25 November 2022
Story 1: Key trend to watch – Space-based solar power is gaining worldwide interest
Source: Scientific America Story by Leonard David
- Way back in 1968 U.S. aerospace engineer Peter Glaser proposed a bold idea.
- Instead of building gigantic solar farms across vast, ecologically vulnerable tracts of land, Glaser proposed putting photovoltaics technology into orbit on fleets of solar powered satellites.
- In space — with no clouds or night to impact light capture —sunlight could be harvested with optimum efficiency, then beamed as microwaves to ground-based “rectifying antennas” that convert radio frequency energy into electrical energy.
- Here’s a snapshot of what rectifying antennas are — Rectifying antennas, commonly referred to as rectennas, are integral parts of microwave power transmission or wireless power transmission (WPT) systems. In WPT systems, RF power is transmitted from one location and captured at another location. The term rectenna consists of parts of the words “rectifier” and “antenna” since its function is to absorb incoming radiofrequency (RF) energy and convert this energy to usable DC power.
- Source: https://tinyurl.com/4p8khsrz
- On Earth, the microwaves would be converted to electricity and channeled into power grids across the globe.
- 54 years later, scientists around the world are now looking seriously at the concept of space-based solar power, with pilot projects emerging in the U.S., China, Europe, and Japan.
- For example, NASA is exploring the current and near-future prospects for space-based solar power to see if it could help provide electric power for future Moon bases.
- Okay, reality check – The U.K.’s Space Energy Initiative says two technologies need to be investigated and tested to make this a reality:
- First, autonomous robotic assembly of large solar photovoltaic structures in orbit
- And second, beaming power from space to Earth at meaningful power levels.
Story 2: Intel’s new deepfake detector can spot a real or fake video
Source: ZDnet.com Story by Jada Jones
Source: Intel Newsroom
Link: https://tinyurl.com/yjykdfsp
See video here: https://tinyurl.com/4cyhfe3b
- A “deepfake” is a piece of synthetic media that takes an image or video that uses someone else’s face or voice to create a new, fake image of people or occurrences.
- Deepfakes use impressive technology derived from machine learning and artificial intelligence to create extremely accurate impressions of celebrities and politicians doing and saying things they haven’t.
- To combat deepfakes, Intel recently announced a new technology called “FakeCatcher” to detect deepfake media with a 96% accuracy rate.
- Intel’s FakeCatcher can detect a deepfake in real-time by evaluating the ‘blood flow’ in the pixels of a video.”
- In fact, FakeCatcher is the first deepfake detection algorithm that uses heart rates as part of the detection process!
- Intel’s new technology can identify changes in the color of the veins of a subject when blood circulates through the body.
- Signals of blood flow are then collected from the face and translated by algorithms to determine if a video is real or a deepfake.
Story 3: Researchers at Honda are working with microscopic algae that capture CO2 and convert it into fuel and other useful products
Source: Newsweek Story by Jake Lingeman
Link: https://www.newsweek.com/hondas-microscopic-co2-fighter-can-eliminate-effects-20000-civics-1758392
- At Honda’s Research and Development center north of Tokyo you’ll find several long, thin tanks filled with a green goo positioned on top of one of its buildings.
- The tanks, which to me look like arrays of tilted and vertical solar panels on a flat rooftop, are a test bed for a genetically engineered microscopic algae.
- The tanks are being fed carbon dioxide captured from the air through a bubbling tube, as algae absorb sun and produce oxygen.
- Honda’s goal with the microscopic algae is to achieve a “win win” scenario of permanently capturing CO2 from the air and producing ingredients to make useful bio-products and fuel.
- And this research has an international twist – Honda purchased the strain of microscopic algae being tested, called Dreamo, from the University of Texas.
- By adjusting the amount of phosphorus and nitrogen in the culture medium in which the algae grow, Honda can cause the Dreamo algae to make more protein, turning the dried-and-spun-in-a-centrifuge product into food, supplements, and cosmetic products.
- And using another adjustment, the microscopic Dreamo algae can output mostly carbohydrates, which can then be transformed into glucose.
- The glucose can then be used to make ethanol, which can be made into a fuel or a bioplastic resin.
- And this is really great – The process is carbon negative with one gram of the self-replicating Dreamo microscopic algae absorbing two grams of CO2.
Story 4: Scientists create brain stimulator implant powered completely by a user’s breathing
Source: Futurism.com [NEOSCOPE] Story by Frank Landymore
Link: https://futurism.com/neoscope/brain-implant-powered-breathing
Source: University of Connecticut
Link: https://today.uconn.edu/2022/11/a-brain-stimulator-that-powers-with-breath-instead-of-batteries/
- Battery-powered brain stimulators can be a life changing treatment for those suffering from neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease.
- They are normally placed under the skin in the chest area and their electrodes implanted within the brain.
- But here’s the problem, today’s brain stimulators require surgery to get their batteries swapped out every 2 to 3 years, which is both costly and physically taxing.
- Well, recently researchers at the University of Connecticut announced they’ve developed a way to charge brain stimulators solely by harnessing the energy generated by breathing motions in a patient’s chest.
- It makes use of triboelectric charging, in which static electricity is generated through friction, like when you shuffle across a carpet and produce static electricity.
- The researchers made use of this effect by applying a triboelectric nanogenerator near the chest wall.
- Inhaling and exhaling causes the chest wall to rub against the generator, creating a current that charges a supercapacitor, which in turn powers the brain stimulator.