All posts tagged: powerful

KNBC coverage of L.A. wildfires, driven by powerful winds

KNBC coverage of L.A. wildfires, driven by powerful winds

Published by Sam

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. UP NEXT Watch: Man and father-in-law make harrowing escape from Palisades Fire 01:34 Trump appeals to Supreme Court to delay sentencing in hush money case 00:53 House roof partially collapses during Steve Patterson’s live report 01:29 Fire alarms sound as flames engulf building during live NBC News report 06:28 Actor Steve Guttenberg calls California wildfires ‘the worst I’ve ever seen,’ 07:30 Aerial view highlights raging winds fueling California wildfires 02:57 Biden: Impact from California wildfires is ‘astounding’ 01:58 Al Roker warns of ‘explosively dangerous conditions’ as California wildfires spread 02:03 L.A. officials report civilian fatalities and ‘0% containment’ for wildfires 01:56 ‘One of the worst I’ve ever seen in 25 years’: L.A. county fire captain speaks about wildfires and damage 03:44 Daylight reveals dozens of homes destroyed by Palisades Fire 04:14 ‘Catastrophic’: NBC News reporter explains how devastating the Palisades Fire is 06:40 ‘We’re praying for mercy here’: KNBC reporter describes devastation by Eaton Fire 03:54 NBC News reporter breaks …

These next-generation solar panels are 1000x more powerful than existing panels

These next-generation solar panels are 1000x more powerful than existing panels

Published by skeptic

Researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) have discovered a new method to increase the efficiency of solar cells by a factor of 1,000. The team of scientists achieved this breakthrough by creating crystalline layers of barium titanate, strontium titanate, and calcium titanate, which were alternately placed on top of one another in a lattice structure. Their findings, which could revolutionize the solar energy industry, were recently published in the journal Science Advances. Solar cells currently in use are mostly silicon-based, but their efficiency is limited. This has led researchers to explore new materials, such as ferroelectrics like barium titanate, which is a mixed oxide made of barium and titanium. Ferroelectric materials have spatially separated positive and negative charges, which leads to an asymmetric structure that generates electricity from light. Unlike silicon, ferroelectric crystals do not require a pn junction to create the photovoltaic effect, making it easier to produce solar panels. For their new approach, the researchers combined three crystal materials. (CREDIT: Uni Halle / Yeseul Yun) However, pure barium titanate does not absorb …

Trump may cancel Nasa’s powerful SLS Moon rocket – here’s what that would mean for Elon Musk and the future of space travel

Trump may cancel Nasa’s powerful SLS Moon rocket – here’s what that would mean for Elon Musk and the future of space travel

Published by skeptic

Since Donald Trump’s recent electoral victory, rumours and speculation have circulated that Nasa’s giant Moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), could be under threat. The rocket is one of several key elements needed for the US space agency’s Artemis programme, which aims to return humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972. For the first lunar landing mission, called Artemis III, the SLS will launch four astronauts on Nasa’s Orion crew capsule. Orion will then travel to the Moon. Once in lunar orbit, Orion will dock with Elon Musk’s Starship vehicle (which has been launched separately). Two astronauts will float into Starship, which undocks from Orion and travels down to the lunar surface. After walking on the Moon, the two astronauts return to lunar orbit in Starship, which docks with Orion. The two moonwalkers rejoin their crewmates and go home on Orion, leaving Starship in orbit around the Moon. The US space journalist Eric Berger recently posted on X: “To be clear we are far from anything being settled, but based on …

World’s most powerful battery paves way for light, energy-efficient vehicles

World’s most powerful battery paves way for light, energy-efficient vehicles

Published by skeptic

Weight reduction in vehicles and devices directly translates to improved energy efficiency. Traditional lithium-ion batteries, while powerful, limit the energy density needed for groundbreaking advancements in electric vehicles, aircraft, and portable electronics. Enter structural batteries—a transformative concept combining energy storage with structural integrity, heralding a new era in multifunctional material science. The Concept of Structural Batteries Structural batteries serve dual purposes: storing energy and bearing mechanical loads. Unlike conventional batteries that only supply energy, these batteries are integrated into the structure of a device or vehicle. By reducing system weight, they enable increased energy efficiency and extended range. The developed battery concept is based on a composite material and has carbon fibre as both the positive and negative electrodes. (CREDIT: Chalmers University of Technology / Henrik Sandsjö) For instance, replacing an electric vehicle’s roof with a structural battery could cut weight by up to 20%, freeing space for additional batteries and significantly improving mileage. The potential applications are vast. A structural battery could halve a laptop’s weight or make smartphones as thin as a credit …

Godfather of AI Warns of Powerful People Who Want Humans “Replaced by Machines”

Godfather of AI Warns of Powerful People Who Want Humans “Replaced by Machines”

