2020 – Page 94 – Impact Lab

China, Climate Change, Energy, Science & Technology News, Solar Energy

The future of energy is being shaped in Asia

January 5, 2020

China now accounts for almost three-quarters of global solar panel production.

A Frenchman is credited with being the first to discover the photovoltaic effect that produces electricity from sunlight. The first solar panel was built in the US. But when Abu Dhabi decided to build the world’s largest individual solar power project, they looked east for help.

The country partnered with Chinese and Japanese companies to construct a facility, which opened this year, with a peak capacity of 1.18 gigawatts generated by 3.2 million solar panels. That’s because Asia, more than any other region on the planet, and China, more than any other nation, currently represent the future of solar energy, and are at the heart of the ensuing industrywide transformation from fossil fuels to renewable and nuclear energy.

Continue reading… “The future of energy is being shaped in Asia”

Amazon.com, Report, Science & Technology News, security, Shopping

Vast majority of UK adults ‘uncomfortable’ with delivery drivers entering their empty homes

January 5, 2020

Waitrose’s While You’re Away service allows delivery drivers to enter customer’s homes to unpack their shopping

The vast majority of UK adults are uncomfortable with the idea of delivery drivers entering their homes to drop off shopping while they’re out, new research has revealed.

Waitrose first trialled its While You’re Away delivery service in October 2018, which saw its shopping delivery drivers enter customers’ houses and put away their shopping in fridges and cupboards, thanks to a temporary access code linked to a home’s Yale smart lock.

The supermarket has insisted there is something “very beautiful” about its customers forgetting they even made an order and then coming home to see their goods already in cupboards.

Continue reading… “Vast majority of UK adults ‘uncomfortable’ with delivery drivers entering their empty homes”

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Google, Healthcare, Science & Technology News

New Google AI tool detects breast cancer better than radiologists, study suggests

January 4, 2020

Fox Business’s Susan Li told Stuart Varney that data from Google Health’s new breast cancer study, while positive, needs more development.

A new Google artificial intelligence model appears capable of more accurately spotting breast cancer in mammograms than radiologists.

In a study published in the scientific journal Nature, researchers from Google Health, Northwestern University and three British medical institutions wrote in their abstract that they had aimed to “identify breast cancer before symptoms appear, enabling earlier therapy for [a] more treatable disease.”

Continue reading… “New Google AI tool detects breast cancer better than radiologists, study suggests”

China, communication, cutting edge, Science & Technology News, security

Chinese scientists develop portable quantum satellite communication device

January 3, 2020

Weighing in at just 80kg, the machine can connect to China’s quantum satellite and receive encryption keys in the form of entangled light particles

Breakthrough was made by team at University of Science and Technology of China

Chinese scientists have developed a quantum satellite ground station that is not only capable of sending ultra-secure messages anywhere in the world but also fits inside a family car.

The mobile device, developed by the University of Science and Technology of China, weighs about 80kg (176lbs). With the addition of a 28cm (11 inch) telescope, it can connect to the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ quantum satellite known as Mozi, and receive encryption keys in the form of entangled light particles.

Unlike traditional encryption methods based on mathematics, quantum encryption is protected by the fundamental law of physics. In theory, all information scrambled by encryption algorithms can be cracked by a computer if it is fast enough, but quantum key communication will remain intact because any attempt to eavesdrop will cause a physical change in the message and trigger a security alert to the sender or receiver.

Continue reading… “Chinese scientists develop portable quantum satellite communication device”

2020 Predictions, Business, Latest Trend, Marketing, Science & Technology News

5 content marketing trends you need to know for 2020

January 4, 2020

Use new content marketing tactics to engage customers.

It’s a new decade and with it comes content marketing trends that will change content creation for businesses.

Plus, content marketing isn’t the only thing that’s changing — people are always changing. The needs of your audience are constantly evolving and you need to keep up with what they want so that you can continue to create and distribute effective and engaging content.

Check out these five content marketing trends you need to know for 2020.

Continue reading… “5 content marketing trends you need to know for 2020”

2020 Predictions, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News, Solar Energy, Solar Power

What will the end of oil dependence mean for geopolitics?

January 3, 2020

Solar power is one form of renewable energy that is replacing fossil fuels

If you want to understand the revolution taking place in renewable energy, come to a power station called Gemasolar in southern Spain.

Here, in the dusty plains of Andalusia, they have worked out how to generate solar power 24 hours a day.

Yes, you can read that sentence again. At Gemasolar they create electricity even when the Sun is not shining.

They have rigged up more than 2,500 huge mirrors on hydraulic mounts that follow the Sun’s passage through the sky.

