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  • 🌳 Two trees can generate clean electricity, billion-year-old rocks hold dark matter, a drone with a nervous system

🌳 Two trees can generate clean electricity, billion-year-old rocks hold dark matter, a drone with a nervous system

Plus: Researchers have created a new method of transforming textiles into power sources

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Scientists from Rwanda have discovered two types of trees that could produce clean electricity, providing power to isolated communities.

After evaluating the biomass potential of rapidly growing trees and shrubs, researchers pointed out two tree species with dense wood and elevated calorific values that make them burn effectively, offering a high-heat option compared to fossil fuels. 

The study underway would help to combat climate change and poverty in rural areas and even enhance soil quality. Dive deeper into this Must-Read.

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As an initiative to bring electricity to rural areas, the study in Rwanda wanted to identify trees that combust effectively and find sustainable solutions for energy shortages in isolated regions.

He likened the procedure to solar energy, which harnesses sunlight to produce electricity.

The trees currently under investigation would not only provide fuel for electricity but also resources for farmers and their communities, who are essential for making this initiative work.

First introduced conceptually in the 1980s, searching for dark matter in billion-year-old rocks is called paleo-detection. There are rocks that have existed since Earth formed, so dark matter could have interacted with the atoms and nuclei.

Researchers from Virginia Tech intend to tackle this experimental approach in a new lab to test dark matter theories. They plan to employ hi-tech microbiology imaging, a technology used to model the smallest details of the animal nervous system. 

Virginia Tech is going to see if an old rock holds the answer as to how stars fly. 

Currently, scientists are testing a drone with a built-in nervous system. It uses advanced optical fibers to enhance operational efficiency by constantly checking their structure, similar to how nerves function in the body.

This nervous system sends back real-time information using light, not electricity, which avoids problems that electronic systems have with interference from radio frequencies.

The University of Southampton hopes that the technology will make future drones more reliable and cost-effective. It may change how many industries use drones.

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HOT TOPICS OF THE DAY

SCIENCE

> A team of Japanese researchers discovered a new technique to tweak molecular orientation that could dramatically improve energy transfer when absorbing light. (More)

> Researchers transform textiles into power sources, so our sweaters could charge our phones one day. (More)

> Restricting sugar consumption in utero and early childhood reduces risk of chronic disease in mid-life. (More)

ENERGY

> Solar power’s uphill battle: Barriers to adoption in the shift to clean energy. (More)

> Korean researchers have been successful in improving the performance of perovskite solar cells. (More)

> Dominion Energy is discussing small nuclear reactors with other tech companies after Amazon agreement. (More)

INNOVATION

> China unveils 5,000 metric ton-heavy tunnel boring machine with largest-diameter. (More)

> Researchers have developed a new method for light and matter interaction, paving the way for the production of ultra-thin silicon solar cells.(More)

> And the winners from the European Design Awards are tech and environmental sustainability projects. (More)

VIDEO

> Nuclear ships will go 30 years without refueling. (More)

> Guardians of the Gibbons: can India save its only ape species from extinction? (More)

IE QUIZ: THE RESULTS

The answer is 28cm2

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