. It was 10 times brighter than it was thought possible. For more,…
Facebook introduces disappearing messages for Messenger, Instagram
Facebook is rolling out a new feature that makes messages disappear in Messenger and Instagram. Vanish mode makes messages disappear after they are seen by the recipient and they leave the chat. Users can turn on the new feature by swiping up on their mobile device in and existing chat thread. To return to the…
First Hyperloop Passenger Test
Elon Musk’s vision for futuristic, high-speed transportation, reached an important milestone on Sunday after it conducted its first test with human passengers. Virgin Hyperloop became the first company to conduct a human test of the technology on Sunday at its 500-meter test track in the desert north of Las Vegas. The two volunteers, wearing casual…
First wave of ships explore green hydrogen as route to net zero
Hydrogen powered ships! Developers across the world are for the first time testing the use of hydrogen to power ships as the maritime industry races to find technologies to cut emissions and confidence grows the fuel is safe to use commercially. For more, check out this Reuters story.
‘Mini-lungs’ grown in a lab let scientists watch Covid-19 infect cells
A new way to study COVID has been developed. Tiny artificial lungs grown in a lab from adult stem cells have allowed scientists to watch how coronavirus infects the lungs in a new ‘major breakthrough’. Researchers from Duke University and Cambridge University produced artificial lungs in two independent and separate studies to examine the spread…