Genetically-Modified Cyborg Dragonfly Drone
July 10th, 2017Via: Popular Mechanics:
DragonflEye was created by genetically modifying regular dragonflies with “steering neurons” in the insect’s spinal cord, which are light sensitive. Tiny, fiber-optic-like structures in the dragonfly’s eyes send pulses of light to their brains, functionally controlling where the insect flies via remote control. The dragonfly also carries a miniature “backpack” with sensors and a minuscule solar panel to power the data collection technology. In theory, the dragonfly will be able to be steered by the researchers and will collect data via its sensors from environments that aren’t safe for humans.
This technology is both amazing and terrifying—it’s not hard to imagine this kind of genetic modification used on higher-up species to creepy effect, and the idea of regular-looking insects acting as spies is a little nerve-wracking.
Cryptocurrency Miners Wipe Out Supplies of Graphics Cards in U.S. and Europe
July 10th, 2017I’m trying to understand the logic of people trying to mine Ether with GTX 1070s costing between $500 and $600 or more right now!? These cards launched with a retail price of $349 for the commodity models. (Fancy factory overclocked or water cooled models would cost more.) The situation is even worse on AMD RX series cards.
Many cryptocurrency users and miners read Cryptogon, so I’m asking you guys:
Is this calculator working properly?
Hash rate (MH/s): Stock GTX 1070 does 27
Power consumption (in Watts): Assume single GPU system total power of something like 200 watts under load
Cost per KW/h ($): 10 cents
At the time I hit calculate, the result was $50.95 profit per month at current price/difficulty. Let’s assume someone was doing this on an old PC and not buying a new CPU, power supply, drive, etc. for a mining rig. Assume someone bought the average GTX 1070 for $550. It would take about eleven months to pay off JUST the graphics card, assuming current price and difficulty. The numbers become worse if other hardware is purchased.
But if miners are assuming the price of Ether will rise, why not just buy Ether and wait? Why go through the hassle of mining it? Assuming it will rise while mining it seems super risky because the difficulty is always increasing no matter what happens AND the price could fall.
If you’re a miner, are you buying GTX 1070s at these prices?
Real motivation for this post: I’m hoping to buy a used GTX 1070 for my son’s 10th birthday in November. Will there be a flood of cheap GTX 1070s on eBay by then? That’s my main question.
Via: Tom’s Hardware:
Cryptocurrency mining has led to a shortage of graphics cards among many retailers in the U.S. Now, it seems the problem is starting to affect companies across the pond: MindFactory, a German retailer, has removed many AMD and Nvidia graphics cards from its virtual shelves. The company confirmed in an email to Tom’s Hardware that it had to stop selling the products because it can’t get its hands on more graphics cards.
That doesn’t come as much of a surprise. In the last few weeks, U.S. retailers have raised the prices of their Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics cards to around $500, which is how much the more powerful GTX 1080 usually costs. Graphics cards built around AMD’s GPUs have also seen price increases–assuming you can find any, because many sellers have been sold out since we started tracking this increasingly worrisome trend.
The problem lies with the growing popularity of Ethereum, a cryptocurrency whose price has risen to historic highs over the last few months. This has led many people to purchase graphics cards to mine Ether. It’s kind of like a gold rush: Everyone’s scrambling to get the tools they need to get rich quick (or at least attempt to do so), and that means you can’t find a shovel, pickax, or bucket that doesn’t cost far more than it usually would.
Just replace “shovel, pickax, or bucket” with “graphics card,” and you have the gist of what cryptocurrency mining has done to the market. Of course, this has also led companies to create new shovels… er, graphics cards made specifically for mining. These cards often have fewer display ports, smaller sizes, and cooling systems that are all designed to help miners build rigs capable of earning a mess of Ether before its price falls.
Houston Startup Plans to Store Wind Energy Underground
July 8th, 2017Via: Houston Chronicle:
Texans have long stored oil, natural gas and other forms of energy in underground salt caverns, so it’s only natural that a Houston startup wants to store wind energy there, too.
The method is in the company’s name, Apex-CAES, where CAES stands for compressed air energy storage. The company plans to use electricity at night, when it’s cheap, to compress air into an underground cavern. The company then releases the air through turbines to generate electricity when the price is right.
The only thing holding back this 30-year-old technology has been the economics. The difference between the high and low prices in a 24-hour period has not been large enough to generate a reasonable return on the capital investment.
