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Schaeffler acquires precision gearbox maker Melior Motion 

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Schaeffler, a billion-dollar German company which supplies bearings and other components to the automotive and aerospace industries, has signed an agreement to acquire all of the shares of Melior Motion.

The acquisition of this supplier of precision gearboxes for robotics and other applications in automation expands the robotics portfolio of the Schaeffler Group’s industrial division.

As automation of simple, repetitive tasks as well as complex mounting and manufacturing processes is progressing rapidly, Schaeffler’s industrial division is expanding its position as a supplier for robotics components and systems. [Read more…] about Schaeffler acquires precision gearbox maker Melior Motion 

Premio and Intel to strengthen US semiconductor manufacturing resources amid global chip shortage

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Premio, a provider of rugged edge and embedded computing technology, has unveiled its strategic plans to bring “American-made” manufacturing to the forefront. 

With focus on US facilities, capabilities, and talent, Premio is committed, alongside Intel, to easing supply chain issues and strengthening the country’s semiconductor manufacturing resources for long term benefit.

In the latest episode of “Made in America”, a video series covering companies manufacturing and assembling their products in the US, Premio and Intel examine how manufacturers can and should localize production to reduce extended time-to-market and avoid being at the mercy of all types of international disruptions. [Read more…] about Premio and Intel to strengthen US semiconductor manufacturing resources amid global chip shortage

Intelligent battery cell production

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The Cluster of Competence for Intelligent Battery Cell Production (InZePro), coordinated by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), is aimed at holistically optimizing production systems and making them more flexible in terms of quantity, format, material, and technology.

For this purpose, cross-process, data-driven optimization approaches and Industry 4.0 solutions are developed.

To meet current requirements, battery cells will have to be produced in Germany in an economically efficient way in small, medium, and large series for various applications and markets. [Read more…] about Intelligent battery cell production

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Harnessing sunlight to fuel the future through covalent organic frameworks

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Photocatalysts absorb energy from light to make a chemical reaction happen. The best known photocatalyst is perhaps chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants that helps turn sunlight into carbohydrates.

While carbohydrates may be falling out of favor, photocatalysis is garnering more attention than ever. In a photocatalytic process, light falls on a photocatalyst, increases the energy of its electrons and causes them to break their bonds and move freely through the catalyst.

These “excited” electrons then react with the raw materials of a chemical reaction to produce desired products. A top priority in the field of alternate energy research is using photocatalysts to convert solar energy to fuel, a process called “solar-to-fuel production.” [Read more…] about Harnessing sunlight to fuel the future through covalent organic frameworks

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Role of women highlighted in study focused on the benefits of good farmer seed production

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A new study looking at the benefits of good farmer seed production suggests women need more support to participate in contract farming – to the same extent as their male counterparts – and have more equality along the whole food value chain. 

The CABI-led research – which sought to assess the benefits of good farmer seed production through a case study of the Good Seed Initiative in Tanzania – reveals that while around 70% of the labour to grow African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs) is provided by women only 10 to 30% are contract farmers who own the fields, make decisions on sales and control revenues.

The paper, led by Dr Monica Kansiime and published in the journal Agriculture and Food Security, argues that the adoption of gender-inclusive approaches in contract farming arrangements is “paramount” and can have multiple benefits including shared decision-making amongst men and women. [Read more…] about Role of women highlighted in study focused on the benefits of good farmer seed production

Animal production responsible for vast majority of air quality-related health impacts from US food

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Poor air quality caused by food production in the United States is estimated to result in 16,000 deaths annually, 80 percent of which are related to animal production, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Minnesota.

The research also found there are measures farmers and consumers alike can take to reduce the air quality-related health impacts of the food we eat.

In a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers measured how the production of various foods affects air quality, discovering that animal production is overwhelmingly responsible for agriculture’s air quality-related health impacts. [Read more…] about Animal production responsible for vast majority of air quality-related health impacts from US food

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Combining solar panels and lamb grazing increases land productivity, study finds

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Land productivity could be greatly increased by combining sheep grazing and solar energy production on the same land, according to new research by Oregon State University scientists.

This is believed to be the first study to investigate livestock production under agrivoltaic systems, where solar energy production is combined with agricultural production, such as planting agricultural crops or grazing animals.

The researchers compared lamb growth and pasture production in pastures with solar panels and traditional open pastures. They found less overall but higher quality forage in the solar pastures and that lambs raised in each pasture type gained similar amounts of weight. [Read more…] about Combining solar panels and lamb grazing increases land productivity, study finds

Consumers are willing to pay for ecosystem services

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Many consumers are willing to pay for improved environmental quality and thus non-market values of impacts of food production on, for example, water quality, C sequestration, biodiversity, pollution, erosion or GHG emissions may even be comparable to the market value of agricultural production.

Diverfarming project elucidated how consumers value agro-ecosystem services enabled by diversification and provided consumer perspectives for developing future agricultural and food policies to better support cropping diversification.

The researchers quantified consumers’ willingness to pay for the benefits of increased farm and regional scale diversity of cultivation practices and crop rotations. [Read more…] about Consumers are willing to pay for ecosystem services

Almond production remains stable in the long term, despite deficit irrigation

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Spain boasts the largest cultivated area of almond trees in the world, with more than 700,000 hectares (MAPA, 2018), but ranks third in terms of production. How can this be?

Actually it’s easy to explain: most of the country’s cultivated area of almond trees is comprised of traditional rainfed orchards and located in marginal areas featuring a low density of trees per hectare.

Over the last decade, however, the nut’s surging prices have given rise to intensive almond tree plantations characterised bya high density of trees per hectare and the employment of fertilisation and irrigation, yielding endless rows of white when the trees are in bloom. [Read more…] about Almond production remains stable in the long term, despite deficit irrigation

CO2 mitigation on Earth and magnesium civilization on Mars

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Excessive CO2 emissions are a major cause of climate change, and hence reducing the CO2 levels in the Earth’s atmosphere is key to limit adverse environmental effects.

Rather than just capture and store CO2, it would be desirable to use it as carbon feedstock for fuel production to achieve the target of “net-zero-emissions energy systems”.

The capture and conversion of CO2 (from fuel gas or directly from the air) to methane and methanol simply using water as a hydrogen source under ambient conditions would provide an optimal solution to reduce excessive CO2 levels and would be highly sustainable. [Read more…] about CO2 mitigation on Earth and magnesium civilization on Mars

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