05 Sci-Tech

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Excerpt from www.army-technology.com

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Excerpt from scitechdaily.com

A hemispherical-shell-shaped organic active layer for photovoltaic application, to improve energy efficiency and angular coverage; (left bottom) spatial distribution of electric field norms. Credit: D. Hah, doi 10.1117/1.JPE.14.018501

New research suggests redesigning organic solar cells with a hemispherical shell structure to provide broader angular coverage, which is particularly beneficial for devices that need adaptable light absorption, like wearable electronics.

The search for sustainable energy solutions places a high priority on developing more efficient solar cells. Organic photovoltaic cells have become an appealing choice compared to conventional silicon-based cells, thanks to their flexibility and lower costs. Nonetheless, enhancing their performance continues to be a major hurdle.

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Excerpt from www.investmentexecutive.com

U.S. banks undertake blockchain experiment  Investment Executive

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Excerpt from www.scientificamerican.com

Laurent Truche, a geochemist at Grenoble Alpes University in France, has been searching for naturally occurring hydrogen for nearly a decade. This year, in a chromite mine in Albania, he and his colleagues struck gold, or rather another element on the periodic table. Nearly a kilometer below the surface, they discovered a hydrogen seep so strong it turned a murky drainage pond into something resembling a Jacuzzi. Truche had never seen hydrogen bubbles that big. “It was really intense,” he says.

Natural hydrogen is hydrogen gas in its molecular form (H₂) that is generated through natural processes. Formed deep within Earth, it may get trapped on its way to the surface, creating accumulations of gas. Confusingly also called “gold,” “white” or “geological” hydrogen, natural hydrogen could offer us an energy source cleaner than other types of hydrogen because there is no carbon involved in the process that generates it (although drilling and distribution would still involve some carbon dioxide emissions, of course). A recent study estimated the greenhouse gas intensity of natural hydrogen to be 0.4 kilogram of CO₂ equivalent per kilogram (kg CO₂eq/kg), far less than the 22-26 kg kg CO₂e/kg of black hydrogen (produced from coal) or the 10-14 kg CO₂e/kg of blue hydrogen (produced from natural gas).

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Excerpt from www.techradar.com

In an effort to give businesses the best tools for success (but more importantly, to keep up with the likes of Google), Meta has unveiled new generative AI features for advertisers on its platforms.

The upgrades, which are set to roll out over the course of this year, will include full image and text generation capabilities.

Besides improving efficiency by automating certain parts of the ad creation process, Meta also says that its GenAI features will help to improve ad performance by offering up more creative variations.

The most eye-catching addition will be Meta’s image generation tool, which offers advertisers the ability to generate full image versions inspired by their original ad content. The tool includes text overlay capabilities and a handy image expansion feature to make adjusting the aspect ratio of an image easier.

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Excerpt from fedscoop.com

Three years ago, chief information security officers couldn’t go anywhere without hearing about zero trust. Today, artificial intelligence is the defensive measure du jour for those same government IT leaders.

With a healthy dose of skepticism formed through years of protecting digital infrastructure from advanced threats, many federal cybersecurity practitioners have significant concerns about AI, viewing it as a technology that needs corralling. That’s especially true for large language models and other data sources, they say.

“It’s garbage in, garbage out,” said Paul Blahusch, CISO for the Department of Labor. “If our adversary can poison that data, well, we’re going to start getting the wrong information back out from our artificial intelligence. It’s going to say, ‘Day is night, night is day. Black is white, white is black.’ And are we going to just take that and say, ‘Oh well, that must be what it says because the AI said so?’”

Speaking during an Advanced Technology Academic Research Center webinar last week, Blahusch and other government and industry cyber experts painted AI as a technology that’s not entirely new, having found itself in the cultural zeitgeist thanks to ChatGPT. But it’s one that can and will be put to better use.

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Excerpt from www.aol.com

LONDON (Reuters) – Google Deepmind has unveiled the third major version of its “AlphaFold” artificial intelligence model, designed to help scientists design drugs and target disease more effectively.

In 2020, the company made a significant advance in molecular biology by using AI to successfully predict the behaviour of microscopic proteins.

