Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: sustainability – Page 213

Using dragonfly wings to redesign a Boeing 777 to be lighter, stronger and more sustainable

Throughout history, humans have observed and sought inspiration from many aspects of nature to improve flight efficiency, maneuverability, and stability. And since the days of Leonardo da Vinci, nature-inspired design, also known as biomimicry or bio-inspired design, has played and continues to play a significant role in the development of aviation.

Now, in a paper published in Advanced Science, Masoud Akbarzadeh of the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania and his former Ph.D. student Hao Zheng build upon the principles of biomimicry by drawing inspiration from the wing of a dragonfly to redesign that of a Boeing 777.

“Nature’s a great teacher in telling us how to optimize systems,” Akbarzadeh says. “And when you look at a dragonfly, you see wings that have evolved over millions of years into an incredibly lightweight, efficient, and strong structure.”

This underwater base could become the ISS of the ocean

2020 underwater base.

Aquanaut Fabien Cousteau — grandson of famed ocean explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau — has announced plans to build the world’s biggest underwater base for scientific research.

He calls the facility “Proteus” and envisions it being the ocean equivalent of the International Space Station — a place where scientists from across the globe can work together to solve the world’s biggest problems, from climate change to world hunger.

“Proteus…is essential to driving meaningful solutions to protect the future of our planet,” Cousteau said in a press release. “The knowledge that will be uncovered underwater will forever change the way generations of humans live up above.”

Tesla may adopt Apple AirPlay for better audio — and Apple Music

While Tesla famously won’t support CarPlay, code found in its iOS app update points to at least testing of AirPlay in its cars.

It’s never been possible to use Apple’s CarPlay in Teslas — not without a hack, and a convoluted one at that — but CEO Elon Musk has previously hinted at AirPlay support.

Now according to the unofficial “Tesla App Updates (iOS)” account on Twitter, the latest version of Tesla’s iPhone app includes a mention of AirPlay in its code.

At 100 nautical miles, this battery-powered hydrofoil boat offers world’s longest range

The purpose-built 35ft electric flying boat also offers a top speed of 22 knots.

How do you make an electric boat go faster and further on a single charge? Either you fit a more powerful battery that usually increases the weight, making it counterproductive, or use a hydrofoil system to reduce drag.

The SpiritBARTech35EF is a product of UK-based boat design… More.

Equipmake.

SpiritBARTech35EF has found an ideal solution to this by utilizing both to derive the longest range for an electric yacht at 100 nautical miles (115 miles/185 km) and a top speed of 22 knots (25 mph/41 km/h) once it is flying. The purpose-built 35ft electric flying boat also features a trio of active retractable foils to help minimize drag.

Continue reading “At 100 nautical miles, this battery-powered hydrofoil boat offers world’s longest range” | >

Flying electric car takes off in the US as CEO discusses industry’s future [Video]

Flying cars are becoming closer to reality than what sci-fi movies may lead you to believe. Another electric flying car “took flight” this week in the US. CEO Doron Merdinger of Miami-based Doroni Aerospace successfully piloted a two-seater personal vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that fits in your garage.

Electric flying cars are all of a sudden taking the US by storm. Last month, California-based Alef Aeronautics revealed its 100% electric flying car, “Model A,” the first of its kind to receive legal approval to fly from the US government.

According to Alef, the Model A has a 200-mile driving range and can fly for 110 miles. The company says it had gathered over 440 orders for its $300K electric flying car within three months.

Tesla looking to make about half million EVs annually in India, Times of India reports

BENGALURU, July 13 (Reuters) — Tesla (TSLA.O) is discussing an investment proposal with the Indian government to set up a factory with an annual capacity to produce about half a million electric vehicles, the Times of India reported on Thursday, citing government sources.

The company, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is also looking at using India as an export base to ship cars to countries in the Indo-Pacific region, the report said.

The starting price for the vehicles will be 2 million rupees ($24,400.66), the report added, which is more than double of India’s cheapest EV, MG Comet, and half a million costlier than Tata Nexon EV, the top-selling electric car in the country.

This 1 GW solar + salt + shrimp farm is a 3-in-1 power station

A huge solar power station in China is generating clean energy, producing salt from sunlight, and serving as a shrimp-breeding site.

State-owned China Huadian Corporation said the 1-gigawatt (GW) Huadian Tianjin Haijing power station will generate 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year – enough to power around 1.5 million households in China.

The solar panels at the farm are bifacial, which means they benefit from both direct sun and sunlight that reflects from the water beneath.

The Biggest Telescope in the World is Half Built

The European Southern Observatory continues to build the largest telescope in the world, the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). Construction of the telescope began in 2014 with flattening the top of a mountain named Cerro Armazones in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

ESO just announced that progress on construction has crossed the 50% mark. The remaining work should take another five years. When it finally comes online in 2028, the telescope will have a 39-meter (128 ft) primary mirror of 798 hexagonal segments, making it the largest telescope in the world for visible and infrared light. The new telescope should help to answer some of the outstanding questions about our Universe, such as how the first stars and galaxies formed, and perhaps even be able to take direct images of extrasolar planets.

“The ELT is the largest of the next generation of ground-based optical and near-infrared telescopes and the one that is most advanced in its construction,” said ESO Director General Xavier Barcons, in an ESO press release. “Reaching 50% completion is no small feat, given the challenges inherent to large, complex projects, and it was only possible thanks to the commitment of everyone at ESO, the continued support of the ESO Member States and the engagement of our partners in industry and instrument consortia. I am extremely proud that the ELT has reached this milestone.”

UK space firm is building a nuclear fusion rocket engine that will get hotter than the Sun

It will also reduce travel time to Saturn’s moon Titan to just two years.

Pulsar Fusion, a UK-based space firm, is building a nuclear fusion-based rocket engine that could exceed temperatures on the Sun. The construction of the largest-ever fusion rocket engine has begun, and its exhaust speeds could exceed 500,000 miles per hour.

Nuclear fusion has long been proposed to answer our energy and climate change woes as it promises a cleaner power source. Inspired by the Sun, scientists have been working to build nuclear fusion reactors and have succeeded in generating record-high temperatures but not more energy than they have put in.

An accidental discovery could change the world

Every now and then, revolutionary technology seems to spontaneously appear out of thin air and change our world. Dynamite, penicillin, X-ray machines, and even microwaves are all examples of such revolutionary accidental discoveries.

Well, this year we may have had yet another. However, this time it is set not only to revolutionise the way we live, but potentially save our planet from looming climate change by unlocking an elusive technology: lithium-sulfur batteries.

For decades, we have been searching for the best technology to power our modern lifestyle and enable clean technology, like electric cars. Since the early ‘90s, the battery technology of choice has been lithium-ion.

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