Click here to view the Show Notes for July 14, 2023
Story 1: Toyota Touts Solid State EVs with 932-Mile Range, 10-Minute Charging by 2027 – this is a hot trend to monitor!
Source: PC Magazine Story by Emily Dreibelbis
Link: https://www.pcmag.com/news/toyota-touts-solid-state-evs-with-932-mile-range-10-minute-charging-by
For a deeper dive into the technology, see: https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/toyota-s-solid-state-batteries-will-run-up-to-932-miles-on-a-single-charge/ar-AA1cO7M9
- Toyota says it has found a technological breakthrough that will allow it to bring solid state batteries to market as early as 2027.
- It’s one of several advanced battery technologies that will underscore the brand’s new EV focus as it pivots away from its former CEO’s hybrid-centric strategy.
- Solid state batteries promise greater energy density, higher electric range, and faster charging that puts refueling time on-par with a gas-powered vehicle.
- Scientists, researchers, and automakers have spent decades trying to crack the code on their commercialization, but so far, no EVs have them*** [see Time out below]
- Time out, here is what a Bing AI search came back with when I asked if any EV cars are now available with solid state batteries:
- According to my web search, there is currently only one commercially available electric car with a solid-state battery. It is the Dongfeng E70 electric sedan, which is only available in China and has been launched as a fleet of 50 taxis.
- My add on…Announced July 12 – Chinese electric vehicle automaker Nio has made a groundbreaking achievement in the EV industry by adding a 150 kWh solid-state battery pack to its cars.
- Time out, let’s explain what solid-state batteries are [source https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_battery]:
- A solid-state battery uses solid electrodes and a solid electrolyte, instead of the liquid or polymer gel electrolytes found in lithium-ion or lithium polymer batteries.
- Time out, a bit more geeky info:
- A solid electrode [Solid-state ion-selective electrodes] use a solid sparingly soluble, ionically conducting substance, either alone or suspended in an organic polymeric material, as the membrane. Source: https://www.britannica.com/science/solid-state-ion-selective-electrode
- Time out, a bit more geeky info:
- A solid-state electrolyte (SSE) is a solid ionic conductor and electron-insulating material, and it is the characteristic component of the solid-state battery. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_electrolyte
- While solid electrolytes were first discovered in the 19th century, several drawbacks have prevented widespread application. Developments in the late 20th and early 21st century have caused renewed interest in solid-state battery technologies, especially in the context of electric vehicles, starting in the 2010s.
- Solid-state technology batteries can provide potential solutions for many problems of liquid Li-ion batteries, such as flammability, limited voltage, unstable solid-electrolyte interphase formation, poor cycling performance and strength.
- Materials proposed for use as solid electrolytes in solid-state batteries include ceramics (e.g., oxides, sulfides, phosphates), and solid polymers.
- Non-car related uses of solid-state batteries include pacemakers, RFID [Radio-frequency identification] and wearable devices.
- The big news – Toyota says it has found a new material that gets around one of the core issues with solid state batteries: Their longevity.
- The next challenge will be mass production. Toyota says its breakthrough batteries will hit the market in 2027 or 2028, giving its EVs 745 miles of range—significantly greater than any gas-powered car today—with 10-minute charging times.
- Eventually, Toyota’s plans include vehicles with 932-mile range and less than 10-minute charging times. In comparison, the best-selling EV today, the Tesla Model Y, has a maximum 330-mile range and 15-minute charging via Tesla Supercharger.
Story 2: This AI-Powered Robot Fish Explores Mysterious Organisms [and gathers DNA samples] Under the Sea
Source: WonderfulEngineering.com Story from a Reuters posting
See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ-nMO-iCno
- There’s an amazing new fish-like robot called Belle that is exploring the ocean and gathering important information without causing any disturbance to marine life. This robot has the potential to revolutionize the way we study underwater creatures and understand the impact of factors like overfishing and climate change.
- Robert Katzschmann, Assistant Professor of Robotics at ETH Zurich noted [in reference to using the robot to explore sensitive coral reefs] “Those areas are particularly vulnerable to propeller-based systems that would just sort of shred through the corals or go and scare the fish away.”
- Belle is designed to mimic a fish and seamlessly blend into its surroundings, thanks to its silent movements. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to navigate underwater autonomously. But that’s not all! It can also collect DNA samples and capture high-resolution videos.
- Belle is lightweight and compact, measuring less than a meter in length and weighing around 10 kilograms [about 22 pounds] when out of the water.
- It uses a silicone fin with two water-filled cavities, which allows it to move quietly and naturally in coral environments deep beneath the surface.
