🚚 Tiny nukes on trucks, Woolly mammoths set to return, and 3D chip with 6G speeds

Small modular reactors and microreactors with power generation capacities below 20 megawatts (MW) could help power up remote locations with clean energy. The reactors use high-assay, low-enriched uranium (Haleu) fuel that contains up to 20 percent uranium. Find out more about how this tech works by checking out today’s Must Read. 

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> Electrical Engineer III - New Shepard
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MUST READ

🚚 Tiny nukes on trucks: Sub-20 megawatt reactors to power remote areas

Conventionally, nuclear power plants have been built at massive scales to reduce energy generation costs. However, this also increases costs and time for setting up the facility before it can begin operating.

To overcome these challenges, Nano Nuclear Energy created small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). The entire setup's components can fit into a standard shipping container, making it easily transportable to remote areas lacking conventional energy infrastructure, where large renewable energy projects are challenging to establish.

Beyond electricity generation, the reactor is designed to use heat generated during fission reactions for direct applications. This excess heat can be converted into additional electric energy to increase overall output.

🦣 Ice age icon: Is the woolly mammoth set for a return?

It seems the scenes reminiscent of Jurassic Park, where ancient animals are resurrected in the lab, are inching closer to reality—particularly in the case of the woolly mammoth. The 'de-extinction' startup, Colossal Biosciences, has achieved a global first, labeling it as an 'iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells) breakthrough.'

However, their approach diverges from cloning a Jurassic Park-style mammoth from ancient DNA. Instead, they aim to create a close relative – an Asian elephant with the necessary genetic modifications to thrive in the harsh Arctic environment.

This new study marks a milestone, as previous attempts to create iPSCs for elephants, despite success in many mammals (including humans), had failed. Importantly, their work extends beyond mammoth de-extinction efforts, as iPSCs hold immense potential for wildlife conservation, drug testing, disease research, and more.

🌐 Scientists create 3D reflector chip to boost tiny tech with 6G speeds

A team of researchers at Cornell University has created a semiconductor chip that will allow ever-tinier devices to function at the higher frequencies required for the next generation of 6G communication technology.

In addition to requiring more bandwidth at higher frequencies, the next generation of wireless communication also demands more time. According to researchers, the new semiconductor provides the appropriate time delay to prevent signals from dissolving at a single point in space after being relayed over numerous arrays. 

Instead of laterally spreading wavelength-long wires across the chip, the team imagined what it would be like to wind the signal’s path in three-dimensional waveguides and bounce signals off of them to cause delay since the goal of their design was to pack as many of these delay elements as possible.

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HOT TOPICS OF THE DAY

SCIENCE

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ENERGY

> A UK fusion start-up claims to have broken a long-standing pressure record in a test of its technology at the world’s most powerful pulsed power machine. The firm said this “strengthens the case” for its “unique amplifier technology” and showed it can be used across different platforms. (More)

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INNOVATION

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VIDEO

> Delving into fragments from a rare asteroid, we embark on a journey to unlock the mysteries of Earth’s ancient past. These celestial remnants hold invaluable clues that promise to shed light on the geological and astronomical history of our planet, offering insights into its formation and evolution. (More)

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IE QUIZ: THE RESULTS

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The answer is: 718

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