Show Notes 13 October 2023
Story 1: Desalination system could produce freshwater that is cheaper than tap water
Source: MIT News Story by Jennifer Chu
Link: https://news.mit.edu/2023/desalination-system-could-produce-freshwater-cheaper-0927
- First a quick reminder – Desalination is the process of removing the salt from saline water, like seawater, to make it drinkable. It’s a particularly helpful method for providing drinking water to water-scarce regions, like the Middle East and North Africa.
- Global freshwater demand will outstrip supply by 40% by 2030, say experts. The world is facing an imminent water crisis, with demand expected to outstrip the supply of fresh water by 40% by the end of this decade.
- A team of engineers at MIT and in China are aiming to turn seawater into drinking water with a completely passive device that is inspired by the ocean and powered by the sun.
- In a paper appearing in the September 27 issue of the journal Joule, the team outlined the design for a new solar desalination system that takes in saltwater and heats it with natural sunlight.
- The configuration of the device allows water to circulate in swirling eddies, in a manner similar to the much larger “thermohaline” circulation of the ocean. This circulation, combined with the sun’s heat, drives water to evaporate, leaving salt behind.
- Side note: Thermohaline circulation is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes.
- The resulting water vapor from this kind of process used in the MIT device can then be condensed and collected as pure, drinkable water. In the meantime, the leftover salt continues to circulate through and out of the device, rather than accumulating and clogging the system.
- The new MIT system has a higher water-production rate and a higher salt-rejection rate than all other passive solar desalination concepts currently being tested.
- The researchers estimate that if the system is scaled up to the size of a small suitcase, it could produce about 4 to 6 liters of drinking water per hour and last several years before requiring replacement parts.
- For the first time in history, according to a research scientist in MIT’s Device Research Laboratory, at this scale and performance, the system could produce drinking water at a rate and price that is cheaper than tap water.
- The team envisions a scaled-up device could passively produce enough drinking water to meet the daily requirements of a small family. The system could also supply off-grid, coastal communities where seawater is easily accessible.
- One of the key challenges the team faced was removing salt and still producing enough “fresh” water to make the system viable for real-world use.
- The key to their new design is a combination of their two previous concepts: a multistage system of evaporators and condensers, that is also configured to boost the circulation of water — and salt — within each stage.
- The heart of the team’s new design is a single stage that resembles a thin box, topped with a dark material that efficiently absorbs the heat of the sun. Inside, the box is separated into a top and bottom section.
- Water can flow through the top half, where the ceiling is lined with an evaporator layer that uses the sun’s heat to warm up and evaporate any water in direct contact.
- The water vapor is then funneled to the bottom half of the box, where a condensing layer air-cools the vapor into salt-free, drinkable water.
Story 2: Scientists invent solar panel coating that lets them work in snowy weather – ‘Game-changing technology’ could significantly boost electricity generation during winter
Source: UK’s Independent Story by Anthony Cuthbertson
Link: https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/solar-panels-snow-renewable-energy-weather-b2413535.html
Source: Interesting Engineering Story by Shubhangi Dua
Link: https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/passive-snow-removal-method-pvs
- Engineers at the University of Toledo in the United States have invented a way to passively remove snow from solar panels to allow them to keep generating electricity during adverse weather conditions.
- The University of Toledo team developed a strip coating that causes accumulated snow to slide off solar panels without interfering with their efficiency.
- Solar panels can generate electricity on cloudy days; however, snow cover can completely block their ability to harvest any of the Sun’s energy. This can result in up to 12 per cent loss of electricity generation per year in areas with heavy snowfall.
- The new, innovative self-cleaning strips can also be applied to both new and existing solar installations relatively easily.
- The University of Toledo team conducted tests in the US and Japan by applying the strip to the lower ledge of the panel. The result showed the innovation effectively melting snow without hindering sunlight absorption and achieved more than 5 per cent improved power generation annually.
- The University’s easy-to-apply strip does not require any energy to operate and does not cause any partial shading or hot spots on the panel, and does not invalidate a solar panel’s warranty. Working with industry partners, the research team expects thousands of strip coatings to be installed across the US by the end of 2023.
Story 3: Joby Aircraft Becomes First Electric Air Taxi Delivered to the U.S. Air Force
Source: Business Wire September 25, 2023, press announcement
Link: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230925596439/en/
See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qVLQsz_YJc
- Start the video at the 12 second mark
- Santa Cruz, California-based Joby Aviation, Inc., a company developing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for commercial passenger service, recently announced it has delivered its first aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base approximately six months ahead of the expected 2024 delivery date.
- With a range of up to 100 miles and a top speed of 200 mph, the six-propeller Joby aircraft is capable of transporting a pilot and four passengers quickly and quietly with zero operating emissions.
- On-base operations with Joby aircraft will be used to demonstrate a range of logistics missions, including cargo and passenger transportation, and will be operated by both Joby and U.S. Air Force personnel.
- In partnership with the U.S. Air Force, NASA will also use the aircraft for research focused on how these aircraft could fit into the national airspace, benefiting the entire air taxi industry.
- Joby’s aircraft, which has already begun flying at Edwards AFB, is the first electric air taxi to be stationed on a U.S. military base and is believed to be the first delivery of an electric air taxi in the U.S., as part of Joby’s $131 million contract with the U.S. Air Force.