With the latest incarnation of AlphaFold, researchers at DeepMind and sister company Isomorphic Labs – both overseen by cofounder Demis Hassabis – have mapped the behaviour for all of life’s molecules, including human DNA…

“With these new capabilities, we can design a molecule that will bind to a specific place on a protein, and we can predict how strongly it will bind,” Hassabis said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

“It’s a critical step if you want to design drugs and compounds that will help with disease.”

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Excerpt from arstechnica.com

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Excerpt from www.livescience.com

 

The old saying may be true: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. At least that’s the case for human civilizations across 30,000 years of history, according to a new analysis published May 1 in the journal Nature. The study found that, across the globe, ancient human societies that experienced more setbacks were also quicker to bounce back from future downturns.

“The more often a population experiences disturbances or downturns, the more likely it is to be able to recover faster the next time around,” study leader Philip Riris, an archaeologist at Bournemouth University in the U.K., told Live Science.

This seesaw between vulnerability and resilience was particularly strong among early farmers and herders, Riris and his colleagues found. Agricultural communities throughout history experienced more downturns overall than other societies, such as hunter-gatherer groups, but they also recovered from these downturns more quickly than other groups.

“It’s an important paper,” said Dagomar Degroot, an associate professor at Georgetown University who studies how climate change influenced human history and who was not involved in the research. “There is a lot of really influential work on the collapse of societies faced with climate change,” Degroot told Live Science, “but a focus on resilience and only resilience is significantly rarer.”

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Excerpt from people.com

 

• Ozempic — the diabetes drug that’s become a trendy weight-loss tool — works in the brain to impact satiety
• Patients have reported side effects like sagging breasts and butt, decreased libido and increased fertility
• Experts say that some of these side effects are the result of rapid weight loss and suggest losing weight more gradually to combat any negative effects

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Excerpt from www.tiretechnologyinternational.com

EPA and CDC release findings affirming safety of synthetic turf fields with recycled tire crumb rubber  Tire Technology International

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Excerpt from cleantechnica.com

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Words have consequences, especially when uttered by someone who has an enormous public following. For almost ten years, regulators have been wrangling with Elon Musk over his claims that Tesla automobiles can drive themselves with little to no input from human drivers. The name “Autopilot” has been controversial from the start, as many contend it lulls drivers into a false sense of security. Musk, in his own inimitable fashion, has refused to consider changing the name to something less controversial.

Full Self Driving implies the system is capable of Level 4 autonomous driving, which it clearly is not. It may be good, it may even be very good, but it is at best a Level 2+ system. Even Tesla admits drivers must “supervise” it, which confuses the situation even more. A year ago, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a directive that required Tesla to “recall” all of its cars sold in the US that had the “Autosteer on City Streets” feature installed (“recall” in this case meant that it had to roll out a software update). NHTSA describes the defect as follows:

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Excerpt from www.army-technology.com

As international tension reaches boiling point over Israel’s decision to go ahead with its offensive in Rafah, investigations have found that a specialist Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) unit has spent months targeting civilian housing across Gaza.

The 8219 Commando, an IDF combat engineering battalion, has demolished scores of housing, mosques and tunnels in the Palestinian territory, according to a recent report by Bellingcat.

Estimations show roughly 50% of Gaza’s buildings have been destroyed or damaged since Hamas’ 7 October attack and Israel’s subsequent bombardment. This includes more than 70,000 housing units, a key driver behind the displacement of 1.7 million Gazans.

IDF systematic attacks on civilian housing and infrastructure in Gaza are part of Israel’s controversial ‘buffer zone’ strategy: a 1km-wide ‘security belt’ of uninhabited land along the Israel-Palestine border.

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Excerpt from www.usacarry.com

BATON ROUGE, LA – A controversial bill that sought to restrict concealed carry of firearms within 100 feet of parade routes in Louisiana failed to pass in the Louisiana House on Monday, May 6. House Bill 627, introduced by Representative Mandie Landry, did not garner enough support, with 58 representatives voting against it and only 38 in favor.

The bill aimed to amend existing laws to prohibit the carrying of concealed handguns in the vicinity of parades or demonstrations that had obtained a governmental permit. This proposed amendment was part of an effort to enhance public safety at large public gatherings, which often see significant crowds.

HB 627 would have infringed on the rights of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families, especially in places where the likelihood of encountering a threat could be higher due to large gatherings. The legislation would have done little to prevent criminals, who do not adhere to gun laws, from carrying firearms.