Science - NRC Approves Gen IV Nuclear Reactor Design

Agreed. The early stage process is individualized, expensive and led to the discovery of this protein to target. Now that they have a target common to many cancers, the treatment doesn't have to be customized. Trip the generic protein, kill the cancer cell. That is my uneducated reading of the article

 

Or we become more efficient in our food production, trend more towards plant based diet, and live in greater density

 

I have long said that materials breakthrough will be the thing that will drive our next great revolution. Imagine cars under 1000 lbs., weight of planes cut by 60 - 70%, solar panels with 2x the efficiency, smaller, affordable battery banks for on demand power, powerlines that induce no loss, tires that do not wear out. the only limit is the imagination. this is just step 1 but an interesting step nonetheless.

Google DeepMind AI reveals potential for thousands of new materials | Reuters

Google DeepMind has used artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the structure of more than 2 million new materials, a breakthrough it said could soon be used to improve real-world technologies.

In a research paper published in science journal Nature on Wednesday, the Alphabet (GOOGL.O)-owned AI firm said almost 400,000 of its hypothetical material designs could soon be produced in lab conditions. Potential applications for the research include the production of better-performing batteries, solar panels and computer chips.

The discovery and synthesis of new materials can be a costly and time-consuming process. For example, it took around two decades of research before lithium-ion batteries – today used to power everything from phones and laptops to electric vehicles – were made commercially available.

“We're hoping that big improvements in experimentation, autonomous synthesis, and machine learning models will significantly shorten that 10 to 20-year timeline to something that's much more manageable,” said Ekin Dogus Cubuk, a research scientist at DeepMind.
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Having used AI to predict the stability of these new materials, DeepMind said it would now turn its focus to predicting how easily they can be synthesised in the lab.

 

Industries will be created/expanded to synthesize and test these new materials. Others to deploy the materials into practical solutions. Who gets the patent rights to the product?

 

Swedish battery manufactuer has working protypes of sodium ion batteries that have no rare mineral elements required. Energy storage not dense enough for cars yet but is dense enough for large scall energy storage to help wind and solar become on demand supply source. These would also seem to be able to work for individual home battery banks to store their solar rather than sell it back into the grid.

Swedish Company Says It's Made Huge Battery Breakthrough (msn.com)

Europe's leading battery maker says it has made a breakthrough that could reduce the world's reliance on China. Swedish company Northvolt, founded in 2015 by two former Tesla execs, says its new sodium-ion battery doesn't use the critical minerals lithium, nickel, graphite, and cobalt—and it has an energy density of 160 watt-hours per kilogram, making it suitable for large-scale energy storage, though it's well below the average of 250-300 watt-hours per kilo lithium batteries in electric cars typically have. Instead of the critical minerals, which have fluctuating prices and can be a fire hazard, Northvolt's new batteries use a form of the pigment Prussian blue, the Financial Times reports.

"Using sodium-ion technology is not new but we think this is the first product ever completely free from critical raw materials. It is a fundamental breakthrough," said Patrik Andreasson, Northvolt's vice-president of strategy and sustainability, per the Guardian. "This provides an option that is not dependent on certain parts of the world, including China." Sifted describes batteries without critical minerals as the "holy grail for the green transition." Anders Thor, the company's communications director, says that while this generation of batteries is best suited for energy storage, there is a "distinct path towards higher energy densities that also enables them for usage for vehicles, which will severely reduce cost and increase sustainability for electric mobility."

 

documented repetition of nuclear fusion reactions

US nuclear-fusion lab enters new era: achieving ‘ignition’ over and over (nature.com)

In December 2022, after more than a decade of effort and frustration, scientists at the US National Ignition Facility (NIF) announced that they had set a world record by producing a fusion reaction that released more energy than it consumed — a phenomenon known as ignition. They have now proved that the feat was no accident by replicating it again and again, and the administration of US President Joe Biden is looking to build on this success by establishing a trio of US research centres to help advance the science.
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The NIF works by firing 192 laser beams at a frozen pellet of the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium that is housed in a diamond capsule suspended inside a gold cylinder. The resulting implosion causes the isotopes to fuse, creating helium and copious quantities of energy. On 5 December 2022, those fusion reactions for the first time generated more energy — roughly 54% more — than the laser beams delivered to the target.

The facility set a new record on 30 July when its beams delivered the same amount of energy to the target — 2.05 megajoules — but, this time, the implosion generated 3.88 megajoules of fusion energy, an 89% increase over the input energy. Scientists at the laboratory achieved ignition during two further attempts in October (see ‘A year of progress’). And the laboratory’s calculations suggest that two others in June and September generated slightly more energy than the lasers provided, but not enough to confirm ignition.
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For many scientists, the results confirm that the laboratory is now operating in a new regime: researchers can repeatedly hit a goal they’ve been chasing for more than a decade. Tiny variations in the laser pulses or minor defects in the diamond capsule can still allow energy to escape, making for an imperfect implosion, but the scientists now better understand the main variables at play and how to manipulate them.

 

475 mile undersea DC cable connecting Denmark and UK has been put into service. Wind peak production rarely occurs in both grids at same time so cable will move energy both ways.

