Show Notes 8 July 2022
Story 1: The world’s largest hybrid ship will set sail in 2024
Source: Popular Science Story by Colleen Hagerty
Link: https://www.popsci.com/technology/large-hybrid-ship-saint-mal
- French shipping company Brittany Ferries recently announced it has commissioned the world’s largest hybrid ship.
- The 639-foot ship named the Saint-Malo will be operational in 2024.
- It will be used for shuttling passengers to and from St. Malo in France to Portsmouth, England.
- A second hybrid ship will be added to the fleet shortly thereafter.
- The new ship will have a hybrid propulsion system that can use both liquified natural gas and battery power to run.
- But the real excitement about this upcoming new ship is its electric power system.
- The new Saint-Malo ship will have a huge battery with an 11.5-megawatt hour capacity, which is about double the size of most hybrid marine vessels on the water today.
- By the way, a megawatt–hour is equal to 1,000 kilowatts of electricity used continuously for one hour.
- The ship’s enormous battery will allow it to operate with full power, using both propellers and all thrusters to maneuver in and out of ports emissions-free.
- The new hybrid ship will be able to save up to 15 percent on greenhouse gas emissions compared to a typical diesel-powered vessel.
- And to make the ship even more climate friendly in the future, it will have space built in for larger batteries and the addition of solar power.
Story 2: NASA Selects 3 Fission Design Concepts for a Power Supply on the Moon
Source: PC Magazine Story by Stephanie Mlot
Link: https://www.pcmag.com/news/nasa-selects-3-fission-design-concepts-for-a-power-supply-on-the-moon
- NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy have selected three design concept proposals for a nuclear fission power system that could be ready for a demonstration test on the Moon by 2030.
- Before we go on, here’s the scoop on nuclear fission:
- It’s a nuclear reaction in which a heavy nucleus splits spontaneously or on impact with another particle.
- The result is the release of a large amount of continuous energy.
- Here’s why NASA and the DOE want a nuclear fission power supply solution – nuclear fission results in the release of a large amount of continuous energy that could help power a base on the moon.
- The three lead contract winners are:
- Lockheed Martin,
- Westinghouse,
- and IX – which is a joint venture of Intuitive Machines and X-Energy.
- The three contracts are valued at around $5 million each and call for the development of design concepts for a 40-kilowatt nuclear fission power system.
- And that’s pretty powerful, in fact, that’s enough output to continuously run 30 average American households for 10 years.
- NASA also noted that the development of Nuclear Fission power technologies will help pave the way for future deep space exploration missions.
Story 3: Germany is Building a Colossal Hot Water “Thermos” to Heat Homes
Source: ABC News Story by Frank Jordans [Associated Press]
- A huge cylindrical tower is under construction near the banks of Berlin’s Spree River that will act like a giant Thermos bottle to keep a massive amount of water super-hot.
- Here’s something I did not know. Many German homes are heated using hot water.
- Hot water heating systems are built around the premise of radiant heat. Water is heated by a boiler and circulated throughout a building–usually homes (older homes, especially) — through a series of pipes that heat radiators that give off heat. The heat transfers to the air in the room.
- So, the idea is to use the hot water stored in the gigantic tower to help heat homes starting next winter, and it’s all part of an aggressive effort to turn away from fossil fuels for home heating.
- With a height of almost 150 feet and holding up to 14.8 million gallons of hot water, the Swedish utility company building the structure says the tower will help heat Berlin homes this winter even if Russian gas supplies are cut off.
- And here’s the really compelling part of the plan – the electric water heating system that will bring the stored water to almost a boiling temperature will be powered by excess electricity from solar and wind power plants across Germany.
Story 4: Scientists Create a Living Skin Layer for Robots
Source: Medgadget.com Story by Conn Hastings
Link: https://www.medgadget.com/2022/06/living-skin-layer-for-robots-or-prosthetics.html
Source: CNET Story by Monisha Ravisetti
Link: https://www.cnet.com/science/biology/scientists-craft-living-skin-for-robots-made-of-human-cells/
- Researchers at the University of Tokyo recently announced the development of a method to coat a robotic finger with a layer of living “skin” made from living, human cells.
- This is the first step in a multiyear effort to ultimately cover an entire humanoid robot, or prosthetic appendages for humans, with living skin.
- The living skin coating for the team’s proof-of-concept finger for a robot hand is strong and flexible enough to allow it to bend and flex, and it can repel water and even self-heal if damaged.
- Here’s how this amazing living skin was made:
- Step one involved a coating of a layer of collagen and human dermal fibroblasts, which are two of the major components of the connective tissue within human skin.
- Step two involved adding a second layer of human ep i der mal keratinocytes [care-o-tin-o-sites], which readily adhered to the first layer to create the outer layer of the living skin.
- The University of Tokyo team also showed how the living skin could naturally shrink to conform to the surface and shape of their prototype robot finger.
- The next major development step for the prototype robot finger’s living skin is to make it more lifelike with the addition of follicles, nails and even sweat glands.
- Okay reality check – How do you maintain the living skin? You’ll need a way to circulate blood, etc. I recall in one of the articles I read about this experiment that the researchers noted that today the finger must be maintained by “living” in a nutrient bath. But this is a very, very early stage in the development of this new technology.