Science, Space, Health & Robotics News - Page 83

The Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit has chosen General Motors to develop and test a battery pack prototype for future use.

The DoD doesn't want to miss out on the expansion of batteries and other forms of energy storage, especially as more EV technology hits the road. This project, however, is designed for the National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries 2021-2030 objective and requires GM Defense to develop a battery pack prototype.

GM expects its Ultium Platform - combined EV battery architecture and propulsion system - will be the best choice, as it is modular and extremely scalable. Ultium ranges from 50 to 200 kWh and Ultium-powered Evs have fast-charging capability with a range of up to 400 miles supported on a full charge.

The Sun is much larger than people may expect and constantly affects Earth with blasts of charged particles streaming from its surface in various forms.

Our local star has a diameter of 864,000 miles, which may be hard to visualize, but being the largest object in our solar system, that isn't surprising. Notably, approximately 1.3 million Earths can fit inside the Sun, and due to its immense size and power, its presence directly affects Earth. An example of how the Sun can affect us is seen above in an incredible video captured by Miguel Claro, who writes on Space.com that on July 10, 2022, the Sun released a gigantic solar prominence that resulted in a coronal mass ejection (CME) being launched into space.

Claro explains in his article that as soon as he realized that a solar prominence was visible, he began taking photos, with the astrophotographer snapping pics of our star from 5:37 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. local time (Alqueva, Portugal). The final results are absolutely stunning, and as Claro explains, the short video is comprised of approximately one-hour images that shows the prominence swirling like a tornado over time. Plasma releases such as the one seen in the above video, when directed at Earth, can result in charged solar particles impacting Earth's magnetic field.

A group of scientists has condensed 1 billion years of tectonic plate activity into one short 40-second video showing how drastically the planet has changed over time.

In 2021 a group of scientists created one of the most complete models of Earth's tectonic plate movements ever. The video was published on YouTube in February last year and showcases how these incredibly large pieces of irregularly shaped solid rock have moved over the course of millions of years, revealing how locations we know today were in completely different spots on the planet a millennia ago.

An example of this is Antarctica, which is a place known for its extreme freezing temperatures, but at one stage during Earth's evolution, it was warm as it was positioned at the planet's equator. To humans, tectonic plates only move a few centimeters every year, but over large periods of time, they have moved drastically. Creating models such as the one above will enable scientists to learn more about tectonic plate movement patterns and, in turn, will allow for scientists to predict where they will end up in the future.

A YouTuber has posted a video where he built the entire universe inside of Minecraft in what may be the biggest effort ever made inside the game.

The YouTuber ChrisDaCow posted the video on October 4 titled "How I Built the Entire Universe in Minecraft" to Reddit, where it quickly went viral, gaining hundreds of awards and multiple supportive comments on the effort that was made. This isn't the first time ChrisDaCow has challenged himself inside of Minecraft, as the YouTuber has previously recreated Middle Earth, dragons, Van Gogh's Starry Night, factories, and much more.

However, recreating the entire universe is the biggest challenge ChrisDaCow has ever made, and the results are absolutely phenomenal. Chris explains during the video that there was quite a lot of planning involved and that he used Minecraft mods such as WorldEdit to speed up the development of the process as well as painting large selections of blocks. Despite the fact that mods were used to create the project, the effort that was made is still gargantuan.

A group of researchers has claimed they've discovered what they believe to be the secret ingredients to the building blocks of life.

A new paper published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences details a discovery made by researchers from Purdue University. The researchers behind the study describe the discovery as "dramatic" as they believe that the "secret ingredient for building life" has been found.

According to Graham Cooks, a chemistry professor at Purdue University and lead author on the newly published paper, the discovery is "essentially the chemistry behind the origin of life" and that this is the first demonstration of "primordial molecules, simple amino acids, spontaneously form peptides, the building blocks of life, in droplets of pure water".

Neil deGrasse Tyson and Elon Musk have taken to Twitter to debunk the physics seen throughout Tom Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick.

The latest installment into the Top Gun series saw the return of Tom Cruise playing the fan-favorite character Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell for the highly anticipated sequel, and while the movie was certainly a success at the box office, scientists such as Neil deGrasse Tyson have broken down the physics that were displayed throughout a specific scene in the movie. As with most movies, what viewers witness on the big screen isn't necessarily possible in real life, and Maverick's achievement of reaching Mach 10.5 seems to be one of those instances.

deGrasse Tyson took to Twitter to explain that when Maverick was traveling at Mach 10.5 and was forced to eject from his aircraft due to a malfunction, he was moving at 7,000 mph, which gave him 400 million joules of kinetic energy, or the explosive power of 100 kg (220 pounds) of TNT. deGrasse Tyson added that the human body is incapable of surviving this much kinetic energy and that Maverick would have certainly died in the real-world.

Elon Musk's SpaceX recently launched a groundbreaking mission to the International Space Station (ISS) with its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.

NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 5 to the International Space Station (ISS) with the Falcon 9 rocket carrying four astronauts aboard the Dragon capsule. The launch marked the fifth crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, and after an approximately 29-hour flight to the floating laboratory, the four astronauts successfully docked and entered the ISS on October 6.

As with all of SpaceX's launches, the mission liftoff was livestreamed via its social channels as well as NASA's own livestream. The four astronauts aboard the Dragon capsule and now members of the ISS crew are: NASA's Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and cosmonaut Anna Kikina. Notably, the presence of NASA's Nicole Mann marks the very first time a Native American woman has reached the final frontier, with an additional milestone being reached with cosmonaut Anna Kikina being the first Russian to fly on a private American spacecraft.

AIRROBO is quite proud of its P20 robot vacuum which brings an impressive 99.2% cleaning efficiency to customers using the robotic device in their apartment or house.

The P20's 99.2% cleaning efficiency, based on the percentage of debris picked up, is specific to robot vacuum cleaners priced under $200 and based on the following criteria - three different debris types (rice, dust, dog hair), and included three different surface types (hard surface, low-pile carpet and mid-pile carpet).

As noted by Tommy Zhang, General Manager of AIRROBO, in a press statement:

Boston Dynamics has joined five other leading robotics companies to publish an open letter pledging that general-purpose robots should not be weaponized. Joining Boston Dynamics in the public statement were the following leading robotics companies: Agility, ANYbotics, Clearpath Robotics, Open Robotics, and Unitree.

Each company will ensure their "advanced-mobility general-purpose robots" and software that makes them run will not be weaponized. In addition, they will work to ensure customers also didn't weaponize any of the products for nefarious purposes. They will actively review plans customers have for their products, while also exploring features that would prevent any intended weaponization.

The industry leaders also want lawmakers to work with them to promote the safe use of the robots and prevent possible future misuse.

Restaurants struggling to find human workers are finding robots to be a good way to augment staff, eliminating repetitive tasks in the back of house. In the future, robots will continue advancing from test labs into restaurant kitchens, with restaurant owners willing to invest in automation.

Restaurant hosts, baristas, and drive-through operators are at the greatest risk of robotic automation, and 76% of restaurants already are using 3 or more automated tools, according to a recent report from Capterra. For restaurants already embracing automation, the majority of workers also found it easy to use the tools while at work, an important metric as additional technology is added.

Diners tend to be oblivious to the automation that is already underway, and that is currently acceptable - it will take some time for them to become welcoming to robots and non-human automation that they must interact with directly. Everything from traditional restaurants to fast food restaurants and pizza shops have custom robots they can rent for monthly dues - or purchase outright - and see if their operations benefit.