Science & Technology News – Page 76

Green Friendly, Science & Technology News

Israeli Start-Up Creates Robotic Beehives To Support Dwindling Bee Colonies

August 19, 2021

An Israeli startup has done the unthinkable by creating an artificial beehive to facilitate stable bee colonies under ideal conditions.

The next-gen hive which constitutes multiple layers of honeycombs can house up to 2 million bees… and that’s not it!

The robotic set-up also scans beehives for diseases, pesticides, and other hazards that may pose a threat to the gentle creatures.

On multiple occasions, scientists have highlighted how dwindling populations of bees threaten existing ecosystems on planet Earth.

In the face of new dangers posed by climate change clubbed with receding natural habitats for organisms, beekeepers are trying out new ways to preserve existing populations of bees.

Batteries, Science & Technology News

Hyundai and UL ally to give EV batteries a second life

August 19, 2021

The two agreed to advance safe deployment and use of second-life battery energy storage systems.

Underwriters Laboratories, a U.S. standards development organization, and Koren car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Co. signed a memorandum of understanding to help further the safe deployment and use of second-life battery energy storage systems (SLBESS).

The two said they will collaborate on SLBESS initiatives, including safety testing and assessment, a North America product demonstration project, and evaluation process development. They said they intend to use their worldwide presence to further SLBESS market adoption.

Second-life batteries often consist of electric vehicle batteries that no longer meet the requirements of automotive applications, but are still worthwhile additions as grid-connected energy storage devices.

Science & Technology News, Space

NASA is training human-like robots to explore caves on Mars

August 19, 2021

BY SOPHIE LEWIS

When searching for signs of life on other planets, scientists say caves are a crucial place to look. But how can a team on Earth effectively explore intricate, dark, unfamiliar landscapes on another world?

NASA and Boston Dynamics have found an answer: Fully autonomous robots.

Caves are one of the most likely places to find signs of both current and past life on other planets because they are capable of protecting life from cosmic rays and extreme temperature fluctuations around our solar system. A NASA project called BRAILLE is now working on exploring Mars-like caves that already exist on Earth in order to hone key technologies for future missions.

Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

Cleveron conducts ‘world’s first’ driving exams with a driverless semi-autonomous last-mile delivery vehicle

August 19, 2021

Cleveron, an Estonian-based technology company, partnered with LRK Driving School to conduct what they say are “the world’s first driving exams with an unmanned semi-autonomous car”.

The exams were carried out with Cleveron’s last-mile delivery vehicle Cleveron 701. All four Cleveron specialists passed the exam and received the world’s first tele-operated vehicle certificates.

Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

Personalized regenerative medicine company developing implanted cell pouches to treat chronic disease

August 16, 2021

In response to emailed questions, Encellin CEO offered an overview of the company’s device that functions like a pouch to help implanted cells survive in the body.

By STEPHANIE BAUM

Crystal Nyitray, Ph.D., the CEO and Co-founder of Encellin provided an overview of the company’s emerging cell tech to treat chronic endocrine disorders hypoglycemia and hypocalcemia.

Why did you start this company?

Encellin was founded because we have unique opportunity to help millions of patients. The technology developed at UCSF needed a way to move forward, so we created Encellin. Also starting a company gives you the chance a create a specialized team of people dedicated to advancing a therapy forward. We get to create a culture that cares about helping patients, and has the courage to try new ways of thinking.

Science & Technology News, SpaceX

SpaceX and a Canadian Startup Will Turn Space Into a Billboard

August 16, 2021

Space is going to be a billboard. If you like to run your own ad, the collaboration accepts cryptocurrencies only.

By Ameya Paleja

Just as paid human spaceflights are about to begin, advertising is making a mark in space too. A Canadian startup called Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC) has tied up with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, taking advertising to space on a small satellite aboard the Falcon 9 rocket, Business Insider reported. However, the collaboration won’t feature a classic advertising billboard that we are used to see around, the ads will run on a pixelated display screen on a satellite called a CubeSat.

Calgary-based GEC is an intellectual property, manufacturing, and logistics company, all rolled into one. Through its subsidiaries, Geometric Space, GeometricLabs, Geometric Medical, and Geometric Gaming, the company is inventing and manufacturing products and services for its customers in the private as well as the public sectors. As the company claims, during the pandemic, it supplied “ethically sourced” nitrile gloves to institutions in Canada and the U.S. while also developing a solid-state Sodium-Ion battery product.

