Lifeboat Foundation

In 2022, California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a historic $10 billion zero-emission vehicle package to speed up the state’s transition to greener technologies. It included $407 million for the California State Transportation Agency to invest in clean tech for its bus and rail infrastructure, and that money has already been put to good use.

The Metrolink commuter rail in San Bernardino County will be moving from diesel-powered trains to new zero-emission hybrid ones that use hydrogen starting later this year, as LAist reported. This is only for a nine-mile stretch between San Bernardino and Redlands, but it will serve as a trial run for further expansion.

Continue reading “Major US city unveils record-breaking train that could be the future of transportation — and you can ride it this year” »

Lithium (Li) secondary batteries, commonly used in electric vehicles, store energy by converting electrical energy to chemical energy and generating electricity to release chemical energy to electrical energy through the movement of Li-ions between a cathode and an anode. These secondary batteries mainly use nickel (Ni) cathode materials due to their high lithium-ion storage capacity. Traditional nickel-based materials have a polycrystalline morphology composed of many tiny crystals which can undergo structural degradation during charging and discharging, significantly reducing their lifespan.

One approach to addressing this issue is to produce the cathode material in a “single-crystal” form. Creating nickel-based cathode materials as single large particles, or “single crystals,” can enhance their structural and chemical stability and durability. It is known that single-crystal materials are synthesized at high temperatures and become rigid. However, the exact process of hardening during synthesis and the specific conditions under which this occurs remain unclear.

To improve the durability of nickel cathode materials for electric vehicles, the researchers focused on identifying a specific temperature, referred to as the “critical temperature,” at which high-quality single-crystal materials are synthesized. They investigated various synthesis temperatures to determine the optimal conditions for forming single crystals in synthesis of a nickel-based cathode material (N884). The team systematically observed the impact of temperature on the material’s capacity and long-term performance.

The “super premium” segment here implies a driving range of around 600 miles per charge. In addition, Samsung will be introducing high-nickel NCS products for the premium segment.

Samsung’s oxide solid-state battery technology boasts an energy density of 500 Wh/kg, nearly double the 270 Wh/kg density of mainstream EV batteries.

Continue reading “Samsung’s 20-year-life EV battery runs 600 miles on 9-minute charge” »

Dangerous Train Routes In The World… 😳 😘❤️

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As you climb these steps, make sure to watch where you step. Here are some of the most spectacular and dangerous staircases in the world. Stairs have been built for a very long time to aid in the ascent of heights and to lessen the amount of work that is required for this. However, in other regions of the world, stairs are so terrible that they appear to be nothing more than a series of corridors going to the underworld.

Continue reading “10 Most Dangerous Staircases in The World (PHOTOS)” »

The transport sector is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Hong Kong, accounting for 19% of total emissions. Supporting the development of green transport can help reduce air pollutant emissions. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is committed to promoting research into green technologies to support Hong Kong’s goal of reducing the City’s total carbon emissions from the 2005 level by half before 2035 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2050.

A research team led by Prof. Eric Cheng, Professor of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at PolyU, received support from the “Innovation and Technology Support Program (Mid-stream, theme-based)” last June for the research project “Smart Refrigeration Truck Development Program—Power, Solar and Intelligence Method for Logistics and Storage.” The project is aimed at promoting the transformation of freezer trucks from traditional fuel driven freezer system to smart electric driven and strengthening the wider adoption of solar energy.

After one year, the PolyU team has successfully developed a novel freezer truck that supports a solar-powered freezer system and features vehicle-connected power storage and sharing technology. The project has received staunch support from the government, academia and industry, including from Sunlight Eco-tech Limited, Advanced Sunlight Pty Limited from Australia, and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department.

Self-driving cars occasionally crash because their visual systems can’t always process static or slow-moving objects in 3D space. In that regard, they’re like the monocular vision of many insects, whose compound eyes provide great motion-tracking and a wide field of view but poor depth perception.

Except for the praying mantis.

A praying mantis’s field of view also overlaps between its left and right eyes, creating binocular vision with depth perception in 3D space.

Looking like a set of bridge supports that were accidentally installed on a cargo ship, a new wind-driven system by startup CoFlow Jet promises to reduce ship fuel costs by up to 90% using stationary cylinders with no moving parts.

Between rising fuel costs and increasing government mandates requiring shipping companies to go carbon neutral by 2050, there’s a strong push to increase the efficiency of cargo ships while reducing their emissions. One way of doing this is to take a page from the history books and readopt sails to harness the wind.

Continue reading “Cylinder sails promise up to 90% fuel consumption cut for cargo ships” »

An electric air taxi startup is developing an aircraft powered by tomorrow’s fuel: hydrogen. The concept is a hydrogen-powered version of its vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. This fueling power could enable longer routes between cities.

The electric air taxi startup Joby is known for its electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVOTL) or an air taxi. The company is testing sustainable fuel instead of a battery to power this vehicle. Hydrogen fuel cells are already used in cars, trucks, and industrial equipment. However, using the fuel in aircraft is a game changer. For example, the aviation industry faces much pressure due to its greenhouse gas emissions. Google even added an emissions tracker when looking for a flight.

The company announced that it successfully flew a 523-mile demonstration flight using its one-of-a-kind hydrogen air taxi. The aircraft was tested last month in California and involved a converted prototype of one of its eVOTL aircraft already in development. It’s equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen-electric propulsion. And get this: the only emission is a trail of water vapor.

By Chuck Brooks

AI agents represent a great leap forward in technology, offering exponential benefits to society. From enhancing scientific research, healthcare, transportation, education, and cybersecurity. There are a lot of different applications that AI agents could help enable in our new digital world, including, foremost, for humans.

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Continue reading “Augmenting Human Capabilities With Artificial Intelligence Agents” »