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Dec 11, 2022

IIT-G’s Cooking Stove Saves Fuel Up To 50%, Reduces 80% Emissions

Posted by in categories: energy, government

A s of 1 February 2021, there are about 280 million domestic LPG (liquified petroleum gas) consumers in India, according to Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. By March 2022, the Government of India expects that there will be over 300 million consumers. Indian Oil, the country’s largest fuel refiner, claims that it will import 50% more cooking gas to ensure the supply of LPG remains uninterrupted for its bottling plants.

It’s imperative to find heating solutions that are more efficient.

Moreover, the Government of India has been encouraging wider adoption of LPG to replace coal and firewood to improve air quality as well. But according to researchers at IIT-Guwahati, the thermal efficiencies of conventional domestic LPG cooking stoves available in the market are low (60–68%), and emissions are high (CO: 220–550 ppm, NOx: 5–25 ppm).

Dec 11, 2022

‘Invisibility cloak’ that hides wearers from security cameras invented by students

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, security

InvisDefense uses an unusual pattern and irregular heat signals to confuse AI cameras.

Dec 11, 2022

How the SIM card in your phone could make medicines cheaper

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, mobile phones

Research from Imperial College London suggests that gold compouds recovered from discarded SIM cards can significantly lower the cost of making medicines.

Dec 11, 2022

Scientists Blown Away by the Toughest Material on Earth — “Unexpected Transformation”

Posted by in categories: materials, transportation

Scientists have measured the highest toughness ever recorded, of any material, while investigating a metallic alloy made of chromium, cobalt, and nickel (CrCoNi). Not only is the metal extremely ductile – which, in materials science, means highly malleable – and impressively strong (meaning it resists permanent deformation), its strength and ductility improve as it gets colder. This runs counter to most other materials in existence.

“In the same units, the toughness of a piece of silicon is one, the aluminum airframe in passenger airplanes is about 35, and the toughness of some of the best steels is around 100. So, 500, it’s a staggering number.” —

Dec 11, 2022

Base editing: Revolutionary therapy clears girl’s incurable cancer

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

New way of altering DNA is used to engineer an “exciting”, experimental therapy for a 13-year-old girl.

Dec 11, 2022

Parrots Keep Attacking Poppy Farms To Get High On Opium

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food

They’re so much like humans. Hopefully this doesn’t hurt them in the long term.


Farms in India have reached out to the authorities after repeatedly being attacked by opium-addicted parrots.

Farmers in Madhya Pradesh say their opium crops are being ruined by parrots who keep returning to raid their farms in an attempt to get high. The farmers have been guarding the fields day and night to protect their poppies, but the birds are willing to risk it all to get their beaks on the opium, which is being farmed for medical purposes.

Continue reading “Parrots Keep Attacking Poppy Farms To Get High On Opium” »

Dec 11, 2022

Billionaire investor Charlie Munger: ‘The world is not driven by greed, it’s driven by envy’

Posted by in category: business

Rather, he says his motivation in accumulating wealth has always been about securing independence, the freedom to do what he wishes in business and in life — and he wishes more people would follow his example.

“The world is not driven by greed. It’s driven by envy,” Munger said at the annual meeting of the Daily Journal, the newspaper company where he is a director, earlier this year.

Continue reading “Billionaire investor Charlie Munger: ‘The world is not driven by greed, it’s driven by envy’” »

Dec 11, 2022

Stop chasing utopia. Create “protopia” instead

Posted by in category: futurism

Pessimism sounds smart. Optimism sounds dumb. Don’t fall for it, says Wired’s Kevin Kelly.

Dec 11, 2022

Researchers Turn Cancer Cells Into Less Harmful Cell Types

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Cancer cells are incredibly adaptable, much like stem cells. Researchers from the University of Basel have discovered substances that artificially mature breast cancer cells of the very aggressive triple-negative subtype and transform them into a state that is similar to normal cells.

Cancer occurs when cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other organs. Cancer cells are quite different from normal ones. Cancer cells are known for their remarkable adaptability to varied settings in the body as well as drug treatments. They resemble stem cells or cells at an early stage of development in this regard.

The prospect of artificially maturing (or, more accurately, differentiating) breast cancer cells as a strategy to transform them into a more normal kind of cell has been explored by researchers at the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel.

Dec 11, 2022

The Boltzmann Brain Paradox: An Animated Thought Experiment About the Hallucination of Reality

Posted by in category: neuroscience

A pleasingly disorienting foray into the fundamental perplexity of life.