Daily Archives: March 4, 2017

In Brief

Part of Elon Musks grand plan of making the world a greener place and addressing the damage caused by climate change is ensuring that people have access to renewable technology. This means both introducing the technology and bringing the cost down so that people can actually have viable alternatives to traditional, carbon-emitting sources.

Teslas Gigafactory was a big part of this plan. Once the factory became operational, Tesla was gunning to reduce their battery cost by 30 percent. Now, a recent announcement from the company hints that it might be possible to bring it down even more. In a promotional video displayed in some stores, it seems that the factory was able to achieve a 35 percent reduction in battery cost.

No numbers have been officially released, but given the small bits of information that have gradually come outto the public, it seems that Tesla is definitely getting closer to that $35,000 price tag that the company is targeting for its Model 3.

Since 2001, battery cost for electric vehicles (EVs) has been reduced by80 percent. Even so, the current cost of todays long-range EVs is still not very affordable for most people. To be able to bring down the overall cost, the priceof battery cells and packs must significantly be lowered.

Early in 2016, Tesla said that price point was already below $190/kWh, prior to the Gigafactory starting production. With the factory now up and running, and the Tesla/Panasonic partnership already starting production for the 2170 battery cell, they could be able pull down the cost to $125/kWh.

The goal would be to reach $100/kWh. At this rate, EVs will be on par with gas-powered vehicles and chances are, people will be more likely to adopt the renewable technology if they can do so without having to spend more money.

Link:
Tesla's Cars Will Soon Be Just As Affordable as Gas-Powered Vehicles - Futurism

Blockchain: More Than Bitcoin

Blockchain and cryptocurrency are relatively new. Most people might even think that Bitcoin invented just in 2009 and probably the most popular blockchain-based cryptocurrency out there is the only one of its kind. But blockchain is more than just Bitcoin.

Blockchain is a digital ledger of transactions. Its public and is not governed by a central body. As such, theres a relative level of transparency coupled with security through cryptography. In other words, its safe and reliable, and monitored by hundreds of miners who keep these ledgers. Its quickly becoming of interest to not just existing financial markets, buthumanitarian and sustainability efforts.

At the moment, blockchains are most frequentlyused for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. But it has other uses like what distributed public blockchain network Ethereum does. Instead of focusing on just digital money like Bitcoin, the Ethereum blockchain runs the programming code of decentralized applications, allowing for enterprise use. Transactions in the Ethereum network rely on a crypto-token (also known as security tokens) called Ether.

While theres specific no research lab dedicated to blockchain and cryptocurrency just yet, Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency research and development company IOHK wants to change that. IOHK was established in 2015 by Jeremy Wood and Charles Hoskinson, one of the founders of Ethereum. Theyre planning toinvest up to $1 million in two facilities for research: one at the University of Edinburgh, and the other Tokyo Institute of Technology.

The labs will cover topics such as cryptography, smart contracts, and how to upgrade cryptocurrency systems. Best of all, their research will be open source and accessible to everyone. This is commonly not done in the startup setting, Hoskinson told Business Insider. Usually, this is something you do if youre a company like Microsoft Microsoft has research campuses at many major universities.

Hoskinsonalso said that setting up these research labs can provide perspective and better understanding of the growing blockchain technology. After having discussions, they [the experts] said, actually we dont have answers to a lot of these fundamental questions, explained Hoskinson. We said, how do we get those answers? And they said, we need to write some papers, we need to do some basic research. Over time we started moving into the university research space.

We already know that blockchain is more than Bitcoin, but now that there will be research labs dedicated to understanding its potential, the future of the technology is bound to develop rapidly. The days of digital cash becoming globally dominant could arrive sooner than we think.

Originally posted here:
In Case You Missed it, The Blockchain Revolution's Officially Begun - Futurism

Cryopreservation

Cryopreservation is the process of freezing organs and tissues at very low temperatures in order to preserve them. While it sounds simple in theory, only a handful of cells and tissues have survivedthis method. This is because while science has successfully developed ways to cool organs to the very low temperatures required for preservation, thawing them out has proven far more difficult. As the specimen thaws, itforms ice crystals, which can damage the tissue and render organs unusable.

Right now, the process is only a viable option for small samples, such as sperm or embryos. Previous efforts using slow warming techniques have proven to be effective on samples of that size, but havent worked forlarger tissue samples, like whole human organs. The inability to safely thaw the tissue has also precluded the theoretical concept of cryogenically preservingentire human bodies, with the intention of reanimating them later. The concept has roots in cryogenic technology, but is actually referred to as cryonics, and the scientific community generally considers it to be more science fiction than science fact at least for the time being.

A recentstudy has made a significant breakthrough which may well begin closing that gap even more. Using a new technique, scientists were able to cryopreserve human and pig samples, then successfully rewarm it without causing any damage to the tissue.

As lead researcher John Bischof from the University of Minnesota notes:

This is the first time that anyone has been able to scale up to a larger biological system and demonstrate successful, fast, and uniform warming of hundreds of degrees Celsius per minute of preserved tissue without damaging the tissue.

By using nanoparticles to heat the tissues at an equal rate, scientists were able to prevent the formation ofthose destructive ice crystals. The researchers mixed silica-coated iron oxide nanoparticles in a solution and applied an external magnetic field to generate heat. The process was tested on several human and pig tissue samples, and it showed that nanowarming achieves the same speed of thawing as the use of traditional convection techniques.

One theoretical application for this discovery would be, of course, bringing cryogenic life-extension techniques out of the realm of science fiction and into reality. But were not quite there yet.

A more practical application for the technique wouldbeto safely preserve and store organs for extended periods, thus improving the logistical challenges behind organ transplantation.

