Around the world in 7 days #7

Crab shell could be your answer to renewable energy

University of Maryland researchers are changing the way people look at those thin exoskeletons—investigating the feasibility of putting them to work in an innovative battery. Xu and a team of researchers have been exploring the use of a chemical that comes from crustacean shells called chitosan, the chemical found in seafood shells and pronounced CHI-tuh-sn in a zinc-ion battery designed to store renewable energy.

Zinc-ion battery are safer than Li-ion Batteries for domestic uses such as storing solar power generated electricity for uses at night time, however Zn-ion battery doesn't have a long lifespan, operating at full capacity for only a few days or a week, but with a gel membrane containing chitosan, the chemical found in seafood shells and pronounced CHI-tuh-sn, a zinc-ion battery can last a year and still function at 70% of its initial capacity. They're also much safer, Zheng said.

My take : Energy storage is gaining a lot of importance since many industries such as automotive, datacenters, home appliances and travel etc. need an efficient and safe way to store energy that can be used when needed. Battery technology is hence investigated regularly and such discovery can make a huge difference.

In their study, GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke, Harvard Business School Professor Marco Iansiti and Keystone.AI CEO Greg Richards focused on productivity gained by the widely used GitHub Copilot that, powered by OpenAI Codex, is helping to simplify and speed up the work of software developers.

 Instead of using the power of generative AI technology to produce natural language text, Copilot produces code.In earlier tests, developers were asked to code an HTTP server in Javascript. Half were permitted access to Copilot while the other half were not. Those utilizing Copilot completed their projects 55 percent faster that those in the control group, Dohmke stated.

My take : These development highlights about  enormous opportunities will open as a result of this new generation of AI-powered coding tools. Writing codes can become more common , say like using Excel , many a times getting a SW done involves making SW team understand requirements and business , such tools now can eliminate such needs. This doesn't mean the SW developers are obsolete , but they will be working on better problems.

Efficient display screens with versatility

Flexible displays that can change color, convey information and even send veiled messages via infrared radiation are now possible, thanks to new research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The new study led by mechanical science and engineering professor Sameh Tawfick demonstrates how bendable fins and fluids can simultaneously switch between straight or bent and hot and cold by controlling the volume and temperature of tiny fluid-filled pixels. Varying the volume of fluids within the pixels can change the directions in which the flaps flip—similar to old-fashioned flip clocks—and varying the temperature allows the pixels to communicate via infrared energy. The study findings are published in the journal Science Advances.

My take : This is an interesting development and almost limitless application once commercialized. You can say have this tech on TV and can put on a glasses that can help you watch the IR energy which could be some other content that some else could be watching. Or this can be some messaging app notification that you don't want others too see while on transit or on your laptop. Innovations on display tech is big since you are reading this on a display screen ;)

After many smart gadgets, its time for Smart windows.

Smart windows selectively block solar radiation and dynamically adjust the room temperature according to the applied voltage or the ambient temperature. And they can save even more energy consumption during the hotter months.

Based on the unique optical properties of one-dimensional nanomaterials, the researchers synthesized and mixed Au nanorods with different aspect ratios, which can selectively absorb near-infrared light in a certain wavelength band without overly affecting the transmission of visible light, thus ensuring light illumination in the room. Subsequently, the multi-sized Au nanorod mixtures were co-assembled with electrochromic W18O49 nanowires and conductive Ag nanowires to form an ordered mesh structure. The appearance of the smart windows is significantly altered in color by an external power supply. The synergistic effect of the two further improves the windows' solar light-blocking performance.

My take : A smart windows that dynamically regulate solar radiation, providing a more effective window for solar spectrum regulation and heat management in buildings is the most essential component in your household energy consumption. You can offset the high expense with lesser energy bills, couple this with solar energy , it can almost comes to zero cost. Windows are almost as crucial as foundation since a good window can keep the interior free from noise, dust and temperature resulting in less maintenance and a better living experience.

AMD's AI chips could match Nvidia's offerings

Nvidia dominates the market for the powerful chips that are used to create ChatGPT and other AI services, But in the meantime, tech companies are looking for alternatives, with hopes that AMD will be a strong challenger.

 That prompted MosaicML, an AI startup  to conduct a test comparing between AI chips from AMD and Nvidia. MosaicML evaluated the AMD MI250 and the Nvidia A100, both of which are one generation behind each company's flagship chips but are still in high demand, and found AMD's chip could get 80% of the performance of Nvidia's chip, thanks largely to a new version of AMD software released late last year and a new version of open-source software backed by Meta Platforms (META.O) called PyTorch that was released in March.

MosaicML sells software that makes it easier for companies to create AI systems inside their own data centers rather than paying for access to those systems from providers like ChatGPT creator OpenAI.

My Take : For most (machine learning) chip companies out there, the software is the Achilles heel of it, what AMD has done really well is on the software side but still lags behind NVDIA .A high price NVDIA can make developer rally behind AMD to develop better SW to compete. In all probability NVDIA knows this and want some competitor in this space.

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