Thursday, April 25
Increasing Efficiency of Solar Panels
Lehigh University researchers have created a revolutionary solar cell material with up to 190% external quantum efficiency, pushing beyond conventional efficiency limits and showing great promise for enhancing future solar energy systems. Further development is required for practical application, supported by a U.S. Department of Energy grant.
It shows great potential for advancing the development of highly efficient next-generation solar cells, which are vital for meeting global energy demands.
A team from Lehigh University has created a material that could significantly enhance the efficiency of solar panels.
A prototype using the material as the active layer in a solar cell exhibits an average photovoltaic absorption of 80%, a high generation rate of photoexcited carriers, and an external quantum efficiency (EQE) up to an unprecedented 190%—a measure that far exceeds the theoretical Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit for silicon-based materials and pushes the field of quantum materials for photovoltaics to new heights. READ MORE...
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
In partnership with The Ascent
> Taylor Swift's "Tortured Poets Department" sells 700,000 vinyl records, breaking the record for most vinyl sales in a week after just three days (More)
> WNBA No. 1 draft pick Caitlin Clark to sign eight-year, $28M contract with Nike, which includes a signature shoe and is the highest-ever sponsorship deal for a women's basketball player (More)
> Grammy-winning artist Megan Thee Stallion accused in lawsuit of sexual harassment by her former cameraman (More) | Multiple crewmembers injured during accident on set of Amazon MGM Studio's upcoming film "The Pickup" (More)
Science & Technology
> Microsoft releases Phi-3, framed as a "small" language model with almost 4 billion parameters; says it performs as well as OpenAI's GPT-3.5 in answering complex questions (More) | Meta adds multimodal AI to its Ray-Ban smart glasses, allowing users to query AI based on items in the field of vision (More)
> Scientists create artificial cells that change shape and respond to their surroundings like living cells; breakthrough has applications in regenerative medicine, drug delivery, and more (More)
> Underground Antarctic experiment reportedly detects seven potential neutrino events; the particles are the most abundant in the universe but weigh nothing and rarely interact with matter (More) | More on the "ghost" particle (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +1.2%, Dow +0.7%, Nasdaq +1.6%) as investors sift through strong batch of earnings reports (More) | Tesla reports 9% drop in Q1 revenue, the biggest year-over-year decline since 2012; announces new models ahead of timeline, with shares rising over 13% in after-hours trading (More)
> The Federal Trade Commission votes 3-2 in approving final rule banning most employers from using noncompete clauses nationwide, effective in 120 days; FTC estimates about 30 million workers are currently prevented from joining competitors (More)
> Modern-day convenience store Foxtrot abruptly closes all 33 stores across Chicago, Austin, Dallas, and Washington, DC; comes five months after its merger with Chicago boutique grocer Dom's Kitchen and Market (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Campus pro-Palestinian protests continue at a number of universities across the country; some call for the resignation of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik following student arrests (More) | See updates on the war (More)
> UK lawmakers pass bill allowing officials to send certain migrants seeking asylum to Rwanda; officials say the policy is meant to deter the smugglers trafficking migrants to the country (More)
> Argentina President Javier Milei announces country's first quarterly budget surplus in 16 years; the Libertarian Milei was elected in November on a platform of cutting spending and slowing runaway inflation, which had reached 100% year-over-year (More)
SOURCE: 1440 News
An American Tragedy
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If you are not aware that Donald Trump has 91 felony charges against him, then you are so apathetic that there is absolutely no reason to reach out to you at all...
However, I do not think that is the case for a majority of Americans...
Obviously, it is Democratic District Attorneys that have brought these charges against Donald Trump and it is obvious that Democratic Judges are presiding over these court cases.
It is highly UNLIKELY that Republicans are involved in any of this perversion of justice... that incidentally, this country will regret down the road.
FOR MONTHS, we have heard how pleased Democrats are with these charges against Trump because, as they claim, no one is above the law.
I have even heard people laugh ON AIR because Trump is in so much trouble and will soon be paying out tons of money. They anticipate that he will go bankrupt and go to jail for his crimes.
HOWEVER... it appears that each time the Democrats attack Trump, his numbers relative to the November 2024 election GO UP...
Now Democrats are bitching that Trump is getting too much publicity over these trials which if that is the case, they brought on themselves.
AND THEREIN LIES THE TRAGEDY... the Dems got what they wanted and soon realized it was not what they really wanted at all.
The other side is getting the last laugh....
Flying Motorcycle
Believe it or not, this unbelievable flying motorcycle could hit the skies by the end of the decade.
Formerly known as the Jetpack Aviation Speeder, this jet bike is moving ahead in development with a new name — the Razor.
