All posts tagged: turns

Elon Musk Backlash Turns Into Global Sales Slump for Tesla

Elon Musk Backlash Turns Into Global Sales Slump for Tesla

Published by skeptic

If there is anyplace Tesla should be thriving, it’s Norway. Electric vehicles account for more than 90 percent of new car sales in the Scandinavian country, and buyers here are among the most sophisticated in the world when it comes to understanding the nuances of batteries, charging and range. So it hardly bodes well for Tesla that its sales in Norway, as measured by registrations, have declined more than 12 percent so far this year. Sales for the first three months of the year were even worse in Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Sweden. In fact, Tesla’s sales have been on a steep downward trend around the world: The company said on Wednesday that its global sales in the first quarter fell 13 percent from a year earlier. Tesla said that it delivered nearly 337,000 cars during the quarter. That is down from 387,000 in the first three months of 2024 and fewer than in any period since the second quarter of 2022. The company’s tepid sales at a time when electric vehicle sales were …

Oxygen on Mars: Breakthrough technology turns carbon emissions into oxygen

Oxygen on Mars: Breakthrough technology turns carbon emissions into oxygen

Published by skeptic

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) pollution drives climate change, warming the planet and threatening human survival. Plants naturally turn CO₂ into oxygen (O₂) during photosynthesis, but their efficiency is surprisingly low. Now, a new approach inspired by this natural process can efficiently transform CO₂ directly into oxygen, offering a real solution for climate change and space exploration. Researchers from Nanjing University recently developed an advanced electrochemical method that splits CO₂ into elemental carbon and pure oxygen. This breakthrough, described in the journal Angewandte Chemie, works efficiently even in extreme environments, including underwater or the vacuum of space, without requiring special temperature or pressure conditions. Learning from Nature—but Better Plants use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and sugar through photosynthesis. But their method has limitations. The oxygen plants produce doesn’t directly come from CO₂ but from water molecules instead. So, despite plants’ vital role, true direct splitting of CO₂ doesn’t happen naturally. To overcome these limits, a research team designed an innovative electrochemical device inspired by nature’s use of mediators—atoms or molecules that assist …

Coral-inspired technology turns atmospheric CO₂ into durable, fireproof building materials

Coral-inspired technology turns atmospheric CO₂ into durable, fireproof building materials

Published by skeptic

Carbon dioxide (CO₂), the greenhouse gas fueling climate change, is increasingly shaping our lives. It drives rising seas, fierce storms, invasive pests, and raging wildfires. Traditional approaches to controlling this gas usually focus on storing it underground or converting it into liquids. While helpful, these methods can be costly and inefficient. Now, a breakthrough inspired by coral reefs offers a better way: turning CO₂ into strong, fireproof building materials. Researchers have developed a method modeled after how coral reefs naturally build their sturdy skeletons. Coral reefs are unique because they capture atmospheric CO₂, transforming it into solid structures with impressive strength. Scientists replicated this natural process using advanced 3D printing and electrochemistry. The outcome? A strong mineral-polymer composite with exceptional mechanical and fire-resistant properties. How Coral Reefs Inspire Science Coral reefs withstand extreme ocean conditions—powerful currents, predators, and erosion. Their secret lies in a process called biomineralization. Coral absorbs CO₂ from the air using photosynthesis, mixes it with calcium ions from seawater, and forms strong calcium carbonate minerals. The overall concept of coral-inspired carbon sequestration …

Meet Jesse Welles, the Folk Singer Who Turns News into Folk Music, Writing Songs on Elections, Plane Crashes, Ozempic & More

Meet Jesse Welles, the Folk Singer Who Turns News into Folk Music, Writing Songs on Elections, Plane Crashes, Ozempic & More

Published by José

At first glance, Jesse Welles resem­bles noth­ing so much as a time trav­el­er from the year 1968. That’s how I would open a pro­file about him, but The New York Times’ David Peis­ner takes a dif­fer­ent approach, describ­ing him record­ing a song in his home stu­dio. “Welles, a singer-song­writer with a shag­gy, dirty-blond mane and a sand­pa­pery voice, has risen to recent promi­nence post­ing videos to social media of him­self alone in the woods near his home in north­west Arkansas, per­form­ing wry­ly fun­ny, polit­i­cal­ly engaged folk songs,” Peis­ner con­tin­ues. This prac­tice has pro­duced “viral hits on Tik­Tok and Insta­gram, build­ing an audi­ence of more than 2 mil­lion fol­low­ers on those plat­forms.” Welles’ sub­jects have includ­ed “the war in Gaza, the rise of the weight-loss drug Ozem­pic, and the rapa­cious­ness of Unit­ed Healthcare’s busi­ness mod­el.” You can hear his musi­cal takes on these news-pegged sub­jects on his YouTube chan­nel, along with such oth­er much-viewed, ripped-from-the-head­lines songs as “Fen­tanyl,” “Wal­mart,” “Whis­tle Boe­ing,” and “We’re All Gonna Die.” For his younger lis­ten­ers, his sub­ject mat­ter (and his per­spec­tive on it) have …

