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Category: sustainability – Page 201

Canada’s TC Energy has shut the Keystone pipeline — which connects Alberta to the US — after 14,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into a creek in Kansas.

Pipe operator TC Energy announced the pipeline’s shutdown at 5.35 a.m. CT on Thursday. The Canadian company said it initiated an energy shutdown and response at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday after alarms went off detecting a pressure drop in the system.

The cause of the leak is not known. It is not immediately clear as of presstime when the pipeline is expected to come back online.

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Researchers at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) have developed a device capable of taking hundreds of times more electrochemical measurements than conventional devices. By analyzing the device’s large amounts of data, the team has identified molecular mechanisms that enable electrogenic bacteria to efficiently generate electricity even when subjected to a wide range of electrode potentials.

This technique can also be used to analyze materials interacting with microorganisms (e.g., biodegradable plastics), potentially facilitating efforts to discover innovative microbial degradable materials.

The work was published in the journal Patterns in October, 2022.

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It’s claimed to have been created following calls made by Chinese authorities for the independent development of cutting-edge technology.

In East China’s Fujian Province, a huge offshore wind turbine with the world’s largest per-unit capacity has come off the assembly line, according to China’s China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG). According to CTG, the 16-megawatt wind turbine boasts the world’s longest impeller diameter of 827-foot (252 meters), the lightest per megawatt weight, and a 480-foot (146-meter) hub, which is equivalent to the height of a 50-story structure.

The turbine, jointly created by CRG and Xinjiang Goldwind Sci & Tech Co., Ltd.

Continue reading “Chinese companies claim they have built the world’s biggest 16 MW wind turbine” | >

Twitter is rumored to re-roll-out its flopped Twitter Blue subscription tomorrow, which will once again enable people to pay real cash money to get a blue check next to their name. Hopefully, this time, it won’t lead to mass impersonation and misinformation, but who can say? Yet already, some users are noting that when they click on an existing blue check (not of the $8 variety), they’re served with a pop-up that says, “This is a legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable.”

This is especially funny when it appears on accounts like The White House, or even Elon Musk’s Twitter itself. To be fair, is Elon Musk really notable? He didn’t even found Tesla.

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An electric vehicle for around $7,300? You heard that right. Honda announced today a new light commercial electric van set to launch in spring 2024 that’s ideal for both personal and business use.

With a starting price of 1 million yen, which currently amounts to about $7,300, Honda’s new electric commercial van is about as cheap as it gets for new vehicles (ICE or electric).

The new EV is based on Honda’s light commercial N-VAN, released in 2018. However, with the rising demand for zero-emission EV options for business and personal use, the automaker will carry the qualities current customers love the most (large storage space, ease of use, flexibility), converting it into an electric workhorse.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently provided a teaser on what will be happening during the company’s AI Day 2 event this Friday. Considering Musk’s recent comments, it appears that AI Day 2 will be filled to the brim with exciting discussions and demos of next-generation tech.

This is not Tesla’s first AI Day. Last year, the electric vehicle maker held a similar event, outlining the company’s work in artificial intelligence. During the event, Tesla held an extensive discussion on its neural networks, Dojo supercomputer, and humanoid robot, the Tesla Bot (Optimus). Interestingly enough, mainstream coverage of the event later suggested that AI Day was underwhelming or disappointing.

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The new concepts are part of the company’s initiative to get the aviation industry to net-zero by 2050.

Brazilian aerospace company Embraer announced new aircraft concepts this week to reduce carbon emissions. The new concepts would also help the aviation industry meet its net-zero climate goals by 2050, a company report explains.

The news comes a year after the company detailed the study of four new aircraft concepts powered by new technologies and renewable energies amid the backdrop of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, which addressed what governments can do to avert the worst effects of climate change.

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The car will allegedly have less ambitious self-driving capabilities initially and it’s debut date has been pushed back to 2026.

Apple’s ambitious electric vehicle (EV) will allegedly have fewer self-driving capabilities for its launch date, the latter of which has been pushed back by a year, from 2025 to 2026, according to a Bloomberg.

The car is still in the pipeline and is reported to be set up with more conventional car features and designs than other autonomous EVs.

Just_Super/iStock.

Continue reading “Apple’s self-driving car debut pushed back and may be less advanced” | >

“Our goals were to explore the new sound world created by using new materials”

Only musicians can understand how grueling and challenging it is to play the violin. Violins, even mediocre ones, are worth thousands of dollars. Good news for music students and beginners, they will meet with low-cost and durable 3D-printed violins thanks to The Acoustical Society of America’s AVIVA Young Artists Program.

As stated in the release, today in Nashville, Mary-Elizabeth Brown, director of the AVIVA Young Artists Program discussed the steps taken and the lessons learned in her presentation, Old meets new: 3D printing and the art of violin-making.

Shawn Peters.

Continue reading “Researchers 3D-print low-cost and durable violins for music students” | >