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Sep 26, 2018

Zinc-air batteries provide power in remote areas

Posted by in category: energy

NantEnergy says its zinc air battery system can deliver energy for $100 per kilowatt hour. By comparison, lithium ion batteries vary in price, but often range from $300 to $500 per kilowatt hour, according to the Energy Storage Association.

Zinc air batteries will replace lithium ion batteries due to the required 12 pounds of cobalt in car lithium ion batteries. Cobalt supplies is estimated to run out by 2025.


Remote villages in Africa and Asia are receiving electricity using a little-known type of technology: zinc-air batteries.

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Sep 26, 2018

Scientists have been drilling into the ocean floor for 50 years – here’s what they’ve found so far

Posted by in categories: climatology, sustainability

The ocean floor holds unique information about Earth’s history. Scientific ocean drilling, which started 50 years ago, has yielded insights into climate change, geohazards and the key conditions for life.

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Sep 26, 2018

Why trackless trams are ready to replace light rail

Posted by in categories: government, robotics/AI, transportation

I began my life as an activist academic in 1979 when the Western Australian government closed the Fremantle railway, saying buses would be better. Patronage immediately fell by 30% and I ran a four-year campaign to save the railway. We won. I have been writing books and running campaigns ever since on why trains and trams are better than buses. But I have changed my mind. The technology has changed, and I think it will end the need for new light rail.

“Trackless trams” are based on technology created in Europe and China by taking innovations from high-speed and putting them in a bus.

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Sep 26, 2018

NLRP12 Protein Protects Mice Against Obesity

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, habitats

A study from the UNC School of Medicine showed that the protein NLRP12, known for its anti-inflammatory effects, also protects mice on a high-fat diet against obesity and insulin resistance; it might have a similar effect in humans [1].

Study abstract

In addition to high-fat diet (HFD) and inactivity, inflammation and microbiota composition contribute to obesity. Inhibitory immune receptors, such as NLRP12, dampen inflammation and are important for resolving inflammation, but their role in obesity is unknown. We show that obesity in humans correlates with reduced expression of adipose tissue NLRP12. Similarly, Nlrp12/ mice show increased weight gain, adipose deposition, blood glucose, NF-kB/ MAPK activation, and M1-macrophage polarization. Additionally, NLRP12 is required to mitigate HFD-induced inflammasome activation. Co-housing with wild-type animals, antibiotic treatment, or germ-free condition was sufficient to restrain inflammation, obesity, and insulin tolerance in Nlrp12/ mice, implicating the microbiota. HFD-fed Nlrp12/ mice display dysbiosis marked by increased obesity-associated Erysipelotrichaceae, but reduced Lachnospiraceae family and the associated enzymes required for short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) synthesis.

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Sep 26, 2018

Inside the epic debate on rethinking our 50-year-old Outer Space Treaty

Posted by in categories: geopolitics, space travel, treaties

This week, the UN begins a conference to start the long-overdue discussion on updating the 1967 Outer Space Treaty for a cosmos that has gotten a lot more complicated.

[Image: SpaceX]

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Sep 26, 2018

Philippine inventor aims to cut travel times with passenger drone

Posted by in categories: drones, futurism

BATANGAS, Philippines (Reuters) — A Philippine inventor has unveiled what he calls a flying sports car that represents the future of transport, riding it out of a warehouse toward a cheering crowd, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.

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Sep 26, 2018

Hyper Suprime-Cam survey maps dark matter in the universe

Posted by in category: cosmology

Today, an international group of researchers, including Carnegie Mellon University’s Rachel Mandelbaum, released the deepest wide field map of the three-dimensional distribution of matter in the universe ever made and increased the precision of constraints for dark energy with the Hyper Suprime-Cam survey (HSC).

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Sep 26, 2018

The dangers of biohacking ‘experiments’– and how it could harm your health

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, health

Biohacking for cures: what you need to know.

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Sep 26, 2018

Author Correction: In vitro inhibition of hepatic stellate cell activation by the autophagy-related lipid droplet protein ATG2A

Posted by in category: futurism

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Sep 26, 2018

New research shows the world’s ice is doing something not seen before

Posted by in category: futurism

Do you know how an ice sheet can move? You’ll find out below.

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