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Feb 6, 2021

China’s Tianwen-1 Mars probe sent back first image of Mars

Posted by in category: space

It has travelled about 465 million kilometers, reaching more than 184 million kilometers from earth and 1.1 million kilometers from Mars as of 8 pm Friday.

Feb 6, 2021

Smart Cameras That Stop Wind Turbines When Birds Approach Massively Reduce Eagle Deaths

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Renewable energy is now the cheapest energy on the planet. Countries all over the globe are rapidly converting from destructive and limited fossil fuels to wind turbines, solar power and even more creative options, including the UK which is now powered more by renewables than other sources.

Despite being one of the best sources of renewable energy, wind turbines have received significant pushback from opposition that claims they kill native bird populations. It is a valid criticism – research has shown collisions with turbine blades do kill birds, albeit at a fraction of the rate fossil-fueled power plants do.

In an attempt to minimize the ecological impact of wind turbines, a new smart camera system developed by IdentiFlight detects the presence of birds, identifies if they are endangered, and shuts down the spinning blades before impact. According to a study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, deploying a curtailment system near a wind turbine site led to a decrease in Eagle fatalities of 82 percent, suggesting the camera systems could have a drastic effect on saving protected bird species.

Feb 6, 2021

Long live superconductivity! Short flashes of light with sustaining impact

Posted by in category: quantum physics

Superconductivity—the ability of a material to transmit an electric current without loss—is a quantum effect that, despite years of research, is still limited to very low temperatures. Now a team of scientists at the MPSD has succeeded in creating a metastable state with vanishing electrical resistance in a molecular solid by exposing it to finely tuned pulses of intense laser light. This effect had already been demonstrated in 2016 for only a very short time, but in a new study the authors of the paper have shown a far longer lifetime, nearly 10.000 times longer than before. The long lifetimes for light-induced superconductivity hold promise for applications in integrated electronics. The research by Budden et al. has been published in Nature Physics.

Feb 6, 2021

New AI Tool Can Thwart Coronavirus Mutations

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI

Summary: A new AI system is not only able to analyze potential new variants of COVID-19, it can also vaccine design cycles within minutes, researchers report.

Source: USC

Feb 6, 2021

These star-shaped brain cells may help us understand depression’s biological roots

Posted by in categories: biological, neuroscience

People with depression have a distinguishing feature in their brains, according to a new study.

Feb 6, 2021

The First Steps Toward a Quantum Brain: An Intelligent Material That Learns by Physically Changing Itself

Posted by in categories: particle physics, quantum physics, robotics/AI

An intelligent material that learns by physically changing itself, similar to how the human brain works, could be the foundation of a completely new generation of computers. Radboud physicists working toward this so-called “quantum brain” have made an important step. They have demonstrated that they can pattern and interconnect a network of single atoms, and mimic the autonomous behavior of neurons and synapses in a brain. They report their discovery in Nature Nanotechnology.

Considering the growing global demand for computing capacity, more and more data centers are necessary, all of which leave an ever-expanding energy footprint. “It is clear that we have to find new strategies to store and process information in an energy efficient way,” says project leader Alexander Khajetoorians, Professor of Scanning Probe Microscopy at Radboud University.

“This requires not only improvements to technology, but also fundamental research in game changing approaches. Our new idea of building a ‘quantum brain’ based on the quantum properties of materials could be the basis for a future solution for applications in artificial intelligence.”

Feb 6, 2021

Total Artificial Heart Approved for Sale in Europe

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

It can keep blood pumping for years while patients with heart failure wait for donor organs.


The European Commission has approved the sale of Carmat’s total artificial heart, which is designed for patients with end-stage heart failure.

Feb 6, 2021

The Aurora 7 Is an Amazing 26-Pound Laptop With 7 Displays, Zero Purpose

Posted by in category: computing

The Expanscape Aurora 7 is the 26-pound, 28-minute, seven-paneled laptop of your dreams.

Feb 6, 2021

Researchers create virtual reality cognitive assessment

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience, virtual reality

Virtual reality isn’t just for gaming. Researchers can use virtual reality, or VR, to assess participants’ attention, memory and problem-solving abilities in real world settings. By using VR technology to examine how folks complete daily tasks, like making a grocery list, researchers can better help clinical populations that struggle with executive functioning to manage their everyday lives.

Feb 6, 2021

New fiber optic temperature sensing approach to keep fusion power plants running

Posted by in categories: electronics, energy

The pursuit of fusion as a safe, carbon-free, always-on energy source has intensified in recent years, with a number of organizations pursuing aggressive timelines for technology demonstrations and power plant designs. New-generation superconducting magnets are a critical enabler for many of these programs, which creates growing need for sensors, controls, and other infrastructure that will allow the magnets to operate reliably in the harsh conditions of a commercial fusion power plant.