technology Archive

3d printing Organic ionic ink can make 3D printed sensors for soft robots

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June 18, 2018 | brian wang |

Integrating sensors within soft robots has been difficult in part because most sensors, such as those used in traditional electronics, are rigid. Harvard researchers developed an organic ionic liquid-based conductive ink that can be 3D printed within the soft elastomer …

artificial intelligence IBM overcomes von Neumann bottleneck for AI hundreds of time faster using hundreds of times less energy

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June 17, 2018 | brian wang |

IBM Research AI team demonstrated deep neural network (DNN) training with large arrays of analog memory devices at the same accuracy as a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU)-based system. This is a major step on the path to the kind of …

batteries China’s CATL making two giant battery factories with billion dollar funding

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June 16, 2018 | brian wang |

Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. (CATL) has raised nearly $1 billion to fund new battery plants. China will be making 70 percent of the world’s electric-vehicle batteries by 2021, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). China is already the world’s …

nuclear On track to commercial extraction of uranium from seawater

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June 16, 2018 | brian wang |

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and LCW Supercritical Technologies have created five grams of yellowcake — a powdered form of uranium used to produce fuel for nuclear power production — using acrylic fibers to extract it from seawater. LCW, …

air pollution Clean future trucks with gasoline-alcohol engines at half the cost of alternatives

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June 15, 2018 | brian wang |

The US trucking industry is being pressured to deal with diesel emissions. California would require that NOx emissions from medium- and heavy-duty trucks be cut by about 90 percent relative to today’s cleanest diesel. India and China mostly do not …

future Spinlaunch has $40 million to fund development to first centrifuge space launch by 2022

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June 15, 2018 | brian wang |

SpinLaunch Inc. has closed a $35 million Series A funding round with a powerhouse syndicate of investors. Investors include Airbus Ventures, GV (formerly Google Ventures), and Kleiner Perkins. This syndicate joins institutional investors including Lauder Partners, ATW Partners, Bolt, and …

energy Perovskite and silicon tandem solar could beat silicon solar in some to many situations

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June 15, 2018 | brian wang |

Researchers from EPFL’s Photovoltaics Laboratory and the CSEM PV-center have developed an economically competitive solution to silicon solar cells. They have integrated a perovskite cell directly on top of a standard silicon-based cell, obtaining a record efficiency of 25.2 percent. …

education Million Dollar University Team Space Launch Challenge will Build Pipeline of Qualified Rocketeers

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June 14, 2018 | brian wang |

The Base 11 Space Challenge is a $1 million+ prize for a student-led university team to design, build, and launch a liquid-propelled, single-stage rocket to an altitude of 100 kilometers (the Karman Line) by December 30, 2021. Annual competitions and …

elon musk Elon Musk to build high speed hyperloop to from downtown Chicago to airport

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June 14, 2018 | brian wang |

Elon Musk’s Boring Co. has won a bid to build a multibillion-dollar high-speed express train to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. We’re really excited to work with the Mayor and the City to bring this new high-speed public transportation system to …

elon musk SpaceX will try to use NASA inflatable aeroshell decelerator to enable second stage reuse

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June 13, 2018 | brian wang |

NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, is demonstrating technology for atmospheric entry. LOFTID acts as a giant brake by deploying a large inflatable aeroshell (a deployable structure protected by a flexible heatshield) before entering the …