According to statisticsfrom the United Network for Organ Sharing, 22 people die every dayin the US while waiting for organ transplants. Contrary to popular belief, this isnt because there is a shortage of organs being donated its because organs cannot be preserved for more than a few hours. So, while there are available organs ready to be transplanted, the time it takes to find a matching recipient and transport the organ safely to their location often exceeds the window of time in which the organ remains viable for transplant.

Over half of donated hearts and lungs are thrown out each year because they dont make it to patients in time. They can only be kept on ice for four hours, and while some organs can last longer than others without a blood supply during transport, its still not a longenough in many cases.

If only half of these discarded organs were transplanted, then it has been estimated that wait lists for these organs could be extinguished within two to three years, Bischof adds. With the help of cryopreservation technology, we may be well on our way to keeping donated organs viable for longer meaning they could be transported to patients who need them even if distance and time stands between them.

Read the rest here:
Scientists Have Made a Huge Breakthrough In Cryogenics - Futurism

The Future of Taxis

Electric vehicles have been growing in popularity among fleet operators, and soon, Beijing may find itself earning a reputation as the hub of the electric taxi. The Chinese city is home to one of the most important taxi fleets in the world, numbering around 70,000, and under a new program for air pollution control that will begin implementation this year, those taxis will be going electric.

According to a report by National Business Daily, the transition to electric cars will cover all new taxis registered in the region. All newly added or replaced taxis in the city of Beijing will be converted from gasoline to electricity, according to a draft work program on air pollution control for Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and surrounding areas in 2017, the report reads.

The city isnt the first to push for electric taxis. Previously, Shenzhen and Taiyuan both announced similar policies for their taxis, but the move is significant for a municipality of over 20 million people.

The total fleet conversion is expected to cost around 9 billion yuan ($1.3 billion USD), but the cost is worth it. Electric cars will potentially save taxi companies from gas expenses and could lower maintenance costs. They will also help save the city from pollution, as Beijings populace is exposed to hazardous air quality on a semi-regular basis.

The move to electric cars isnt cheap, though, which is why Liu Jinliang, chairman of Geelys ride-hailing arm Caocao, hopes the government will provide subsidies to taxi companies. National Passenger Cars Association secretary-general Cui Dongshualso hopes that the government will speed up the construction of charging facilities.

This new mandate, coupled with the Chinese governments recentrelaxation of restrictions on car manufacturingin an attempt to draw more electric vehicles, demonstrates the countrys seriousness in investing in electric cars. According to Electrek, the nationis now the worlds biggest electric vehicle market, with a fleet of over 600,000 electric cars more than both the U.S. and European markets combined. Soon, theyll be adding another 70,000 to that total.

Here is the original post:
China Is Replacing 70000 Taxis With Electric Cars - Futurism

The Remarkable ISS

The International Space Station (ISS) may be an impressive technological marvel, but its also tangible proof of what humans can accomplish when we set aside political, religious, gender, or racial differences and focus on science.Built by Russia and funded by the United States, the $100 billion space station is the result of more than a dozen countries working together.

A remarkable amount of effort went into the successful creation of the ISS, which has now been in operation for more than 16 years. It currently orbits Earth at an altitude of 354 kilometers (220 miles), traveling at 28,163 kilometers per hour (17,500 miles per hour). The space station orbits our planet every 90 minutes, and an acre of solar panels keep the outpost running.

Right now, the ISS is home to several crew members from various nations, all of whom are focused on learning about how humans can live and work in space.It is arguably the most visible example of international cooperation and everything that can be achieved when nations collaborate.

Soon, a new addition to an ISS expedition crew will make history aboard the space station. When Jeanette Epps joins Expedition 56 in March 2018 as a flight engineer, she will become the first African-American to join the ISS as a crew member.

Epps holds a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland and served as a fellow in NASAs Graduate Student Researchers Project, an initiative that hopes to increase engagement amongst students who want to pursue advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

In a recent interview with New York Magazine, Epps shared her thoughts on joining the ISS:

There have been three African-Americans who have visited ISS, but they havent done the long-duration mission that I am undertaking. Ill be the one spending the longest time on the ISS. As a steward, I want to do well with this honor. I want to make sure that young people know that this didnt happen overnight. There was a lot of work involved, and a lot of commitment and consistency. It is a daunting task to take on.

While Epps will be the first African-American to board the ISS for a long-term expedition, numerous African-American women have lent their expertise to the success of NASA. As far back as the 1950s, African-American women were contributing to humanitys mission to explore the unknown, and soon, Epps will be able to add her name to the list of people breaking new ground in space exploration.

Original post:
The ISS Is Getting Its First African-American Crew Member in 2018 - Futurism

In Brief

A new dynamic charging technology could give unlimited range to electric vehicles (EVs).

The term dynamic charging refers to a technology that can both supply power and perform charging while driving. The system was created by Honda, who claims that they have already developed a system ready for testing which they plan to demonstrate at WCX 17 SAE World Congress Experience next month.

Their dynamic charging system apparently has a charging power of 180 kW (DC 600 V, 330 A) while driving at a speed of 155 km/h (96 mph).

The concept is great in theory, but the biggest barrier here is cost. It wont be cheap to build the infrastructure required for such a system. Dynamic charging requires charging hardware to be built into or over the roadessentially creating a track that will wirelessly charge EVs that drive over it. Nevertheless, this kind of technology could be applied to highways to increase on-road time of EVs and allow them to cover longer distances.

While dynamic charging isnt an essential part of the EV revolution now, it could be a critical element foradoption down the line. So expect to see moretrials and studies aiming to refine the technology for future use.

See the original post:
Honda's New System Gives Electric Vehicles 'Unlimited Range' - Futurism