БЛОГ

Archive for the ‘innovation’ category: Page 58

Apr 16, 2022

Physicists Are Closing In on the Next Breakthrough in Particle Physics — And the Search for Our Own Origins

Posted by in categories: innovation, particle physics

CUORE Team Places New Limits on the Bizarre Behavior of Neutrinos Physicists are closing in on the true nature of the neutrino — and might be closer to answering a fundamental question about our own existence. In a Laboratory under a mountain, physicists are using crystals far colder than frozen air to study ghostly particles, hoping to learn secrets from the beginning of the universe. Researchers at the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) announced this week that they had placed some of the most stringent limits yet on the strange possibility that the neutrino is its own antiparticle. Neutrinos are deeply unusual particles, so ethereal and so ubiquitous that they regularly pass through our bodies without us noticing. CUORE has spent the last three years patiently waiting to see evidence of a distinctive nuclear decay process, only possible if neutrinos and antineutrinos are the same particle. CUORE’s new data shows that this decay doesn’t happen for trillions of trillions of years, if it happens at all. CUORE’s limits on the behavior of these tiny phantoms are a crucial part of the search for the next breakthrough in particle and nuclear physics – and the search for our own origins.

Apr 15, 2022

Technological innovation is spurring evolutionary changes. Here’s how humanity may look 10,000 years from now

Posted by in categories: evolution, innovation

From self-replicating molecules in Archean seas, to eyeless fish in the Cambrian deep, to mammals scurrying from dinosaurs in the dark, and then, finally, improbably, ourselves – evolution shaped us.

Organisms reproduced imperfectly. Mistakes made when copying genes sometimes made them better fit to their environments, so those genes tended to get passed on. More reproduction followed, and more mistakes, the process repeating over billions of generations. Finally, Homo sapiens appeared. But we aren’t the end of that story. Evolution won’t stop with us, and we might even be evolving faster than ever.

It’s hard to predict the future. The world will probably change in ways we can’t imagine. But we can make educated guesses. Paradoxically, the best way to predict the future is probably looking back at the past, and assuming past trends will continue going forward. This suggests some surprising things about our future.

Apr 14, 2022

Major solar breakthrough means energy can be stored for up to 18 years

Posted by in categories: energy, innovation

The future of solar has just got brighter with this ‘ultra-thin’ device for converting stored energy into electricity.

Apr 14, 2022

Space Force looking at what it will take to refuel satellites in orbit

Posted by in categories: innovation, satellites

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Space Force in 2025 plans to launch to geostationary orbit three small satellites that will attempt to dock with a propellant tanker so they can be refueled in space.

The idea is to “test out pieces of the refueling infrastructure,” Col. Joseph Roth, director of innovation and prototyping at U.S. Space Systems Command, told SpaceNews last week at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.

The $50 million experiment, called Tetra-5, is run by the Space Force’s Space Enterprise Consortium. Bids for the project closed earlier this month.

Apr 13, 2022

Airbus’ nature-inspired wing demonstrator completes wind-tunnel testing

Posted by in categories: innovation, transportation

Airbus has completed wind-tunnel testing of its eXtra Performance Wing demonstrator in its quest to quickly test and accelerate advanced innovative technologies that will decarbonize the aviation industry. The demonstrator model was tested in the Filton wind tunnel near Bristol, England.

Launched last September, the eXtra Performance Wing project takes inspiration from nature to improve wing aerodynamics and performance. It is intended to be compatible with any future aircraft configuration and propulsion system to reduce CO2 emissions.

To make a more efficient aircraft with lower carbon footprints, Airbus is testing wing technologies that are based on the behavior of bird flight with wings. Initially, the technology was introduced at a smaller scale through another Airbus project, AlbatrossONE, which tested semi-aeroelastic hinged wings that – like the seabird – unlocked during the flight when experiencing wind gusts or turbulence. Now, the eXtra Performance Wing will also examine new technologies, including gust sensors, pop-up spoilers, and multifunctional trailing edges to enable active control of the wing.

