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Wind-powered robot could enable long-term exploration of hostile environments

Researchers at Cranfield University have created WANDER-bot, a low-cost, 3D-printed robot that is powered by wind energy. Designed to spend long durations in hostile, windy environments such as certain deserts, polar regions or even other planets, WANDER-bot doesn’t need a battery to power movement, enabling longer operations without having to pause and recharge.

Movement accounts for around 20% of battery use in most robots, so running on natural energy makes WANDER-bot an efficient solution for long-term exploration or mapping of unknown terrains. As a result, any electronic elements added to future versions for data collection or transmission purposes could have their own smaller, lighter power source. Using natural energy also counters the issue of performance degradation over time in traditional power sources, such as solar cells and radioisotope thermoelectric generators.

Designed by Dr. Saurabh Upadhyay and Sam Kurian, Research Associate in Space Engineering, the robot uses parts that are entirely 3D printed, with the design deliberately simple to allow for quick repair and replacement. This means that, in theory, you could print and construct WANDER-bot anywhere and make replacement parts in situ as needed, removing the need for time-consuming and costly resupply missions.

A Minority of Desert Cyanobacteria and Algae Is Responsible for the Bulk of CO2 Fixation

Cyanobacteria and algae are the major photosynthetic organisms in deserts because they survive desiccation, high solar radiation and extreme temperature fluctuations better than other plants. Under favourable conditions, desert cyanobacteria and algae evidently photosynthesise. However, our understanding of whether each group modulates this metabolic process in response to preceding harsh conditions remains limited. To find out the effect of aridity on the photosynthetic activity of desert cyanobacteria and algae, we compared their cellular biovolume-specific carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation in the hyper-arid and arid regions of a typical hot desert—the central Negev Desert. We found that the biovolume-specific CO2 fixation of both cyanobacteria and algae was highly variable rather than being constant.

Super El Nino? Super Warming is the Main Issue

El Nino strength is important, but the extraordinary, accelerating, warming of global sea surface temperatures is much more important.

See Super El Nino? – https://mailchi.mp/caa/super-el-nino-super-warming-is-the-main-issue

Also available on Substack: https://jimehansen.substack.com/p/super-el-nino-super-warming-is-the

Abstract. Models are converging on prediction of an El Nino beginning this year, peaking in early 2027. After overlooking the possibility of an El Nino this year, some reporting is jumping on a “Super El Nino” bandwagon. El Nino strength and frequency are important, especially the issue of whether these are modified by global warming. However, the more important knowledge that needs to be extracted from near-term global warming concerns interpretation of ongoing, extraordinary, acceleration of ocean surface warming. Impacts of this ocean warming include a factor of two greater warming over land, increased extreme precipitation, and poleward movement of subtropical conditions.

The fundamental advance in the past five years in understanding of global climate change is realization that equilibrium climate sensitivity is substantially larger than the long-standing best estimate of 3°C for doubled CO2. The underestimate was due to an implicit assumption that aerosol climate forcing changed negligibly during the period of rapid linear warming that began about 1970 and on heavy dependence of climate sensitivity assessments on observed warming of the past century. Multiple data sources now indicate that climate sensitivity is 4–5°C, which is consistent with aerosol-cloud modeling that reveals increasing aerosol cooling during the 1970–2005 period of rapid linear warming because of increased global spread of the aerosol sources. This explains why underlying climate sensitivity must be larger to account for the observed temperature rise.

Using moon dirt with 3D printing to build future lunar colonies

Simulated lunar dirt can be turned into extremely durable structures, potentially paving the way to more sustainable and cost-effective space missions, a new study suggests. Using a special laser 3D printing method, researchers melted fake lunar soil—a synthetic version of the fine dusty material on the moon surface, called regolith simulant—into layers and fused it with a base surface to manufacture small, heat-resistant objects.

If utilized on the lunar surface, the material may help build sturdy, nontoxic habitats and tools for future astronauts, capabilities that would be vital to the NASA Artemis missions that aim to establish a long-term human presence on the moon by the end of the decade.

But to assess how well this new construction material may work in space, the team tested their fabrication process under a range of different environmental conditions, revealing that the overall quality of the material depends greatly on the surface onto which the soil is printed.

Space-grade perovskite solar cells can survive extreme temperature fluctuations

The Aydin Group at LMU Munich has unveiled a novel strategy for making perovskite solar cells more robust against extreme temperature fluctuations. To this end, the researchers led by Dr. Erkan Aydin, group leader at LMU’s Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, combined two molecular approaches. Their goal was to stabilize both the grain structure within the perovskite material and the interfaces of the solar cells, with a particular focus on enhancing the interaction between the perovskite layer and the underlying substrate. This enables the solar cells to maintain stable performance under the extreme thermal cycling typical of Low Earth orbit (LEO), as well as in other harsh environmental conditions. Their results have been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Regarding the background: Perovskite solar cells are considered one of the most promising next-generation photovoltaic technologies. They are relatively inexpensive to manufacture and achieve high efficiencies.

