Lifeboat Foundation

Fusion energy has the potential to be an effective clean energy source, as its reactions generate incredibly large amounts of energy. Fusion reactors aim to reproduce on Earth what happens in the core of the sun, where very light elements merge and release energy in the process. Engineers can harness this energy to heat water and generate electricity through a steam turbine, but the path to fusion isn’t completely straightforward.

A research team has proposed a wind sensing lidar theory based on up-conversion quantum interference and successfully developed a prototype. Their work is published in ACS Photonics.

A new study has uncovered the universal dynamics far from equilibrium in randomly interacting spin models, thereby complementing the well-established universality in low-energy equilibrium physics. The study, recently published in Nature Physics, was the result of a collaborative effort involving the research group led by Prof. Du Jiangfeng and Prof. Peng Xinhua at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), along with the theoretical groups of Prof. Zhai Hui from Tsinghua University and Dr. Zhang Pengfei from Fudan University.

Two supermassive black holes will collide in 10,000 years, warping space and time.

A Cosmic Collision in the Making

In a galaxy 9 billion light-years away, two enormous black holes are locked in a cosmic dance that will eventually end in a massive collision. These supermassive black holes, each hundreds of millions of times the mass of our sun, are currently orbiting one another. In about 10,000 years, they will merge in a violent event, unleashing enough force to distort space and time by creating gravitational waves—ripples in the universe’s fabric.

A plasma jet from galaxy M87 appears to move five times faster than light.

In the world of astronomy, a peculiar and seemingly impossible phenomenon is unfolding in galaxy M87. A beam of plasma, or energy, is shooting out from the galaxy’s core and appears to travel at five times the speed of light, as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. Though this illusion has been known since 1995, it continues to challenge our understanding of the universe’s laws, particularly the cosmic speed limit that states nothing can move faster than light.

Evidence is found for a distant galaxy growing inside-out within the first 700 million years of the Universe. The galaxy has a dense central core comparable in mass density to local massive ellipticals, and an extended star-forming disc.

The technology’s promise can sound like science fiction—it might help us adapt to a radically different climate, or grow organs for people in need—but experts are also concerned about its potential side effects.

HVAC systems common in data centers expel warm air outdoors, creating a consistent, untapped wind resource that can be converted into electricity. In a case study of a Colombian data center, the researchers used vertical axis Tesup V7 wind turbines to capture this man-made waste wind. The turbines, installed atop chillers, were chosen because they minimized size and weight while maximizing electricity generation.

The amount of gross electricity produced annually by six wind turbines was 513.82MWh from artificial airflow, exceeding the energy consumption of the facility’s fans, and providing a surplus of 131.2MWh. The authors suggest this recycled energy can be used for other electrical needs within the data center or be injected into the electrical grid.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, also highlighted the economic and environmental benefits. A positive cash flow is achieved by the third year, with an impressive internal rate of return of 50.69%. Environmentally, the system reduces CO₂ emissions by approximately 300 metric tons annually.

A new technique for harvesting geothermal energy being pioneered in Utah has passed a significant milestone: Southern California Edison has contracted for enough of the energy to power 400,000 homes.