Apr 10, 2022

MIT launches cross-disciplinary program to boost AI hardware innovation

Posted by in categories: innovation, robotics/AI

MIT has launched a new academia and industry partnership called the AI Hardware Program that aims to boost research and development.


“A sharp focus on AI hardware manufacturing, research, and design is critical to meet the demands of the world’s evolving devices, architectures, and systems,” says Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of the MIT School of Engineering, and Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Apr 9, 2022

Watch: All-civilian Crew Arrives at International Space Station

Posted by in categories: innovation, space travel

The first all-civilian crew arrived at the International Space Station after a historic launch with SpaceX and Axiom Space. The crew will spend eight days partaking in science experiments and philanthropic projects. » Subscribe to NBC News: http://nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC
» Watch more NBC video: http://bit.ly/MoreNBCNews.

NBC News Digital is a collection of innovative and powerful news brands that deliver compelling, diverse and engaging news stories. NBC News Digital features NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com, TODAY.com, Nightly News, Meet the Press, Dateline, and the existing apps and digital extensions of these respective properties. We deliver the best in breaking news, live video coverage, original journalism and segments from your favorite NBC News Shows.

Continue reading “Watch: All-civilian Crew Arrives at International Space Station” »

Apr 8, 2022

A freeze-thaw molten salt battery for seasonal storage

Posted by in categories: innovation, robotics/AI

It relies on a new “freeze-thaw” design. A recent study has just been published by U.S. scientists who have managed to develop an aluminum-nickel molten salt battery that can retain over 90% of its initial capacity over a period of up to 12 weeks. Having an energy density of 260 W/hour per kg, the new battery was built with an aluminum anode and a nickel cathode, immersed in a molten-salt electrolyte.


The breakthrough could have many applications in soft robotics including in the Metaverse.

Apr 8, 2022

Amazon and Johns Hopkins announce new AI institute

Posted by in categories: innovation, robotics/AI

Today Amazon and The Johns Hopkins University announced the creation of the JHU + Amazon Initiative for Interactive AI (AI2AI). The collaboration will focus on … See more.


Amazon and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) today announced the creation of the JHU + Amazon Initiative for Interactive AI (AI2AI).

The Amazon-JHU collaboration will focus on driving ground-breaking AI advances with an emphasis on machine learning, computer vision, natural language understanding, and speech processing. Sanjeev Khudanpur, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will serve as the founding director of the initiative.

Continue reading “Amazon and Johns Hopkins announce new AI institute” »

Apr 7, 2022

Research places new limits on the bizarre behavior of neutrinos

Posted by in categories: innovation, particle physics

In a laboratory under a mountain, physicists are using crystals far colder than frozen air to study ghostly particles, hoping to learn secrets from the beginning of the universe. Researchers at the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) announced this week that they had placed some of the most stringent limits yet on the strange possibility that the neutrino is its own antiparticle. Neutrinos are deeply unusual particles, so ethereal and so ubiquitous that they regularly pass through our bodies without us noticing. CUORE has spent the last three years patiently waiting to see evidence of a distinctive nuclear decay process, only possible if neutrinos and antineutrinos are the same particle. CUORE’s new data shows that this decay doesn’t happen for trillions of trillions of years, if it happens at all. CUORE’s limits on the behavior of these tiny phantoms are a crucial part of the search for the next breakthrough in particle and nuclear physics—and the search for our own origins.

“Ultimately, we are trying to understand matter creation,” said Carlo Bucci, researcher at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy and the spokesperson for CUORE. “We’re looking for a process that violates a fundamental symmetry of nature,” added Roger Huang, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and one of the lead authors of the new study.

CUORE—Italian for “heart”—is among the most sensitive neutrino experiments in the world. The new results from CUORE are based on a data set ten times larger than any other high-resolution search, collected over the last three years. CUORE is operated by an international research collaboration, led by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) in Italy and Berkeley Lab in the US. The CUORE detector itself is located under nearly a mile of solid rock at LNGS, a facility of the INFN. U.S. Department of Energy-supported nuclear physicists play a leading scientific and technical role in this experiment. CUORE’s new results were published today in Nature.

Page 58 of 179First5556575859606162Last