- The aircraft, which was the first built on Joby’s Pilot Production Line in Marina, CA, will be stationed at Edwards Air Force Base for at least the next year, with charging and ground support equipment provided on-base by Joby in a facility purpose-built by the Air Force for joint flight test operations.
- The U.S. Air Force and Joby will conduct joint flight testing and operations to demonstrate the aircraft’s capabilities in realistic mission settings.
Story 4: Amazing Advance in Spinal Repair Allows Injured Mice to Walk Again
Source: ScienceAlert.com Story by Rebecca Dyer
Link: https://www.sciencealert.com/amazing-advance-in-spinal-repair-allows-injured-mice-to-walk-again
Source: UCLAhealth.org
Link: https://www.uclahealth.org/news/scientists-regenerate-neurons-restore-walking-mice-after
See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtPcWBXjOgk
- In a new study involving mice, a team of researchers from UCLA, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and Harvard University have uncovered a crucial component for restoring functional activity after spinal cord injury.
- They have reversed ‘irreversible paralysis’ in mice with complete spinal cord injuries using gene therapy.
- The team found that regrowing neurons is not enough to fully restore walking and that regenerative therapies must target specific neurons and guide them back to where they belong, which was previously unknown.
- Side note: Neurons are nerve cells that send messages all over your body to allow you to do everything from breathing to talking, eating, walking, and thinking.
- There’s a lot more work to do, but the Swiss and US team says it’s the first step toward establishing the technology required to achieve the same result in humans.
- According to a neuroscientist on the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology team, “We expect that our gene therapy will act synergistically with our other procedures involving electrical stimulation of the spinal cord.”
- A complete spinal cord injury prevents the spinal cord from healing itself. Recovery requires inducing regrowth of neurons, which has been achieved, but the necessary conditions for these therapies to actually restore motor function remain a mystery.
- We know that mice or humans with a partial SCI [that is, an incomplete spinal cord injury refers to partial damage to the spinal cord] become temporarily paralyzed, but most of their motor function returns naturally. The spinal cord neurons that produce walking are located in the lumbar region, but after a partial SCI, neurons in the thoracic region relay communication across the spinal cord that allows walking to be restored.
- The team hypothesized that restoring these specific neuron communication patterns could allow someone with a complete spinal cord injury to walk again, too.
- The researchers used genetic analysis to figure out which thoracic spinal cord neurons aid natural healing after a partial SCI. They followed their axons, the tiny nerve fibers that connect neurons and let them communicate, and found they naturally reach the lumbar spinal cord.
- The researchers noted, “Our observations using single-cell nuclear RNA sequencing not only exposed the specific axons that must regenerate, but also revealed that these axons must reconnect to their natural targets to restore motor function.”
Honorable Mentions:
Webb Telescope Captures Signs of Habitability on Planet K2-18 b
Source: ExtremeTech.com Story by Adrianna Nine
Link: https://www.extremetech.com/science/webb-telescope-captures-signs-of-habitability-on-planet-k2-18-b
NASA Source: https://www.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/webb-discovers-methane-carbon-dioxide-in-atmosphere-of-k2-18-b/
Click here for a link to the image source
- The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has uncovered some exciting information regarding the potential habitability of K2-18 b. The exoplanet, which orbits the cool dwarf star K2-18 roughly 120 light years from Earth, could possess the properties typical of a hydrogen-rich exoplanet.
- If further research confirms the presence of hydrogen and a watery surface, K2-18 b could contain life.
- Astronomers and astrophysicists are increasingly searching for Hycean worlds, or ocean-covered exoplanets with hydrogen-rich atmospheres.
- This relatively new class of exoplanets is thought to be more likely to contain the conditions necessary to sustain life. In searching for a Hycean exoplanet, researchers at the University of Cambridge used JWST data to assess K2-18, an exoplanet 8.6 times as large as Earth.
- JWST’s near-infrared imager and slitless spectrograph (NIRISS) and near-infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec) enabled them to inspect the chemical composition of K2-18 b’s atmosphere.
- The researchers found that K2-18 b contains unexpectedly high levels of carbon dioxide, methane, and dimethyl sulfide—carbon-bearing molecules known to come from living organisms here on Earth. (In fact, on Earth, dimethyl sulfide is only produced by life; phytoplankton tend to generate most of it.)
- Just as importantly, they noted a lack of ammonia. The absence of ammonia is considered a sign of a liquid-water ocean, which would typically dissolve ammonia from the atmosphere.
- “Our findings underscore the importance of considering diverse habitable environments in the search for life elsewhere,” astronomer and lead study author Nikku Madhusudhan told NASA. “Traditionally, the search for life on exoplanets has focused primarily on smaller rocky planets, but the larger Hycean worlds are significantly more conducive to atmospheric observations.”
Microwaves could process silicon solar cells using less time and energy than high-temperature furnaces, while also making panels easier to disassemble and recycle
Source: Anthropocene Magazine Story by Prachi Patel
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And that’s how it all started: AI managed to design a robot that walks — from scratch, and in less than 60 seconds
Source: TechRadar.com Story by Keumars Afifi-Sabet
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NASA Wants to Build Houses on the Moon by 2040
Source: ExtremeTech.com Story by Ryan Whitwam
Link: https://www.extremetech.com/science/nasa-wants-to-build-houses-on-the-moon-by-2040