Published by José

“Intelligence gives power. So who’s going to control that power?” Fringe Theory One of the world’s leading AI pioneers is warning not only that the increasingly powerful technology could harm the world, but that the people in charge of it may be equally dangerous. In an interview with CNBC, computer science luminary Yoshua Bengio said that members of an elite tech “fringe” want AI to replace humans. The head of the University of Montreal’s Institute for Learning Algorithms, Bengio was among the public signatories of the “Right to Warn” open letter penned by leading AI researchers at OpenAI who claim they’re being silenced about the technology’s dangers. Along with famed experts Yann LeCun and Geoffrey Hinton, he’s sometimes referred to as one of the “Godfathers of AI.” “Intelligence gives power. So who’s going to control that power?” the preeminent machine learning expert told the outlet during the One Young World Summit in Montreal. “There are people who might want to abuse that power, and there are people who might be happy to see humanity replaced by machines,” …

Strictly Come Dancing live: Blackpool week sees Sarah Hadland wow with powerful Couple’s Choice

Strictly Come Dancing live: Blackpool week sees Sarah Hadland wow with powerful Couple’s Choice

Published by skeptic

Sarah Hadland breaks down in tears as she explains meaning behind Couples Choice dance For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Strictly Come Dancing‘s eight remaining couples headed to the legendary Blackpool Tower ballroom for week nine of the series. The show is usually held in the Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. But for one week each year, the show moves up north to the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool – an iconic and historical dancing venue. The episode featured a number of impressive routines with Sarah Hadland performing a powerful Couple’s Choice and Tasha Ghouri taking on the Paso Doble. Both dances received totals of 39 from the judges and the two stars are sharing the top spot on the leaderboard. While he didn’t score too well, Pete Wicks certainly delivered a dose of entertainment with his “I’m Too Sexy” Cha Cha. Another star who struggled was Wynne …

Book Excerpt: Tech Agnostic: How Technology Became the World’s Most Powerful Religion, and Why It Desperately Needs a Reformation

Book Excerpt: Tech Agnostic: How Technology Became the World’s Most Powerful Religion, and Why It Desperately Needs a Reformation

Published by skeptic

Excerpted from Tech Agnostic: How Technology Became the World’s Most Powerful Religion, and Why It Desperately Needs a Reformation by Greg M. Epstein. Reprinted with permission from The MIT Press. Copyright 2024. One could write a book about what humanism even is, and indeed I already have. Along with earlier meanings, the word has been used for just over a century now for the study and practice of, as I explained in a book that attempted to provide the shortest possible definition with its title, Good Without God.3 But for now, let’s sum the concept up with a line coauthored by Carl Sagan, the great astrophysicist and science educator, and Ann Druyan, best known as Sagan’s wife and the producer of his legendary PBS show Cosmos: “For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.” This scientific poetry is key to understanding the best of modern humanism. Sagan and Druyan brought together the human longing for explanation that animated the first lines of the Hebrew Bible (“In the beginning, God created …

Queen Camilla spotlights voices of domestic abuse survivors in powerful new documentary

Queen Camilla spotlights voices of domestic abuse survivors in powerful new documentary

Published by skeptic

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email In her first documentary feature since ascending the throne, Queen Camilla has given survivors of domestic abuse a powerful voice during a rare glimpse of her work as a senior royal. The 90-minute film follows Camilla over the last year as she attends official engagements and never-before-seen private meetings with survivors and campaigners of domestic abuse. She is seen visiting a refuge and speaking candidly with survivors about their deeply personal experiences, as well as revealing what drove her to spend the last decade raising awareness. Earlier this year, Camilla backed The Independent’s Brick by Brick campaign to build two new refuges for women fleeing abuse. Thanks to generous donations from readers the initial £300,000 target has recently been reached, with more than £500,000 of donations pouring in so far and plans are already underway for the building of a second home. Be a brick, buy a brick and donate here or text …

How I Send Google Forms Data to Google Sheets for Powerful Analysis

How I Send Google Forms Data to Google Sheets for Powerful Analysis

Published by skeptic

Google Forms is excellent for recording responses from a large group of people, but analyzing that data can be cumbersome. For easier data manipulation and more in-depth analysis, I prefer transferring Google Forms data to a Google Sheets spreadsheet. Here’s how I do that. Linking a Google Form to a Google Sheets Spreadsheet By linking a form to a sheet, I can automatically collect all responses in a structured format. Each question from the form shows up as a column in the spreadsheet, and every response gets recorded in a new row. The best part is that this setup requires no manual effort from me apart from linking, and the sheet updates in real-time on its own. Here’s how you can link a Google Form to a Google Sheets spreadsheet: Navigate to Google Forms in your browser. Create a new form or open an existing one that you want to link to the spreadsheet. Go to the Responses tab in your form. Click Link to Sheets. Select Create a new spreadsheet. Enter a name for …