- Leon Guggenheim, a mechanical engineering student at ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology noted, “These [water-filled ] cavities are filled and emptied with water through a pump system, and that moves the fin back and forth, because you have a cavity on one side which creates an overpressure and a cavity on the other side which creates a vacuum. That then bends the fin in one direction.”
- Belle can operate autonomously for two hours before its batteries need to be recharged.
- When the robot completes a session…“It swims to the surface, sends us a GPS signal and then we go and pick it up again,” Guggenheim said.
- News outlets have reported that this robot could soon become an invaluable tool for marine biologists. They can use Belle to study and protect the health and biodiversity of different reef ecosystems, ensuring the conservation of marine wildlife. With Belle’s help, scientists can gather crucial data while minimizing any disruption to underwater habitats.
Story 3: It only took five hours for an AI model to design a functional CPU
Source: Quartz Magazine Story by Faustina Ngila
Link: https://qz.com/ai-cpu-five-hours-intel-risc-v-32ia-china-1850600823
- Artificial intelligence is stretching the human limits of computer design, with a new AI model now creating a complete CPU (Central Processing Unit) in just under five hours, compared to the four years it takes Intel to build one.
- The achievement was discussed in a research paper (pdf) dated June 27 and authored by 19 Chinese computer processor researchers from five technology colleges. The researchers say their approach is bound to set the stage for the creation of self-evolving machines, forever change the legacy CPU design flow, and reform the global semiconductor industry.
- Their CPU, which runs on an AI instruction set named RISC-V 32IA, can successfully run the Linux operating system (kernel 5.15).
- Reality check – According to the researchers, it can “perform comparably” against the 1991 human-designed Intel 80486SX CPU. – My comment, folks this is just the beginning, so they are not talking about designing CPUs comparable to today’s speedsters.
- Their [ultimate] goal is to beat the latest human-designed CPU, while shaping the future of computing.
- “Our approach reduces the design cycle by about 1,000x [times] because the manual programming and verification process of traditional CPU design, which consume more than 60%-80% of the design time and resources, is completely eliminated,” the paper reads.
- It claims that humans take 4,560 hours (190 days) to complete the entire design of a traditional CPU, such as the Intel K486. ***Note, the “K” is not correct.
- My comment – This must refer instead to the i486 [a.k.a. 80486] was announced at Spring Comdex on April 10, 1989
- The new AI-generated CPU, the paper states, achieves an accuracy of 99.99% for validation tests, while the physical design of the chip uses scripts at 65nm technology to generate the layout for fabrication.
- However, the RISC-V 32IA chip comes with a frequency of 300 MHz, compared to Intel’s human-made 3.6GHz processor, making it slower at processing computer commands.
- Side note: Today’s Core i9-13900K has a base frequency of 3.5 GHz, and a boost frequency of up to 5.3 GHz on all cores.
- The researchers admit this, saying CPUs made using AI models “perform worse than recent processors such as Intel Core i7 3930K.” They plan to boost the performance of what they call “the world’s first automatically designed CPU” by deploying more elaborated augmented algorithms.
Story 4: Delivering oxygen to tumors may be key in overcoming radiation therapy resistance
Source: MedicalXpress.com Story by National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
Link: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-oxygen-tumors-key-therapy-resistance.html
- For most of our tissues and cells, a lack of oxygen, or hypoxia, is bad news. Cancer cells, on the other hand, can thrive in these hypoxic conditions, which render tumors less susceptible to anti-cancer treatments, including radiation. Now, new research may offer a way to break through cancer’s hypoxia-induced defenses.
- A team led by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University and Drexel University has devised a strategy that combines ultrasound with microbubbles to deliver oxygen and cancer drugs to tumors.
- The results of their study, published in Pharmaceutics, indicate that the method—tested in mice—caused tumors to become more vulnerable to radiation therapy, resulting in slowed tumor growth and increased survival. The researchers suggest that with further development, their approach could be used to enhance the effectiveness of radiation therapy in the clinic for a variety of cancers.
- According to John Eisenbrey, Ph.D., an associate professor of radiology at Thomas Jefferson University, “At the moment there’s very little we can do on the clinical side to overcome hypoxia for radiation therapy, despite it being a well-known and documented limitation. The hope is that a more localized, more aggressive targeting of hypoxia, like what we’ve done here, will overcome some of that.”
- Margaret Wheatley, Ph.D., a professor of biomedical engineering at Drexel University added, “Whenever I say we’re delivering oxygen to tumors, a lot of people say, ‘Well, that’s crazy. You’re going to encourage them to grow. But radiation therapy, which prevents cancer cells from replicating, requires an ample supply of oxygen close by to be effective, she explained.