Texas’ wholesale electricity market and huge nightly wind resource, though, make compressed air energy storage viable, said Jack Farley, CEO of Apex-CAES. Build enough compressed air energy storage, and Texas would never have to burn coal again, and consumers would enjoy even lower electricity prices, he told me.
“I think you could turn off all fossil-fuel generators in Texas when you wanted to,” he said.
Apex-CAES is raising $500 million to build its first facility near Palestine. Located near five existing natural gas storage caverns, the compressed air would spin turbines rated at 317 megawatts, capable of generating 15,000 megawatt-hours of electricity over two days without a recharge. The company, though, would never want to release all the air.
Tertill: Solar Powered Weeding Robot
July 8th, 2017Via: IEEE:
Tertill is a solar-powered, weed-destroying, fully autonomous and completely self-contained robot designed for your garden. Put it out there, forget about it (mostly), and it will brutally exterminate any weeds that it can find, as long as they’re short.
100 MW/129 MWh Powerpack System for South Australia
July 7th, 2017Via: Tesla:
This week, through a competitive bidding process, Tesla was selected to provide a 100 MW/129 MWh Powerpack system to be paired with global renewable energy provider Neoen’s Hornsdale Wind Farm near Jamestown, South Australia. Tesla was awarded the entire energy storage system component of the project.
Tesla Powerpack will charge using renewable energy from the Hornsdale Wind Farm and then deliver electricity during peak hours to help maintain the reliable operation of South Australia’s electrical infrastructure. The Tesla Powerpack system will further transform the state’s movement towards renewable energy and see an advancement of a resilient and modern grid.
Upon completion by December 2017, this system will be the largest lithium-ion battery storage project in the world and will provide enough power for more than 30,000 homes, approximately equal to the amount of homes that lost power during the blackout period.
Facebook’s Company Town
July 7th, 2017Via: Mercury News:
Aiming to address long-neglected community needs and to accommodate its burgeoning workforce, Facebook has proposed a vast expansion of its Menlo Park campus.
The new campus would include several office buildings, hundreds of homes, retail, a grocery store, and parks and plazas, all part of what the social network giant envisions as a new center for the neighborhood.
“This will be a village,” said Ryan Patterson, a real estate manager with Facebook. “The community benefits will be open and accessible to everyone.”
Menlo Park-based Facebook intends to develop 1.75 million square feet of offices, 1,500 units of housing, 125,000 square feet of retail space including a pharmacy, as well as a cultural and visitor center.
“Working with the community, our goal for the Willow Campus is to create an integrated, mixed-use village that will provide much needed services, housing, and transit solutions as well as office space,” said John Tenanes, Facebook’s vice president of global facilities and real estate.
Tony Seba: Clean Disruption – Energy & Transportation
July 7th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand.
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Via: Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES):
U.S. Military and Intelligence Agencies Involved in Over 1,800 Movies and TV Shows
July 5th, 2017A few of you might remember, The American Culture Bomb from just over a decade ago…
Via: Medium:
We have recently acquired 4,000 new pages of documents from the Pentagon and CIA through the Freedom of Information Act. For us, these documents were the final nail in the coffin.
These documents for the first time demonstrate that the US government has worked behind the scenes on over 800 major movies and more than 1,000 TV titles.
The previous best estimate, in a dry academic book way back in 2005, was that the Pentagon had worked on less than 600 films and an unspecified handful of television shows.
Vatican Police Raid Drug-Fuelled Gay Orgy at Cardinal’s Apartment
July 5th, 2017Via: New Zealand Herald:
Vatican police have raided a cardinal’s apartment where a drug-fuelled homosexual orgy was taking place.
Police entered an apartment at the former palace of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (or Holy Office) last month not far from the Vatican City.
The occupant of the apartment is alleged to be a priest who serves as a secretary to cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, the head of the Pontifical Council for Legislative texts and a personal adviser to the Pope.
Volvo: All Vehicle Models After 2019 Will Be Electric of Hybrids
July 5th, 2017Via: Reuters:
All Volvo car models launched after 2019 will be electric or hybrids, the Chinese-owned company said on Wednesday, making it the first major traditional automaker to set a date for phasing out vehicles powered solely by the internal combustion engine.
The Sweden-based company will continue to produce pure combustion-engine Volvos from models launched before that date, but its move signals the eventual end of nearly a century of Volvos powered solely that way.
While electric and hybrid vehicles are still only a small fraction of new cars sales, they are gaining ground at the premium end of the market, where Volvo operates and where Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors has been a pure-play battery carmaker from day one. As technology improves and prices fall, many in the industry expect mass-market adoption to follow.
“This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car,” Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson said.