Even the name of the flying vehicle is something straight out of a sci-fi movie.
The flying motorcycle uses eight tiny but powerful jet engines to cruise at 60 mph for about 30 minutes.
It can also carry up to 600 pounds of cargo.
The bike itself weighs 300 pounds, giving it a size-to-payload ratio that sets it apart from other flying vehicles.
Many others have also tried to build their own flying vehicle, like this flying motorcycle that transforms into a hoverbike. TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...
Wednesday, April 24
The Great Pyramid's Latitude
Spend long enough on the Internet and you will likely be met with a post informing you that the speed of light is 299,792,458 meters per second, and the latitude of the Great Pyramid of Giza is 29.9792458°N, before inviting you to assess whether this is a coincidence or not.
But is it true, and if so, is it a coincidence?
The answer to the first question is yes. Light travels at 299,792,458 meters per second in a vacuum, the absolute speed limit of the universe. The latitude of the Great Pyramid of Giza is indeed 29.9792458 N – but so are a whole bunch of other places at the same latitude. READ MORE...
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Cher, Jimmy Buffett, and Mary J. Blige headline 2024 class of 16 inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (More)
> First round of NBA playoffs continue; see latest bracket (More) | … and NHL Stanley Cup playoffs also underway (More)
> Film Academy announces several changes to the 2025 Oscars, including changes to rules affecting best picture, animated feature, and original score categories (More)
Science & Technology
In partnership with Global Air Cylinder Wheels
> Meta to release its mixed reality operating system to third-party developers for use by other companies; Microsoft, Lenovo, and others expected to produce competing headsets using Meta's Horizon OS (More)
> Memory study in worms reveals short-term information can be retained longer if the creatures are cooled below room temperature or given lithium; findings shed light on the neuroscience of forming and discarding memories (More)
> CRISPR gene editing demonstrated in kissing bugs, a step toward combating the spread of Chagas disease; the potentially fatal illness affects roughly 8 million people, largely in rural Latin America (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.9%, Dow +0.7%, Nasdaq +1.1%) as shares rebound and investors look ahead to major corporate earnings results this week (More)
> Supermarket chains Kroger and Albertsons to sell 166 more locations as they seek regulatory approval of their $25B merger; the Federal Trade Commission sued to block Kroger's acquisition of Albertsons earlier this year (More) | The FTC sues to block Tapestry Inc.'s $8.5B purchase of Capri Holdings, owner of brands such as Versace and Michael Kors (More)
> Goldman Sachs to sell automated investing business Marcus Invest, will transfer Marcus Invest clients and their assets to independent investment-advisory firm Betterment (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Opening arguments begin in former President Donald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan over allegedly falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a former adult film star; first witness is called to the stand (More) | See key takeaways (More)
> US Supreme Court agrees to hear case over whether the Biden administration can regulate "ghost guns," privately made firearms without serial numbers; regulations are in effect as litigation plays out, with high court to take up case in the fall (More)
> Record-breaking flooding in China's most populous province, Guangdong, prompts evacuations of more than 110,000 residents; at least four people have died and 10 are missing (More) | See photos (More)
SOURCE: 1440 News
America Changes
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I am also amazed at people, especially those who are retired, that take out loans where the payback period extends beyond their life expectancy. In other words, they have no intention of paying that loan back.
I worked with a gentleman who was earning his PhD online and the student loans that were mounting up, he boasted that he would not live long enough to pay them back. That did not seem to bother him at all.
We are creating a group of citizens that are so self-serving that they have no idea their philosophy of life is destroying this country. And if they were aware of what they were doing, would still not care.
America has changed and is continuing to change and it is the changing culture and society that will turn the USA into a country that is the least respected country in the world.
For those of you who memorized your way through high school and college, the USA is HATED by most countries in the world, especially the Arab nations, along with Russia, China, India, and South America. We have not yet pushed our lifestyle on the Africans, so they are still willing to fight each other for territory instead of the USA.
Have you heard of BRICS?
A group of nations that have joined together in an effort to DESTROY the American dollar by not using the American dollar to trade goods and services like they have done in the past.
Members of the Islamic Faith (Arabs) have migrated throughout Europe, Great Britain, Scandanavia, Canada, and the USA with the sole purpose of growing their numbers in these countries to influence their governments and decisions made.
Obviously, the ethnic group with the largest population will likely be the ones that get elected to public office.
In the USA for instance, whites are 60% of the population but Hispanics, Asians, and Muslim are growing in numbers every year. The black population in the USA is hardly growing at all...
What does that tell you about CRT and WOKE and BLM.... etc.? It will eventually die out as other ethnic populations grow... These growing ethnic groups will also change the USA...
