China has started mass production of graphene films used in production of cell phone and computer touch screens as a new production line began operation. The production line is in a graphene industrial park in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality. It can produce tens of millions of graphene films every year. A state-level graphene industrialization base …
Forbes reports that at some point between now and July, 2014, the UK parliament is likely to vote on whether a new form of in vitro fertilization (IVF)—involving DNA from three parents—becomes legally available to couples. If it passes, the law would be the first to allow pre-birth human-DNA modification, and another door to the …
Researchers have shown that the effi ciency at maximum power of a quantum Otto engine can be dramatically enhanced by coupling it to a squeezed thermal reservoir. While standard heat engines interact with thermal baths which are only characterized by their respective temperatures, the use of nonthermal baths o ffers more degrees of control and …
China is now the most trigger-happy cloud-seeder in the world. In 2011, China spent $150 million on a single regional artificial rain program; it’s unclear how much other local governments spend. The US, by comparison, spends around $15 million a year. It now creates 50 billion tonnes (55 billion tons) of artificial rain a year. …
The Carnival of Space 338 is up at Urban Astronomer Universe Today – Herschel Discovers Water Vapor Spewing from Ceres The Herschel space observatory has discovered water vapor around Ceres, and the vapor could be emanating from water plumes — much like those that are on Saturn’s moon Enceladus – or it could be from …
Google has acquired artificial-intelligence company DeepMind Technologies Ltd. The tech website Recode reported that Google paid $400 million for the startup based in London. DeepMind describes itself as a “cutting edge artificial intelligence company. They combine the best techniques from machine learning and systems neuroscience to build powerful general-purpose learning algorithms. The company was founded …
Data released this week showed that the mainland economy grew 7.7 per cent last year, suggesting that the imbalance is worsening, with consumption unchanged at just under 50 per cent of gross domestic product but investment growing. Some economists, though, say official statistics have it wrong. To avoid taxes, consumers routinely get employers to buy …
Nextbigfuture covered the concept of spraying water from skyscrapers to reduce air pollution in cities in China. Spraying water from skyscrapers could help to reduce the concentration of PM2.5 pollution – tiny particles in the air which are especially hazardous to health – efficiently to a safer level of 35 micrograms per cubic metre, and …
The Carnival of Nuclear Energy 193 is up at he Hiroshima Syndrome Hiroshima Syndrome summarized all the issues around the Fukukshim unit 4 spent fuel pools As said earlier, the typical worst-case scenario was the notion that decay heat could have built up enough to boil off all the water, dry out the fuel bundles …
Ramez Naam, author of The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet, recently explained that lithium-ion batteries have a fifteen year history of exponential price reduction. Between 1991 and 2005, the capacity that could be bought with $100 went up by a factor of 11. The trend continues through to the present …
Everyone attending TRANSHUMAN VISIONS on February 1 at Fort Mason will get Free Membership in LifeExtension – http://www.lef.org/index.htm – plus a copy of their most recent magazine. The value of this perk is $75. There is a schedule below. Now let’s talk about FOOD. There are a number of great places to eat nearby, plus …