New video shows moment crane crashes onto cars during rush hour
A newly released video from April shows the moment a crane crashed onto cars during rush hour traffic in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, killing a construction worker and injuring three other people, one seriously.
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Scientists make game-changing breakthrough with lithium-ion batteries: 'We have discovered ... a key component'
A chemical compound of the same type as minerals found in alkaline rocks could be "key" to making solid-state batteries the dominant kind on the market, theoretically able to energize electric vehicles even in boiling temperatures — with high conductivity.
It's the result of analysis happening at the Tokyo University of Science regarding a pyrochlore-type oxyfluoride used in place of sulfides as the electrolyte conductor material.
The pyrochlore-type conductor solves a big problem suffered by other, commonly studied types. Importantly, the Tokyo formula doesn't create toxic hydrogen sulfide when exposed to air moisture, according to the abstract of the researchers' recent study published in the journal Chemistry of Materials and posted by ACS Publications.
Rooftop Solar Was Having a Moment in Texas Before Beryl. What Happens Now?
While much of the Houston area suffered through heat and electricity failures following Hurricane Beryl last week, Bill Swann never lost power.
He could depend on the 16 solar panels mounted in his backyard and a battery system to provide for the basic needs of his house in the suburban community of Hilshire Village.
Asked if his neighbors are envious, he said he doesn’t know. Most of them have left their homes until the utility, CenterPoint Energy, is able to restore electricity.
“I love to brag about the fact that I’m living off of solar,” he said.
Solar aficionados in the area may know Swann as someone who runs free workshops about rooftop solar. He is a retired mechanical engineer, and one of his hobbies is designing and building solar systems, including his own.
Scientists confirm first lunar cave that could help shelter astronauts from the moon’s extreme temperatures
Scientists have long theorized the existence of lunar caves — underground passageways formed through volcanic processes that are connected to the pits covering the moon’s surface. Now, a team of international researchers has found the first direct evidence that the moon’s deepest known pit connects to a cave that could provide shelter to astronauts.
Identifying areas on the moon that can shield humans and robotic explorers from the harsh lunar environment — including powerful radiation and extreme temperatures — could be crucial for future space exploration as countries such as the United States and China race to establish a long-term human presence on Earth’s closest natural satellite.
To find the cave, the team studied archival radar measurements of a pit found within a vast plain called Mare Tranquillitatis, or the Sea of Tranquility, which was the landing site for the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.
US rock band manager Travis Leake sentenced to 13 years in Russian penal colony, following drug charges
American citizen Travis Leake has been sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony in Russia, state media RIA Novosti reported Thursday, after he was detained on drug charges last year.
A Moscow court had accused the “former paratrooper and musician” of engaging in a narcotics business, according to RIA. Leake pleaded not guilty to the charges, Russian state media TASS said.
“I don’t understand why I’m here. I don’t admit guilt, I don’t believe I could have done what I’m accused of because I don’t know what I’m accused of,” Leake reportedly said in his statement to police when he was arrested in June 2023, per tabloid outlet Ren TV.
His sentencing comes as diplomatic relations between Washington and Moscow are at a historic low, with Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine raging on. Leake is one of at least a dozen US citizens and dual nationals currently being detained in Russia, including Evan Gershkovich, the first American journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in the country since the Cold War.
Anger grows as some senior facilities left without power for days: ‘It’s horrible what the state of Texas is doing’
As Tina Kitzmiller sat inside her sweltering apartment, windows and doors open in the hope of catching even the slightest breeze, she was frustrated and worried for her dog and her neighbors.
It had been days since Hurricane Beryl blew ashore from the Gulf of Mexico on July 8, causing widespread destruction and knocking out power to more than 2 million people, including the Houston senior independent living facility where Kitzmiller lives. Outdoor temperatures had reached at least 90 degrees most days, and the heat inside the building was stifling.
Kitzmiller moved there not long ago with Kai, her 12-year-old dog, shortly after riding out 90-plus-mph winds from a May derecho under a comforter on the floor of the 33-foot RV she called home. She didn’t need medical care, as a nursing home would offer, and thought she and Kai could be safer at an independent senior facility than in the RV. She assumed her new home would have an emergency power system in place at least equivalent to that of the post offices she’d worked in for 35 years.
NASA ships critical rocket stage to Florida for Artemis II mission to moon
NASA on Tuesday rolled out from Louisiana a crucial rocket stage on the way to Florida as part of NASA's Artemis II mission to send humans on the moon again.
The 212-foot long Space Launch System rocket's core stage was released from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans in order to travel by barge about 900 miles to Florida's Kennedy Space Center, where NASA recently announced plans to name a building after legendary human computer Dorothy Vaughan and other women involved in the historical Apollo space program ahead of the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Its delivery for the Artemis II mission now "signals a shift from manufacturing to launch readiness as teams continue to make progress on hardware for all major elements for future SLS rockets," John Honeycutt, SLS program manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., said Tuesday in a news release.
SpaceX rivals are trying to capitalize on Elon Musk's move to Texas by poaching his employees
Elon Musk says he plans to move SpaceX to Texas, and some of the company's competitors are trying to capitalize by poaching his employees.
At least two space firms have launched public appeals for SpaceX employees to join them after Musk announced SpaceX would move its HQ from California, with one CEO promising engineers 12 bottles of champagne if they make the move.
Stanislas Maximin, the CEO of rocket startup and SpaceX rival Latitude, responded to Musk's post announcing SpaceX's move to Texas with an appeal for disaffected SpaceX employees to move to France, where the company is based.