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Ceremorphic unveils plans to build supercomputer infrastructure on 5 nanometer chips

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Supercomputing startup Ceremorphic has unveiled plans to deliver a complete silicon system built on 5 nanometer infrastructure.

The company says its system will provide the performance needed for next-generation applications such as artificial intelligence model training, high-performance computing, automotive processing, drug discovery, and metaverse processing.

Designed in advanced silicon geometry (TSMC 5nm node), this new architecture was built from the ground up to solve today’s high-performance computing problems in reliability, security and energy consumption to serve all performance-demanding market segments. [Read more…] about Ceremorphic unveils plans to build supercomputer infrastructure on 5 nanometer chips

Firefly drones with infrared vision set to transform wind turbine and aircraft inspections

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Two UK-based companies, Innvotek and Mapair, have successfully trialled a drone system that uses infrared technologies and artificial intelligence to inspect composite structures, including wind turbines and aircraft wings, for defects. (See video below.)

Firefly Inspect can hover above wind turbine blades and aircraft using a 1,000W heat lamp to test for defects – the first time that such a powerful heat source has been fitted to a drone.

Firefly Inspect was originally a concept for inspecting aeroplane wings when they are stationary within hangars. Thanks to a collaboration with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, the technology has now been adapted to include inspection of on- and offshore wind turbines. [Read more…] about Firefly drones with infrared vision set to transform wind turbine and aircraft inspections

Small ship takes part in UK’s first hydrogen transport trials

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A consortium of partners has unveiled the UK’s first demonstration of zero-emission marine technology in the Tees Valley, in north England.

In a bid to show the path available for the maritime sector to decarbonise, the demonstration will convert a Lochin 33 “workboat” into a dual-fuelled vessel acting as a testbed to prove the concept of a retro-fit green hydrogen solution.

For the purposes of the demonstration, the modified marine vessel will operate at sea, though the technologies are suitable for use by inland waterway vessels. The project is expected to take seven months, with trials running in Spring 2022. [Read more…] about Small ship takes part in UK’s first hydrogen transport trials

Abu Dhabi scientists discover new ‘metamaterial shapes’ that promise safer shielding

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It is well known that adding a layer of padding behind a hard surface can shield things inside from shocks and vibrations.

Engineers call this a sandwich core since it consists of multiple layers of different materials sandwiched together.

The sandwich cores are used in helmets, body armour, and to protect vehicles from impacts, blasts, and crashes. [Read more…] about Abu Dhabi scientists discover new ‘metamaterial shapes’ that promise safer shielding

Geothermal energy: Providing opportunities beyond electricity

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Use of geothermal energy – that is the heat that comes from the sub-surface of the earth – in Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States territories has been an ongoing subject of research and exploration, given that the Caribbean Region consists primarily of volcanic islands.

A recent study of three Caribbean islands, Dominica, Montserrat, and Nevis, examined opportunities for geothermal energy beyond electricity generation.

Around the world, more countries are capitalising on their geothermal resources, not only for electricity generation from a renewable affordable source, but also to support various industries within their economies. [Read more…] about Geothermal energy: Providing opportunities beyond electricity

High-energy shape memory polymer could enable robots to ‘flex their muscles’

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A high-energy shape memory polymer could someday enable robots to “flex their muscles”, according its developers.

When stretched or deformed, shape memory polymers return to their original shapes after heat or light is applied.

These materials show great promise for soft robotics, smart biomedical devices and deployable space structures, but until now they haven’t been able to store enough energy. [Read more…] about High-energy shape memory polymer could enable robots to ‘flex their muscles’

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Making methane from CO2: Carbon capture grows more affordable

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In their ongoing effort to make carbon capture more affordable, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a method to convert captured carbon dioxide (CO2) into methane, the primary component of natural gas.

By streamlining a longstanding process in which CO2 is converted to methane, the researchers’ new method reduces the materials needed to run the reaction, the energy needed to fuel it and, ultimately, the selling price of the gas.

A key chemical player known as EEMPA makes the process possible. EEMPA is a PNNL-developed solvent that snatches CO2 from power plant flue gas, binding the greenhouse gas so it can be converted into useful chemicals. [Read more…] about Making methane from CO2: Carbon capture grows more affordable

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Tau invents wire that doubles the power of electric motors and raises €10.25 million

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A startup company called Tau, which specializes in materials science and automotive electrification, says it has delivered a prototype wire that enables electric motors to double their power output without changing their size. 

The technology could mean that electric vehicles and machines of all kinds can keep going for longer on a single charge, and go faster.

Coinciding with the milestone of delivering prototype winding wire to the automotive industry, Tau also concluded its Series A financing round with additional funding from Finindus, a Belgium-based investment company financed by ArcelorMittal and the Flemish Region, and a top-up by German specialty chemicals company Altana. The total raised is said to be €10.25 million. [Read more…] about Tau invents wire that doubles the power of electric motors and raises €10.25 million

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Is it cheaper to be bigger? Lessons from the extreme weapons of giraffe weevil warriors

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Nepalese craftsman, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, holds the record as the world’s shortest adult, at 54.6 cm (1 ft 9 ½ inches). The tallest human is Sultan Kösen, a Turkish farmer, almost five times taller at 2.52 meters (8 feet 3 ¼ inches).

In nature, size differences among males of a single species are not uncommon, but in a new paper, a team from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), The University of Auckland and the University of Arizona, discovered a case of male beetles that are not only extremely different in size, but also provide an answer to long-standing puzzle in evolutionary biology: how can larger animals afford the energetic cost of making and maintaining disproportionately large weapons?

Almost one in every four species in the world is a beetle: about 350,000 beetle species have been identified so far. Male New Zealand giraffe weevils, Lasiorhynchus barbicornis, were known to be the longest beetles in the world, but when researchers measured the differences in the weight of the smallest and largest beetles, they were in for a surprise. [Read more…] about Is it cheaper to be bigger? Lessons from the extreme weapons of giraffe weevil warriors