If you are not planning 20-30 years into the future, you learned NOTHING IN COLLEGE.
Superfast Drone
The drone, which resembled a rocket, flew 10 miles (16 km) at Mach 0.9 — over 680 miles per hour — using 80% of the engine's available thrust. This image is purely illustrative. (Image credit: Alexyz3d/Getty Images)
Venus Aerospace has completed the inaugural test flight of a drone fitted with its "rotating detonation rocket engine" (RDRE) — accelerating it to just under the speed of sound. The company wants to one day build superfast commercial jets using this new type of engine.
In the test flight, conducted Feb. 24, the company flew the drone, which is 8 feet (2.4 meters) long and weighs 300 pounds (136 kilograms) to an altitude of 12,000 ft (3658 m) by an Aero L-29 DelfÃn plane, before it was deployed and the RDRE was activated, company representatives said in a statement.
The drone flew 10 miles (16 km) at Mach 0.9 — over 680 miles per hour — using 80% of the RDRE’s available thrust. The successful flight proved the viability of RDRE and the associated onboard flight systems. Three weeks earlier, Venus Aerospace demonstrated the viability of its RDRE technology with a long-duration test burn — during which engineers showed their engine worked for the duration of this test flight. READ MORE...
Tuesday, April 23
BRICS is Expanding Against USA
The origins of BRICS — a bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and, as of 2024, new members Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates — can be traced back to a 2001 publication by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill titled ‘Building Better Global Economic BRICs’. O’Neill argued that Brazil, Russia, India and China were poised to play an increasingly significant role in the global economy.
His prediction was that by 2050, these countries would collectively account for 40 per cent of the world’s economic output. In reality, from 2012 to 2022 China alone has accounted for around a quarter of global GDP growth, and the BRICS countries together contributed over 45 per cent.
BRIC was officially launched in 2009 and was renamed BRICS in 2010 when South Africa joined the group. Since then, trade relations have clearly grown, but in a very unbalanced manner.
Most of the growth in trade has been China-centric, with the contribution from the rest of BRICS remaining quite flat until recently. The recent increase is mostly explained by India, which has experienced an acceleration in economic growth. BRICS members are increasingly intertwined with China as far as trade is concerned, but the remaining members have very few ties among themselves. Bilateral trade between BRICS members other than China remains extremely low. READ MORE...
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" hauls in 300 million streams on Spotify on its opening day, a Spotify record (More) | ... the album also sold 1.4 million copies on its first day, the most ever for a Swift album (More)
> Roman Gabriel, former NFL MVP and NFL's first Filipino American QB, dies at 83 (More) | Sir Andrew Davis, longtime conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, dies at 80 (More)
> Kenya's Peres Jepchirchir and Alexander Mutiso Munyao win women's and men's titles at London Marathon (More) | LSU wins its first-ever NCAA women's gymnastics championship (More)
Science & Technology
In partnership with Incogni
> Australia's Great Barrier Reef is currently experiencing the worst mass coral bleaching event on record, researchers say (More) | Phenomenon occurs when changing water temperatures cause coral to expel colorful algae, potentially leading to coral death (More)
> Researchers find evidence of cosmic ray bombardment on Earth's surface roughly 42,000 years ago, during a period when the planet's geomagnetic field temporarily flipped (More) | What we know about the Laschamp excursion (More)
> Scientists identify brain circuit governing foraging behavior in animals; decision making combined history of reward and whether waiting longer increased the amount of food available at different locations (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed Friday (S&P 500 -0.9%, Dow +0.6%, Nasdaq -2.1%); six-day losing streak for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq is the worst for the two since October 2022 (More)
> Tesla cuts Full Self-Driving software cost in the US by one-third ($12K to $8K) as CEO Elon Musk scraps plans on releasing low-cost electric vehicle to prioritize proliferation of self-driving technology (More)
> Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant vote to unionize Friday, part of United Auto Workers broader push to unionize workers at 10 foreign carmakers with plants in the US; vote at Mercedes plant in Alabama to take place next month (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> House passes $95B aid package to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan Saturday, sending bills to Senate; House bill would also ban TikTok in the US unless China-based parent company ByteDance divests (More) | See previous write-up (More)
> Fourteen people killed in Israeli military raid in the West Bank (More) | The US expected to sanction Israeli military unit Netzah Yehuda as soon as today for actions in the West Bank prior to Oct. 7 Hamas attacks (More) | See war updates (More)
> Ecuador voters head to the polls on referendum with 11 measures to expand powers of police and armed forces to combat violence and crime; crime has been on the rise, with at least a dozen politicians killed since January 2023 (More)
SOURCE: 1440 News
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