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GNR Wednesday, 12-13-23: Happy Hannukkah! [1]

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Date: 2023-12-13

Good morning, gnusies, on this, the fifth day of Hannukkah!

Chag Hannukkah sameach!

My family is finally able to get together — my dad came down with COVID a few days before Thanksgiving. My brother is thankfully able to work remotely and stayed in town to help with errands, and now that my dad and I both have negative tests, we can celebrate together.

I hope everyone’s holiday season is joyful, filled with family and those held dear.

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I’ve reported on this technology before — roads that charge your EV while you’re driving — and now the first mile has been installed here in the States. In Detroit of all places — how appropriate!

Detroit’s Newest Road Can Now Charge Electric Cars as They Drive on it Detroit, Michigan celebrated a major milestone in the future of vehicle electrification, as crews finished installing the nation’s first wireless-charging public roadway last month. Using technology from Electreon, 14th Street is now equipped with inductive-charging coils that will charge electric vehicles (EVs) equipped with receivers as they drive on the road. The road will be used to test and perfect the Israeli company’s wireless-charging technology in a real-world environment to perfect it ahead of making it available to the public in the next few years. “We’re excited to spearhead the development and deployment of America’s first wireless charging road,” said Dr. Stefan Tongur, Electreon vice president of business development. “This milestone stands as a testament to our collaborative efforts with the State of Michigan and the Department of Transportation (MDOT).” … Extensive testing of the inductive charging technology will continue in early 2024. Using a Ford E-Transit electric commercial van provided by Ford Motor Co. and equipped with the Electreon receiver, staff will test the efficiency and operations of the vehicle and study potential long-term public transportation opportunities.

I would dearly love it if this came here to Cleveland — putting this road surface along designated routes would allow much of the RTA fleet of busses to go electric!

Some of you may remember the video of the obstacle course built for squirrels. This time, it’s an obstacle course for an octopus, as preparation for rewilding.

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Virgin Atlantic Flight from London Makes History as First Transatlantic Jet Using 100% Sustainable Fuel But that’s exactly what Virgin Atlantic was able to do for the first time in history, when a Boeing 787 flew from London’s Heathrow to JFK using sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) manufactured from cooking oil, waste crops, and waste food. This kind of fuel is reckoned as emitting 50% to 70% fewer emissions than jet fuel, and since the whole of world aviation accounts for just 2.8% of global emissions, a 50% to 70% theoretical reduction would eliminate it as a priority in the fight against climate change. Virgin’s 787 was filled up with 50 tonnes of SAF. Two types were used, with 88% derived from waste fats and the rest from waste products of corn farming in the US. UK Transport Secretary Mark Harper was one of those on board the flight, and upon landing, declared, “history has been made.” The flight was not open to the paying public, but there were passengers. Sir Richard Branson, the company’s founder, said he knew it was just a first step.

Everyone likes a comeback story!

Tiny Golden Mole Not Seen in Almost 100 Years Rediscovered Thanks to Sniffing Dog and Determined Scientists A little species of golden mole has been rediscovered in South Africa thanks to an intrepid band of conservationists and a sniffing dog. De Winton’s golden mole was last scientifically documented in South Africa—in Port Nolloth—in 1936. There were no photographs taken of this tiny blind mammal, and little information existed about its behavior. Furthermore, without any physical specimen to examine, it was impossible to train a sniffing dog to find these little creatures that burrow under the sand and navigate by detecting vibrations through the tissue in their large noses. … Fortune was on the side of Theron and his team, for when they arrived at Port Nolloth for a 2022 expedition, a rainstorm had frozen the tracks of the area’s moles in time in the wet sand. Ironically, Jessie the collie was completely uninterested in the scene, meaning that the tracks were made by a mole whose scent she didn’t recognize. ... Re:wild supports the rediscovery of lost species through their innovative and wildly successful “25 Most Wanted” list, which highlights important species that are lost to science, organizes expeditions to find them, and funds conservation based on the publicity of the rediscoveries. So far, De Winton’s golden mole is the 12th the org has crossed off its list.

Recycling the unrecyclable.

Fishing Nets and Carpets Can Be Recycled Molecularly Thanks to Genius Chemist and Brand New Catalyst A team of chemists has developed a low-cost, non-toxic catalyst that can easily deconstruct the complex plastic polymers of fishing nets, promising that a method to decisively remove these sources of ocean pollution may only be a few years away. The team from Northwestern University explained that the main issue with Nylon-6, the plastic inside fishing nets, industrial carpets, and clothing, is that it’s too strong and durable to break down on its own. The chemists’ new catalyst quickly, cleanly, and almost completely breaks down Nylon-6 in a matter of minutes without generating harmful byproducts. It requires no toxic solvents, expensive materials, or extreme conditions, making it practical for everyday applications. … “You can think of a polymer like a necklace or a string of pearls. In this analogy, each pearl is a monomer. These monomers are the building blocks,” [study senior author Professor Tobin Marks] explains. “We devised a way to break down the necklace but recover those pearls.” There are real advantages with this method, said Marks, who points out that the catalyst selectively reacts to Nylon-6 even if surrounded by other polymers. This cuts the need to hire human labor or buy expensive robotic sorting machines to separate Nylon-6 in municipal waste streams.

More and more of our high-tech medical screening devices are becoming smaller, more portable, less expensive, and possibly most importantly, usable while the patient is in motion, sometimes even while going about their daily routine.

I have cousins who are physical therapists, one of whom specializes in sports medicine and injury, and this development in particular could be a game changer on many levels.

Groundbreaking Wearable Device Takes Ultrasound Images of Muscles During Exercise for Better Diagnosis, Treatment A George Mason University bioengineer has developed a wearable ultrasound system that can detect immediately if that twinge or tweak in your back or shoulder that you got in physical rehab is a muscular or skeletal injury or not. It does so by using ultrasonic monitoring through a skin patch, and could provide real-time information on muscle tissues during a workout. … Designing a wearable ultrasound device took much more than simply strapping an existing ultrasound monitor to a patient. Chitnis and his team reinvented ultrasound technology nearly from scratch to produce the results they needed. “Traditionally, ultrasound systems transmit short-duration pulses, and the echo signals are used to make clinically useful images,” said Chitnis. “Our systems use a patented approach that relies on transmission of long-duration chirps, which allows us to perform ultrasound sensing using the same components one might find in their car radio.” This modified approach allowed the team to design a simpler, cheaper system that could be miniaturized and powered by batteries. This let them design an ultrasound monitor with a small, portable form factor that could be attached to a patient.

More good news from all over, donated by my brother:

What is a good thing happening in the US right now that people aren’t aware of?

That’s it for me, fellow Gnusies!

While I was going to close with another video, this season, and the world at large, can always use more love. No matter how much there is, let there be more, and let it shine into every crevice and crater, lift the spirit of every being on this earth and any other. Let us all do a little more, even if it’s just to smile and wish our loved ones, our neighbors, or even and especially a stranger, a good day and a better year to come.

Chag Hannukkah sameach, and shalom aleichem.

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