Generative AI has become increasingly popular in recent years, but there is a question that is often overlooked: who can afford it? OpenAI, for example, spent around $540 million last year developing ChatGPT and estimates that it needs $100 billion to achieve its goals. “We’re going to be the most capital-intensive startup in Silicon Valley
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The United States President Joe Biden’s ambitious plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is facing an unexpected challenge: permitting bottlenecks. If the president cannot streamline the permitting process for power plants, transmission lines, and other projects, the country is unlikely to have the infrastructure needed for a future powered by carbon-free electricity. For example, John
Chemistry researchers at Flinders University have discovered a new way to produce ‘green’ polymers using low-cost building blocks and a small amount of electricity. The reaction occurs quickly and at room temperature, without the need for hazardous chemical initiators. The research team has published an article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society detailing
WestJet, the second-largest airline in Canada, has announced that it reached a tentative agreement with its pilots union, Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), one day after canceling nearly 100 flights in anticipation of a strike. The union had informed WestJet on Monday that 1,800 pilots would stop work starting early Friday morning if an
Volvo’s factory near Gothenburg is now producing electric trucks, using the same people and equipment as for diesel trucks, but docking an electric module instead of an engine. Electric heavy trucks are being mass-produced in Europe, North America, and China at a faster rate than expected. This is an exciting moment for the industry, according
As the world moves towards renewable energy sources, solar cells are a critical component in this transition. The power conversion efficiency (PCE), or the amount of power captured with a given amount of sunlight, increases the practicality of solar power in a society with high energy demands. The Hurdle of Lower PCE in All-Inorganic Perovskite
Mosquitoes are one of the deadliest animals on the planet, causing millions of deaths each year due to the diseases they transmit. We know that mosquitoes are attracted to human body odor, but how do they find us from such long distances? In a recent study published in the journal Current Biology, researchers used an
The use of high-quality materials, such as metal halide phosphors, is essential in advanced electronic devices to efficiently convert light into measurable signals. One of the most promising materials is cesium copper iodide (Cs3Cu2I5: CCI), a toxic element-free copper-based iodide that is an efficient blue light-emitting material that can convert almost all the absorbed energy
Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a model that could help nuclear fusion researchers compress fuel more efficiently. This could aid in the design of the fuel capsule, minimizing energy loss while trying to ignite the reaction that makes stars shine. The researchers have also shown that understanding the formation of swirling, ring-shaped
A new assessment published in the journal Science reveals that more than half of the world’s largest lakes are losing water due to the warming climate and unsustainable human consumption. The lead author of the study, Fangfang Yao, a climate fellow at the University of Virginia, emphasizes that the news is not entirely bleak. With
The existence of the Higgs boson is responsible for the mass of elementary particles. Researchers at the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow believe that if the Higgs boson decays into exotic particles, it will be detectable in the successors to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) currently being designed.
Researchers from the University of Alicante Applied Biochemistry research group, in collaboration with researchers from the Alicante University Hospital Dr. Balmis and the Alicante Health and Biomedical Research Institute, have discovered the anti-cancer potential of a pigment found in the Santa Pola salt flats. The pigment is produced by certain microorganisms called “halophilic archaea” to
Industries like aerospace, energy, transportation, and defense require sensors to measure and monitor various factors under harsh conditions to ensure human safety and the integrity of mechanical systems. In the petrochemical industry, for instance, pipeline pressures must be monitored at temperatures ranging from hot desert heat to near-arctic cold. Various nuclear reactors operate at a
Chemists at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung are working towards creating more efficient and sustainable chemical processes for academia and industry. In order to achieve this goal, it is essential to have a fundamental understanding of the properties of elements and their molecular compounds. Bismuth is a metal that has potential for catalysis but
Microsoft announced on Friday that its planned acquisition of video game company Activision Blizzard has been unconditionally approved by China, even as the deal still faces opposition from antitrust authorities in the United States and the United Kingdom. While China’s approval is welcome news for Microsoft, it is also complicated by the fact that Activision