However, their mechanical stability is an issue. In particular, when confronted with strong temperature fluctuations in LEO—for example, in the range between −80 and +80 degrees Celsius—materials inside the solar cell can expand and contract to varying extents. This creates mechanical stresses, which lead to cracks, delamination, or drops in performance.

Clearest evidence yet that giant planets spin faster than their cosmic lookalikes

For decades, astronomers have struggled to differentiate giant planets from brown dwarfs, a class of objects more massive than planets but too small to ignite nuclear fusion like true stars. Through a telescope, these cosmic lookalikes can have overlapping brightness, temperatures, and even atmospheric fingerprints. The striking similarity leaves astronomers unsure if they have observed an oversized planet or an undersized star. Now, a Northwestern University-led team has uncovered a crucial clue that separates the two: how fast they spin.

In a new study, astrophysicists found the clearest evidence yet that giant planets spin significantly faster than their brown dwarf counterparts. The new results suggest rotation measurements may provide a powerful new diagnostic for classifying these indistinguishable populations and suggest that these two objects evolve differently, perhaps even forming through distinct processes.

The study was published in The Astronomical Journal. It marks the largest survey of spin measurements of directly imaged extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs to date.

The Effect of Exogenous Acid Identity on Iron Tetraphenylporphyrin-Catalyzed CO2 ReductionClick to copy article linkArticle link copied!

‘The Effect of Exogenous Acid Identity on Iron Tetraphenylporphyrin-Catalyzed CO2 Reduction’ from Inorganic Chemistry is currently free to read as an ACSEditorsChoice.

📖 Read the article.

Iron tetraphenylporphyrin (FeTPP) is a privileged electrocatalyst for the 2e–/2H+ reduction of CO2 to CO. FeTPP-catalyzed CO2 reduction typically employs phenol as an exogenous acid to promote the rate-limiting proton-coupled electron transfer. Beyond the observation that catalytic rates increase with decreasing pKa, the effects of acid identity on reaction kinetics are largely unexplored. Herein, we report rates of FeTPP-catalyzed CO2 reduction with structurally diverse O–H, N–H, and C–H acids. While many of these acids follow the expected Brønsted relationship, there are several notable exceptions: the fluorinated alcohols hexafluoroisopropanol (log(kcat) = 4.54) and 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (log(kcat) = 3.55)─and the N–H acid imidazole (log(kcat) = 4.41)─display catalytic rates that are several times greater than rates obtained with similarly acidic phenols. Amides with pKas 19 (in dimethyl sulfoxide) display similar activity as comparably acidic O–H acids, while rates obtained with less acidic amides are ∼2 orders of magnitude slower than O–H donors of similar pKa. Each C–H acid affords poor activity. An Eyring analysis suggests that acids enforcing less ordered transition states afford superior kinetics. This study reveals that acid pKa is only one relevant parameter for altering catalytic rates, and judicious selection of the acid is crucial for enhancing catalytic rates.

Orbital Farms

As humanity expands into space, we’ll need new ways to grow food. Explore how orbital farms could sustain billions—on Earth, Mars, and beyond.

Checkout Scav: https://go.nebula.tv/scav?ref=isaacar… Watch my exclusive video Autonomous Space Industry: https://nebula.tv/videos/isaacarthur–… Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur Grab one of our new SFIA mugs and make your morning coffee a little more futuristic — available now on our Fourthwall store! https://isaac-arthur-shop.fourthwall… Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net Join Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a… Facebook Group: / 1,583,992,725,237,264 Reddit: / isaacarthur Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content. SFIA Discord Server: / discord Credits: Orbital Farms — Extended Edition Episode 471a; November 1, 2024 Produced, Narrated & Written: Isaac Arthur Graphics: Jarred Eagley Jeremy Jozwik Katie Byrne Ken York YD Visual Udo Schroeter Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator.
Watch my exclusive video Autonomous Space Industry: https://nebula.tv/videos/isaacarthur–…
Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur.

Grab one of our new SFIA mugs and make your morning coffee a little more futuristic — available now on our Fourthwall store! https://isaac-arthur-shop.fourthwall…

Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net.
Join Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur.
Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur.
Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a…
Facebook Group: / 1583992725237264
Reddit: / isaacarthur.
Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content.
SFIA Discord Server: / discord.
Credits:
Orbital Farms — Extended Edition.
Episode 471a; November 1, 2024
Produced, Narrated & Written: Isaac Arthur.
Graphics:
Jarred Eagley.
Jeremy Jozwik.
Katie Byrne.
Ken York YD Visual.
Udo Schroeter.
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images.
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

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