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Category: sustainability – Page 107

Much like the humans that created them, computers find physics hard, but quantum mechanics even harder. But a new technique created by three University of Chicago scientists allows computers to simulate certain challenging quantum mechanical effects in complex electronic materials with far less effort.

By making these simulations more accurate and efficient, the scientists hope the technique could help discover new molecules and materials, such as new types of solar cells or quantum computers.

“This advance holds immense potential for furthering our understanding of molecular phenomena, with significant implications for chemistry, , and related fields,” said scientist Daniel Gibney, a University of Chicago Ph.D. student in chemistry and first author on the paper, published Dec. 14 in Physical Review Letters.

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At its Quantum Summit 2023, IBM took the stage with an interesting spirit: one of almost awe at having things go their way. But the quantum of today – the one that’s changing IBM’s roadmap so deeply on the back of breakthroughs upon breakthroughs – was hard enough to consolidate. As IBM sees it, the future of quantum computing will hardly be more permissive, and further improvements to the cutting-edge devices it announced at the event, the 133-qubit Heron Quantum Processing Unit (QPU), which is the company’s first utility-scale quantum processor, and the self-contained Quantum System Two, a quantum-specific supercomputing architecture, are ultimately required.

But each breakthrough that afterward becomes obsolete is another accelerational bump against what we might call quantum’s “plateau of understanding.” We’ve already been through this plateau with semiconductors, so much so that our latest CPUs and GPUs are reaching practical, fundamental design limits where quantum effects start ruining our math. Conquering the plateau means that utility and understanding are now enough for research and development to be somewhat self-sustainable – at least for a Moore’s-law-esque while.

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Tesla has removed Disney+ from some of its vehicles amid Elon Musk having an online fight with Disney CEO Bob Iger. The fight started when Disney halted its advertising on X after Musk agreed with and amplified antisemitic content, for which he eventually apologized.

Every week, there’s a new drama with Elon Musk on X, formerly known as Twitter. It sometimes indirectly affects Tesla, but this time, it affects it directly.

The current drama stems from Musk giving support to an antisemitic post on X, which he didn’t initially apologize for, though admitted that it was a mistake a week later. He further apologized but was already attacking Disney. In the meantime, the result was a massive backlash, where many companies stopped advertising on X, including Apple and Disney.

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“Electric water heaters offer a cheap way to store large amounts of energy, in the form of hot water. A heater with a 300-litre tank can store about as much energy as a second-generation Tesla Powerwall – at a fraction of the cost.”

Australia’s energy transition is well under way. Some 3 million households have rooftop solar and sales of medium-sized electric cars are surging. But as we work towards fully electric households powered by renewable energy, have we overlooked a key enabling technology, the humble electric water heater?

About half of Australian households use electric water heaters, while the rest use gas. So what’s so great about electric water heaters?

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Juan Bernabé-Moreno is IBM’s director of research for Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Spanish computer scientist is also responsible for IBM’s climate and sustainability strategy, which is being developed by seven global laboratories using artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing. He believes quantum computing is better suited to understanding nature and matter than classical or traditional computers.

Question. Is artificial intelligence a threat to humanity?

Answer. Artificial intelligence can be used to cause harm, but it’s crucial to distinguish between intentional and malicious use of AI, and unintended behavior due to lack of data control or governance rigor.

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Less than a week after announcing a Power Day 2023 event to unveil new battery technologies, ZEEKR has officially introduced its own lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells developed in-house. While LFP batteries are generally categorized as less energy-dense, ZEEKR says its cells outperform many competitors.

While many companies have begun decelerating in 2023 as we enter the busy holiday season, ZEEKR has shown no signs of slowing down. In November, the Geely-owned automaker announced a new model called the 7, which made its public debut during the Guangzhou Auto Show. Since then, we’ve seen the company file for a US IPO and have confirmed plans for a new mass-market SUV to compete with the Tesla Model Y.

The ZEEKR 7 sedan will officially launch in China on December 27, followed by deliveries a few days later. Before then, however, ZEEKR promised a live event to debut new technology pertaining to EV batteries developed entirely in-house.

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Tesla has released a new comparison report claiming Powerwall with solar is cheaper than a traditional backup generator.

For years now, Tesla has enjoyed a giant backlog of Powerwall orders, but now that production has ramped up, the automaker has worked through most of that backlog, and it has to start generating more demand for the home energy storage product.

Tesla has now released a new report that compares Powerwalls as a backup system to backup generators.

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Fourth Power says its ultra-high temperature “sun in a box” energy storage tech is more than 10X cheaper than lithium-ion batteries, and vastly more powerful and efficient than any other thermal battery. It’s hoping to prove it with a 1-MWh prototype.

As a grid-level energy storage solution, Fourth aims to compete with big lithium battery arrays in the short-duration 5–10 hour range – basically storing excess solar energy during the heat of the day for use in the evening and at night when generation drops off. But the company says it’s also relevant up to the 100-hour stage, which would cover the “several days of bad weather and poor renewable generation” case.

This is one of a number of thermal energy storage companies coming up out of Massachusetts and backed by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund. You might remember Antora Energy from a few months ago, with its ultra-hot carbon block batteries and high-efficiency thermophotovoltaic energy converters, for example.

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The $25,000 Tesla Model 2 is a revolutionary and cost-effective option that aims to make sustainable mobility more accessible and change the EV landscape dramatically.

Questions to inspire discussion.

What is the price of the Tesla Model 2?
—The Tesla Model 2 is expected to be priced at $25,000, making it a more affordable option for consumers interested in electric vehicles.

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Follow me on X — https://twitter.com/TeslaBoomerMama Thank you so much for watching this video, I do hope you found it enjoyable. If you would like to follow me or my other content on other platforms, you can find me here: X — https://twitter.com/TeslaBoomerMama SubStack — https://alexandramerz.substack.com LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/merzalexandra/ Words that make this video searchable: Tesla, Tesla stock, TSLA, Elon Musk, Electric cars, Self-driving cars, Renewable energy, Innovation, Technology, Investing, Finance, Business, Market analysis, Stock market, Stock trading, Price prediction, Analyst recommendations, Short-term outlook, Long-term outlook, Risks, Opportunities, News, Events, Research, Charts, Data, ESG, Alexandra Merz, Tesla Boomer, Tesla Boomer Mama.

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