The mirrors – each about the size of half a tennis court – reflect the Sun’s rays to one central point, the top of a 140m (459ft) tower, where molten salt is heated to almost 600C. This liquid salt is carried down the tower to where it heats the steam that powers a turbine.

Continue reading… “What will the end of oil dependence mean for geopolitics?”

2020 Predictions, Housing, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

2020 Trend: The continued growth of modular construction

January 3, 2020

Reduced building time makes modular construction appealing to many developers.

Modular construction was once a cheap solution for properties in lower-priced areas. That has slowly changed over the last several years as some of the biggest companies in the burgeoning proptech and construction tech spaces have focused on modular and prefab builds. Modular construction is now used in a variety of high-end commercial real estate projects. In fact, the modular construction market is projected to reach as high as $157 billion by 2023.

New York City is quickly becoming a home for some of the most ambitious modular hotels in the world, including the 168-room, 26-story AC Marriott in Manhattan, which will open in 2020. That hotel and a proposed Hilton Motto in Brooklyn were designed by Danny Forster & Architecture, a firm that also worked on Hudson Yards and other high-profile projects.

Interest in modular construction can be seen around the world. It is currently more popular in Europe than in the United States, but the U.S. is starting to catch up. High-profile tech start-ups like Katerra, which has raised billions from the SoftBank Vision Fund, have helped contribute to growing awareness of modular construction as a way to help builders save both time and money.

Continue reading… “2020 Trend: The continued growth of modular construction”

Architecture, City Planning, Environment, Science & Technology News

5 bold urban design projects that made cities more fun, clean, and accessible in 2019

January 3, 2020

Cities can get rid of cars—and build urban ski slopes.

You may think the only changes to cities have been negative ones, and yes, urban areas have certainly seen increased traffic and heightened housing problems, but plenty of places have also debuted new features that aim to make a positive impact. Whether adapting to climate change, trying to be more inclusive to underserved populations, or updating their infrastructure with new technology, cities around the world are serving as laboratories to test bold ideas.

Here’s a look at some of the most fun and interesting urban innovations of 2019, proving that some cities are already in the future and are using their corners of the world to make our planet a little bit better.

Continue reading… “5 bold urban design projects that made cities more fun, clean, and accessible in 2019”

2020 Predictions, Biotech, brains, Energy, Healthcare, Science & Technology News

The major discoveries that could transform the world in the next decade

January 2, 2020

Here’s what scientists are really excited about.

The last decade ushered in some truly revolutionary advances in science, from the discovery of the Higgs boson to the use of CRISPR for Sci-Fi esque gene editing. But what are some of the biggest breakthroughs still to come? Live Science asked several experts in their field what discoveries, techniques and developments they’re most excited to see emerge in the 2020s.

Continue reading… “The major discoveries that could transform the world in the next decade”

Aviation, Military, new technology, Science & Technology News

U.S. Air Force scientists developed liquid metal which autonomously changes structure

January 2, 2020

As reported by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, military scientists have developed a “Terminator-like” liquid metal that can autonomously change the structure, just like in a Hollywood movie.

The scientists developed liquid metal systems for stretchable electronics – that can be bent, folded, crumpled and stretched – are major research areas towards next-generation military devices.

Conductive materials change their properties as they are strained or stretched. Typically, electrical conductivity decreases and resistance increases with stretching.

The material recently developed by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) scientists, called Polymerized Liquid Metal Networks, does just the opposite. These liquid metal networks can be strained up to 700%, autonomously respond to that strain to keep the resistance between those two states virtually the same, and still return to their original state. It is all due to the self-organized nanostructure within the material that performs these responses automatically.

Continue reading… “U.S. Air Force scientists developed liquid metal which autonomously changes structure”

Computer Security, Inventions, Medicine, Science & Technology News

Quantum computing : Solving problems beyond the power of classical computing

January 2, 2020

Quantum computers will lead to vast improvements in drug discovery, weather forecasting and supply chain optimisation.

Weather forecasting today is good. Can it get better? Sure, it can, if computers can be better. This is where quantum computers come into the picture. They possess computing capacity beyond anything that today’s classical computers can ever achieve. This is because quantum computers can run calculations exponentially faster than today’s conventional binary computers. That makes them powerful enough to bridge gaps which exist in today’s weather forecasting, drug discovery, financial modelling and many other complex areas.

Classical computing has been the backbone of modern society. It gave us satellite TV, the internet and digital commerce. It put robots on Mars and smartphones in our pockets.

“But many of the world’s biggest mysteries and potentially greatest opportunities remain beyond the grasp of classical computers,” says Stefan Filipp, quantum scientist at IBM Research. “To continue the pace of progress, we need to augment the classical approach with a new platform, one that follows its own set of rules. That is quantum computing.”

Continue reading… “Quantum computing : Solving problems beyond the power of classical computing”