Lifeboat Foundation

Cobalt has been getting a lot of attention lately because it is one of the most expensive materials found in lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from laptops and cell phones to electric vehicles. Cobalt extraction is largely concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it is linked to human rights abuses and child labor, while cobalt refinement is almost exclusively done in China, making cobalt part of a tenuous supply chain. These are some of the reasons why battery manufacturers like Samsung and Panasonic and car makers like Tesla and VW, along with a number of startups are working to eliminate cobalt from lithium-ion batteries completely.

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Continue reading “How Removing Cobalt From Batteries Can Make EVs Cheaper” »

Many of the malware campaigns we have detected over the last year have been global at scale, targeting anyone with little regard to their location. Recently, we discovered and began monitoring the activity behind PhoneSpy, a spyware aimed at South Korean residents with Android devices. With more than a thousand South Korean victims, the malicious group behind this invasive campaign has had access to all the data, communications, and services on their devices.

Unlike other spyware campaigns we have covered that take advantage of vulnerabilities on the device, PhoneSpy hides in plain sight, disguising itself as a regular application with purposes ranging from learning Yoga to watching TV and videos, or browsing photos. But in reality, the application is stealing data, messages, images, and remote control of Android phones. The data stolen from victim devices ranged from personal photos to corporate communications. The victims were broadcasting their private information to the malicious actors with zero indication that something was amiss.

While the victims have been limited to South Korea, PhoneSpy is an example of how malicious applications can disguise their true intent. When installed on victims’ devices, they leave personal and corporate data at risk. With mobile devices playing critical roles in distributed and remote work, it is no surprise that spyware campaigns like PhoneSpy are on the rise.

The CEO of third-party charger and accessory company Anker has said that phone charging times will fall to as little as 20 minutes thanks to new-generation Gallium nitride (GaN) chargers, which are already being adopted by Apple. The time cited is for a full charge from empty to full.

Steven Yang said that Apple’s decision to exclude chargers from iPhone boxes has been extremely good news for companies like his …

Yang is interviewed by The Verge’s Nilay Patel. The interview focuses mostly on the company itself, but there are some Apple-related elements.

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a scalable, low-cost electrochemical pulse method to improve the contact between layers of materials in solid-state batteries, resolving one of the big challenges in the commercial development of safe, long-lived energy storage systems. The new technology could pave the way for electric vehicles and smartphones that work much longer with each charge.

One of the challenges in manufacturing solid-state batteries is the difficulty of getting materials to properly join and remain stable during repeated cycles of charging and discharging. This leads to instability in the joints and causes the formation of voids, something known as contact impedance. Applying high pressures is one way to solve this problem, but that process can lead to shorting and would need to be re-applied periodically to extend the battery’s life using an expensive aftermarket application.

ORNL scientists have found that they could eliminate these voids by applying a short, high-voltage electrochemical pulse when joining layers of lithium metal anode material with a solid electrolyte material. These pulses see a current surrounding the lithium metal-encased voids and cause them to dissipate, leading to increased contact at the interface of the materials while resulting in no detrimental effects.

Micro-electro-mechanical devices (MEMS) are based on the integration of mechanical and electrical components on a micrometer scale. We all use them continuously in our everyday life: For example, in our mobile phones there are at least a dozen MEMS that regulate different activities ranging from motion, position, and inclination monitoring of the phone; active filters for the different transmission bands, and the microphone itself.

Even more interesting is the extreme nanoscale miniaturization of these devices (NEMS), because it offers the possibility of creating inertial, mass and force sensors with such sensitivity that they can interact with single molecules.

However, the diffusion of NEMS sensors is still limited by the high manufacturing cost of traditional silicon-based technologies. Conversely, new technologies such as 3D printing have shown that similar structures can be created at low cost and with interesting intrinsic functionalities, but to date the performance as mass sensors are poor.

Circa 2020

The 7,700 square foot store offers baked goods sourced locally, fresh seasonal produce, meat, seafood and ready-made meals, as well as beer, wine and spirits.

There are no cashiers. To make purchases, shoppers need an Amazon account and the free Amazon Go app from the Apple App Store, Google Play or Amazon Appstore, which they can download onto a recent-generation iPhone or Android phone. They swipe a QR code from the app to enter the store.

Engineers have successfully transferred digitally encoded information wirelessly using nuclear radiation instead of conventional technology.

Radio waves and mobile phone signals relies on electromagnetic radiation for communication but in a new development, engineers from Lancaster University in the UK, working with the Jožef Stefan Institute in Slovenia, transferred digitally encoded information using “fast neutrons” instead.

The researchers measured the spontaneous emission of fast neutrons from californium-252, a radioactive isotope produced in nuclear reactors.

Cracked phone screens could become a thing of the past thanks to breakthrough research conducted at The University of Queensland.

The global team of researchers, led by UQ’s Dr Jingwei Hou, Professor Lianzhou Wang and Professor Vicki Chen, have unlocked the technology to produce next-generation composite glass for lighting LEDs and smartphone, television and computer screens.

The findings will enable the manufacture of glass screens that are not only unbreakable but also deliver crystal clear image quality.

By Jeremy Batterson 11-09-2021

The equivalent of cheap 100-inch binoculars will soon be possible. This memo is a quick update on seven rapidly converging technologies that augur well for astronomy enthusiasts of the near future. All these technologies already exist in either fully developed or nascent form, and all are being rapidly improved due to the gigantic global cell phone market and the retinal projection market that will soon replace it. Listed here are the multiple technologies, after which they are brought together into a single system.

1) Tracking.
2) Single-photon image sensing.
3) Large effective exit pupils via large sensors.
4) Long exposure non-photographic function.
5) Flat optics (metamaterials)
6) Off-axis function of flat optics.
7) Retinal projection.

Continue reading “SEVEN CONVERGING TECHNOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS WILL PERMANENTLY CHANGE CITIZEN ASTRONOMY” »