Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: sustainability

Novel quantum dot solar cells developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory match the efficiency of existing quantum-dot based devices, but without lead or other toxic elements that most solar cells of this type rely on.

“This quantum-dot approach shows great promise for a new type of toxic-element-free, inexpensive that exhibit remarkable defect tolerance,” said Victor Klimov, a physicist specializing in semiconductor nanocrystals at Los Alamos and lead author of the report featured on the cover of the journal Nature Energy.

Not only did the researchers demonstrate highly efficient devices, they also revealed the mechanism underlying their remarkable defect tolerance. Instead of impeding photovoltaic performance, the defect states in copper indium selenide quantum dots actually assist the photoconversion process.

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Here’s a step-by-step explainer of what will happen during the Demo-2 mission, from prelaunch preparations through the astronauts’ return to Earth.

In photos: SpaceX’s Demo-2 Crew Dragon test flight with astronauts

While NASA astronauts heading to their rockets on the day of a launch have traditionally traveled to their launchpads in a retro-style “Astrovan,” Demo-2 astronauts Doug Hurley (left) and Bob Behnken will be rolling up to their Falcon 9 rocket in shiny Tesla Model X sports cars. This comes as no surprise to SpaceX fans; Elon Musk, the founder of both SpaceX and Tesla, famously launched a cherry-red Tesla Roadster into space on a Falcon Heavy rocket in 2018.

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The guys from MachEClub.com found the patent drawings and shared them with us.

Ford has recently given two good news about the Mustang Mach-E. The first is that its charging will be 30 percent faster than previously thought. The second is that is fast charging infrastructure will be expanded. But what if you do not have how to charge at home? A patent shows a unique solution for that: a solar charging inflatable cocoon.

The patent revealed by the user machstang at MachEClub.com shows that Ford thinks the roof is too small for solar charging. With that in mind, Ford engineers conceived this inflatable cocoon that expands the solar charging surface available.

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Experts from the University of Surrey believe their dream of clean energy storage is a step closer after they unveiled their ground-breaking super-capacitor technology that is able to store and deliver electricity at high power rates, particularly for mobile applications.

In a paper published by the journal Energy and Environmental Materials, researchers from Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) revealed their new technology which has the potential to revolutionize energy use in electric vehicles and reduce renewable based energy loss in the national grid. The team also believe their technology can help push forward the advancement of wind, wave, and solar energy by smoothing out the intermittent nature of the energy sources.

The ATI’s super-capacitor technology is based on a material called Polyaniline (PANI), which stores energy through a mechanism known as “pseudocapacitance.” This cheap polymer material is conductive and can be used as the electrode in a super-capacitor device. The electrode stores charge by trapping ions within the electrode. It does this by exchanging electrons with the ion, which “dopes” the material.

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Electric car maker Tesla Inc plans to introduce a new low-cost, long-life battery in its Model 3 sedan in China later this year or early next that it expects will bring the cost of electric vehicles in line with gasoline models, and allow EV batteries to have second and third lives in the electric power grid.

For months, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has been teasing investors, and rivals, with promises to reveal significant advances in battery technology during a “Battery Day” in late May.

New, low-cost batteries designed to last for a million miles of use and enable electric Teslas to sell profitably for the same price or less than a gasoline vehicle are just part of Musk’s agenda, people familiar with the plans told Reuters.

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A source familiar with the matter told Electrek that Tesla has chosen Austin, Texas for its next factory and it’s going to happen quickly.

The race to secure Tesla’s next factory is apparently over.

According to a reliable source familiar with the matter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is set on bringing the next Tesla Gigafactory, or now Terafactory, to Austin, Texas, or at least close to the city.

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You can now order yourself a Finnish electric motorcycle with lots of torque, lots of range and a very unique look. Oh, and it’s also got a jaw-dropping, gaping hole where the middle of the back wheel would normally be.

We first saw this fancy Finnish design back in 2018. At that stage, it was known as the RMK E2, although since it made its public debut, the company has changed its name to Verge and the bike is now known as the TS.

Now, it’s ready for production and we can put some final numbers to it. The centerless hub motor that constitutes the rear wheel will deliver 80 kW (107 horsepower) and 1,000 Nm (738 lb-ft) of torque. According to Verge, that’ll get you to 100 km/h (62 mph) in less than 4 seconds, which is plenty quick but will see the back of a well-ridden superbike.

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SpaceX and NASA are planning a triumphant return to American human spaceflight on May 27, with the SpaceX Demo-2 mission for its Crew Dragon spacecraft. This is the final step required for Crew Dragon to become certified for human flight, after which it’ll enter into regular operational service ferrying people (and some cargo) to the International Space Station on behalf of the U.S. and some of its allies.

The animation above shows how SpaceX and NASA envision the mission going, from the astronauts stepping out of their ride to the launch pad (a Tesla Model X badged with NASA logos past and present), their trip across the bridge linking the launch tower to the Falcon 9 that will take them up and their spacecraft’s separation from the rocket and subsequent docking procedure with the ISS.

SpaceX and NASA have done plenty of preparation to get to this point, including running a full uncrewed original demo mission that more or less followed this exact flow, just without any actual astronauts on board. That mission also included the undocking of the Crew Dragon capsule, and its return to Earth, with a parachute-assisted splashdown in the ocean.

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