Bitcoin, Science & Technology News

SEC Chairman Says Satoshi Nakamoto’s Innovation Is Real, Crypto Rules Are Clear

August 16, 2021

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, says that Satoshi Nakamoto’s innovation is real. “It has been and could continue to be a catalyst for change in the fields of finance and money,” he said.

by Kevin Helms

Satoshi Nakamoto’s Innovation Is Real.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler talked about bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation last week at the Aspen Security Forum where he outlined his plans to regulate the crypto space. He began by referencing the Bitcoin whitepaper and its creator, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto.

“His innovation spurred the development of crypto assets and the underlying blockchain technology,” Gensler said about Satoshi, adding that “the crypto asset class has ballooned” and is now worth about $1.83 trillion.

Bitcoin, Science & Technology News

Bitcoin mining is suddenly one of the most profitable businesses on the planet

August 15, 2021

The sweeping shutdown delivered a huge prize to the rest of the world’s miners.

BY SHAWN TULLY

Would you believe that Bitcoin mining generates just as much revenue as the age-old pursuit of unearthing gold and silver ore? Right now, minting this most unorthodox asset may also rank as the most profitable major industry on the planet. The entrepreneurs running their towering racks of rigs 24/7 were garnering stupendous margins when prices surged to over $60,000 in mid-April. Now they’re pocketing even fatter returns at prices that are one-third lower. And we’re talking numbers that for now surpass such famously lucrative enclaves as Big Pharma, luxury goods, and software.

Robots, Science & Technology News

Science’s next great leap: using squirrels to teach robots how to ‘parkour’

August 15, 2021

Researchers studying rodents’ leaping abilities suggest findings could help them create nimble artificial intelligence systems

ByJoe Pinkstone

Squirrels use techniques similar to those of parkour athletes when leaping from one branch to another, a study has found.

Parkour, a form of freerunning, is a popular sport where people jump over and under obstacles at speed and often involves leaping long distances.

A team of US-based researchers at University of California, Berkeley studied the biomechanics of bounding squirrels in eucalyptus trees and observed how and when they flung themselves from one branch to another.

Augmented Reality, Science & Technology News

Facebook can project your eyes onto a VR headset, and it’s exactly as uncanny as it sounds

August 15, 2021

It’s got a TV eye on you

By Adi Robertson

Facebook Reality Labs wants to help people see your eyes while you’re in virtual reality — even if the results sit somewhere between mildly unsettling and nightmarish. Earlier this week, FRL released a paper on “reverse passthrough VR,” a recipe for making VR headsets less physically isolating. Researchers devised a method for translating your face onto the front of a headset, although they emphasize it’s still firmly experimental.

“Passthrough VR” refers to a feature that displays a live video feed from a headset’s cameras, letting users see the real world while they’re still wearing the device. Facebook’s Oculus Quest platform, for instance, shows users a passthrough feed when they step outside their VR space’s boundaries. It’s useful for quickly dropping out of VR, and it can also enable a form of augmented reality by adding virtual objects to the camera feed. But as FRL notes, the people around a headset user can’t make eye contact, even if the wearer can see them perfectly. That’s awkward if bystanders are used to seeing their friend or co-worker’s uncovered face.

Science & Technology News, Trending

The economic consequences of a smaller nation are more dire, and more wide-ranging, than commonly believed

August 14, 2021

America’s population may be shrinking. That’s mostly because of Covid, but it’s also part of longer-term trends in fertility that show no signs of abating. These trends, which are worldwide, have already caused major economic dislocation and are likely to continue to do so.

First, some data. From 1936 to 1956, the U.S. fertility rate rose from 1.8 to 3.2. At the peak of the baby boom, the average woman in the U.S. was having at least three children who survived until adulthood. (A rate of 2.1 is considered replacement level, holding the population steady over time.)

The result was a huge generation that not only transformed American culture, but also created a market and labor pool for would-be entrepreneurs and growing corporations. From the 1960s through the mid-1980s, net domestic investment by private businessesaveraged 5.4% of GDP each year. One dollar of every $20 spent in the U.S. economy was directed toward expanding the size and scope of private enterprise.

New Discoveries, Science & Technology News

‘Bogolons’ make graphene superconducting

August 14, 2021

Graphene can be made to superconduct by placing it next to a Bose-Einstein condensate – a form of matter in which all the atoms are in the same quantum state. According to the theorists who discovered it, this new type of superconductivity stems from interactions between the electrons in graphene and quasiparticles called “bogolons” in the condensate. If demonstrated experimentally, the work could make it possible to develop new types of hybrid superconducting devices for applications in quantum sensing and quantum computing.

Conventional superconductivity occurs when phonons – quasiparticles that arise from vibrations in a material’s crystal lattice – cause electrons in the material to pair up despite their mutual electromagnetic repulsion. If the material is cooled to sufficiently low temperatures, these paired electrons (known as Cooper pairs) can travel through it without any resistance.