Tech should teach us a lot about using DC cables to effectively move large amounts of renewable energy from generation corridors to consumption corridors.

viking-link.com/frequently-asked-questions/why-denmark-and-great-britain/

Denmark is part of the Nord Pool power market and has good links with Sweden, Germany and Norway. For Great Britain, connecting here will prove access to a well-developed, low cost market with prices set by a diversified energy mix from across Scandinavia and Northern Germany.
For the Danish electricity producers, an interconnector to Great Britain will give access to a high price market and thus increasing the value of intermittent wind generation.

Viking Link will give Denmark and Great Britain access to a broader energy mix, providing the countries with new opportunities to expand into other electricity markets. The market forces of supply and demand will result in lower prices in peak-consumption periods.

Wind generation outputs between the UK and Denmark show low correlation and periods of high production are unlikely to occur at the same time in both countries. Energy that is surplus to requirements will be easily transmitted through the interconnector to where the level of demand is higher. This will support the renewable energy markets in both countries, reduce the need to curtail generation during peaks in production and have a beneficial impact on market prices.

 

new approach, attach markers to cancer cells, activate markers using infrared that can reach deeper into tissue, vibration destroys cancer walls. no chemical or biological agent. very different approach

Scientists Destroy 99% of Cancer Cells in The Lab Using Vibrating Molecules : ScienceAlert

Scientists have discovered a new way to destroy cancer cells. Stimulating aminocyanine molecules with near-infrared light caused them to vibrate in sync, enough to break apart the membranes of cancer cells. Aminocyanine molecules are already used in bioimaging as synthetic dyes. Commonly used in low doses to detect cancer, they stay stable in water and are very good at attaching themselves to the outside of cells.
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"It is a whole new generation of molecular machines that we call molecular jackhammers," says chemist James Tour from Rice University. "They are more than one million times faster in their mechanical motion than the former Feringa-type motors, and they can be activated with near-infrared light rather than visible light."

The use of near-infrared light is important because it enables scientists to get deeper into the body. Cancer in bones and organs could potentially be treated without needing surgery to get to the cancer growth. In tests on cultured, lab-grown cancer cells, the molecular jackhammer method scored a 99 percent hit rate at destroying the cells. The approach was also tested on mice with melanoma tumors, and half the animals became cancer-free.

 

“Chaotic” protein that fuels 75% of all cancers can be controlled with new therapy (msn.com)

In a significant breakthrough, scientists at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) have developed a method to control a notoriously elusive protein called MYC, implicated in 75% of human cancers. This development could ultimately lead to a new era of potential cancer treatments.

MYC is a protein that plays a crucial role in the normal functioning of cells, particularly in the transcription process where genetic information transits from DNA to RNA and eventually into proteins. However, in cancer cells, MYC's activity becomes hyperactive and unregulated.

"Normally, MYC's activity is strictly controlled. In cancer cells, it becomes hyperactive, and is not regulated properly," said Professor Min Xue. "MYC is less like food for cancer cells and more like a steroid that promotes cancer's rapid growth. That is why MYC is a culprit in 75% of all human cancer cases."
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As the scientific community eagerly awaits further developments, there is a sense of optimism and excitement. The taming of MYC, once a daunting challenge, is now seemingly within reach, opening new frontiers in the fight against cancer. "MYC represents chaos, basically, because it lacks structure. That, and its direct impact on so many types of cancer make it one of the holy grails of cancer drug development," said Professor Xue. "We are very excited that it is now within our grasp."

 

Disrespect for others isn't related to density.

 

Microsoft used AI to develop a new battery material that requires 70% less lithium. still being tested but reviews are all good so far.

computing power combined with AI is going to accelerate the materials revolution that will drive significant innovation int he years to come

'Interesting:' Tesla CEO Elon Musk Intrigued By Microsoft's New Battery Composition With 70% Less Lithium (msn.com)

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) on Tuesday said that the company has developed a new battery material in collaboration with a U.S. national laboratory that uses 70% less lithium, much to the excitement of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk.

What Happened: The scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Washington are now testing the material after successfully turning the solid-state electrolyte into functional prototype batteries, the company said in a statement. However, the final battery chemistry is not confirmed and is subject to further large-scale testing.
The new battery material uses sodium and other elements in addition to lithium, an expensive metal. Currently, lithium-ion batteries are the most popular in the market being used in mobile phones, electric vehicles, and even satellites. The reduction of lithium in battery composition could help bring down battery costs as well as risks of fire, Microsoft said.

As part of the collaboration, Microsoft used advanced AI and high-performance computing to sift through 32 million candidates for battery materials and identify select workable ones within 80 hours. In the end, Microsoft had a list of 23 materials, five of which were already known.

 

Microsoft to throw its hat into the ring to develop a next gen nuclear plat on small scale that can be used to power their data centers

apparently ai consumes up to 4x the power that a standard server farm does

Microsoft goes atomic — World's most valuable company just hired a director of nuclear development acceleration to help power its very own AI revolution (msn.com)

According to McKinsey, the power requirements of US data centers are projected to jump from 17 gigawatts (GW) in 2022 to 35 GW by 2030. Electricity isn't the only concern. GPUs used for AI have higher cooling needs than traditional servers, and Microsoft's water usage in data centers rose by 34% in 2022. This figure is expected to surge as the tech giant further increases its investments in AI.

Stepping into this role is Erin Henderson, PhD, MBA, PMP, who brings a wealth of experience from her 13-year tenure at the Tennessee Valley Authority, where she served as the General Manager of Transmission Projects.

Henderson will, among other things, devise a global strategy for small modular reactors and microreactors to power Microsoft's data centers. Yes, that’s right, the company really is going nuclear.