As Apple Vision Pro Turns One, Here’s What’s Next

As Apple Vision Pro Turns One, Here’s What’s Next

Published by skeptic

Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the Apple Vision Pro launch, which means Apple’s $3,500 AR/VR headset has now been available to consumers for a full 365 days. Over the course of the last year, we’ve seen numerous reports suggesting that the Vision Pro isn’t selling well, which is not a surprise given its high price point. Apple CEO Tim Cook described the Vision Pro as an “early-adopter product” for people who want to have tomorrow’s technology today,” and the most recent rumors suggest that it might be out of production already. In October, The Information said that Apple was winding down production of the Vision Pro, with plans to stop making it at the end of 2024. Apple has enough supply to meet demand for now, because Apple apparently plans to make a new version of the Vision Pro as soon as this year. Apple didn’t quite know how the Vision Pro would be received, and its work on a subsequent model seems to be shifting regularly. For that reason, we’ve heard a lot …

1-54 Turns Marrakech Into One of Africa’s Most Important Art Hubs

1-54 Turns Marrakech Into One of Africa’s Most Important Art Hubs

Published by skeptic

Since its founding in 2018, the Marrakech edition of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair has been instrumental in raising the profile of this Moroccan city, long a tourist hub. But the fair, now in its sixth edition, is only one part of an ecosystem that has made Marrakech into one of the Africa’s most important art hubs. “Marrakech has welcomed, through 1-54, large groups of collectors and institutions, and it’s had a huge impact of the Moroccan ecosystem with galleries opening second locations in Marrakech,” 1-54 founder Touria El Glaoui told ARTnews ahead of the opening of its second VIP day. “The Moroccan art market is very strong. I’ve been saying that loud and clear from even before we started the Marrakech fair. Casablanca, Rabat, Tangiers, and Marrakech [each] have about five or six strong galleries.”   Related Articles Though 1-54 started in London and then expanded to New York, El Glaoui’s goal was always to launch a fair on the continent. Because of Marrakech’s attractiveness as a tourist destination and its luxurious hotels …

White Influencer Turns Down Brand Trip After Realizing None Of The Attendees Were Black

White Influencer Turns Down Brand Trip After Realizing None Of The Attendees Were Black

Published by skeptic

Diversity is essential for any brand. All people must see themselves represented in an organization for it to reach its full potential. Some brands, however, do not see this as important. This is exactly what happened with one brand that invited a very select group of influencers on a trip. Now, one woman is speaking out about her personal experience when she turned them down. A TikTok influencer went public with her story after a brand that invited her on a trip completely excluded black influencers. TikTok beauty influencer Eleanor Wood made a video explaining exactly what happened when she turned down the opportunity to go on a brand trip because none of the other invited influencers were black. “So, I got invited on a global brand trip of 57 people, and not a single creator was black,” Wood explained. “A global trip basically means that people come from different parts of the [world] together,” she continued. “Um, so you would expect with 57 people from all different walks of life, that there would be …

World of Warcraft turns 20

World of Warcraft turns 20

Published by skeptic

Blizzard Entertainment first released World of Warcraft in November 2004, so The New York Times celebrated the anniversary by outlining the many ways we can still see the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game’s influence’s 20 years later. For one thing, while multiplayer games and early social networks such as MySpace already existed, WoW provided a real preview of a future where everyone would connect to friends and strangers online. For another, the game made billions of dollars with a business model combining monthly subscriptions with in-game purchases (including for pets and animals that players could ride), becoming a massive cash cow for Blizzard and pointing the way to future internet business models. The game also spawned immortal memes, attracted celebrity fans, and prompted epidemiologists to argue that an incident involving the uncontrolled spread of a fantasy disease could be studied for insights into real-world epidemics. Also, for the record, I thought the movie wasn’t that bad. Source link

Revolutionary new jet engine turns electricity directly into thrust

Revolutionary new jet engine turns electricity directly into thrust

Published by skeptic

The global dependence on fossil fuels, especially in transportation, has dire consequences. These fuels are the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbating global warming and harming respiratory health. However, a breakthrough from Wuhan University offers a glimpse of a future where jet propulsion relies solely on electricity and air. The Problem with Fossil Fuels Transportation fuels the world, but at a tremendous cost. The combustion of fossil fuels powers cars, planes, and industrial machinery, yet it significantly contributes to climate change. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, transportation accounts for nearly 29% of greenhouse gas emissions. The search for sustainable alternatives has become critical. Professor Jau Tang and his team have developed a prototype jet engine that uses microwave air plasmas for thrust, a method that entirely sidesteps fossil fuels. The innovation has the potential to revolutionize air travel by eliminating carbon emissions. A schematic diagram of a prototype microwave air plasma thruster and the images of the bright plasma jet at different microwave powers. This device consists of a microwave power supply, an …

Bizarre Device Sucks CO2 From Atmosphere and Turns It Back Into Fuel

Bizarre Device Sucks CO2 From Atmosphere and Turns It Back Into Fuel

Published by José

This is one of the strangest gizmos we’ve seen. Zzzzap! Can weird doodads solve the climate crisis? We don’t know. But one of the most head-turning examples of climate tech we’ve seen so far comes from a startup called SpiralWave: a tall, translucent column that lights up with spooky-looking orbs of plasma. Highlighted by TechCrunch after being presented at its TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 event, it definitely ticks all the boxes in the Downright Strange department. But it’s supposed to serve a very practical purpose. As the plasma spirals its way up the column, it yanks carbon dioxide out of the air. In the process, it converts the gas into green methanol, a fuel source that can be made renewably and which produces 95 percent fewer carbon emissions, its proponents claim. “You can see the plasma here in very quick pulses,” CEO and cofounder Abed Bukhari told TechCrunch. “With every pulse, it breaks down CO2.”   Keeping Cool Bukhari said he came up with the idea when working at his previous startup, where he had to …