Technology

Acceleron Fusion has raised $15M to take another stab at cold fusion, filing reveals

Published

4 hours ago

October 1, 2024

Acceleron Fusion has raised $15M to take another stab at cold fusion, filing reveals

Fusion startups have been on a fundraising tear lately, and a young startup, Acceleron Fusion, is joining the pack, having raised $15 million of a targeted $23.7 million round, according to an SEC filing.

The fusion sector recently has been showered with interest from investors, who no doubt have been encouraged by the breakthrough experiment at the National Ignition Facility two years ago, which proved that a controlled fusion reaction could generate more power than was required to kick it off.

The first company to build a power plant that can produce electricity that can be sold to the grid en masse could start chipping away at the multi-trillion-dollar global energy market. Tech firms, in particular, have been eyeing fusion and nuclear startups as possible pollution-free solutions to their AI-induced power demands.

Acceleron did not immediately reply to questions.

Where most startups aim to re-create the superheated, super-pressurized conditions inside of a star, Acceleron takes a different approach, using subatomic particles known as muons to lower the heat and pressure required for fusion reactions to take place.

In nature, atoms tend to resist fusing, mostly because an atom’s orbiting electrons repel other atoms. To get around that, most approaches to fusion follow nature’s approach: they get atoms hot enough and close enough that their electrons are freed from their orbits, lowering the usual atomic inhibitions. As atomic nuclei zip around without their electrons, some ram into each other, fusing into a new nucleus and releasing enormous amounts of energy. That’s what happens inside a star.

Muon-catalyzed fusion takes a different tack. Instead of heating and compressing hydrogen isotopes, it injects muons into the mix. Muons are subatomic particles that resemble electrons — both have a negative charge — but their mass is 207 times greater. As muons bombard hydrogen isotopes, they replace electrons in some atoms. A muon orbits the nucleus of an atom much more closely than an electron, lowering the barrier atoms need to fuse.

In muon-catalyzed fusion, the barrier is low enough that fusion can occur at room temperature and pressure. That’s why it’s sometimes called cold fusion. While muon-catalyzed has been demonstrated in laboratory conditions, the energy required to generate muons has so far outstripped the amount of energy produced by any fusion reactions.

There are a few reasons why muon-catalyzed fusion hasn’t worked yet. For one, each muon only lasts for about 2.2 microseconds before it decays into less useful subatomic particles. That’s long enough to facilitate about 100 fusion reactions, but still too short for commercial power purposes. The other problem is that about 0.8% of the time, a muon gets stuck to another subatomic particle (an alpha particle) and doesn’t participate in any more fusion reactions. That may not seem like much, but again, it has been high enough to doom commercial plans.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Acceleron, which spun out of NK Labs, is hoping that by raising the pressure of the hydrogen isotope mix, and maybe the temperature, it’ll be able to reduce the rate at which muons stick to alpha particles. The hope is to keep enough muons in the mix to catalyze more fusion reactions, ideally enough more that they’ll offset the amount of power required to generate the muons.

NK Labs was awarded a three-year, $2 million ARPA-E grant in 2020 to explore whether higher pressure would improve the prospects of muon-catalyzed fusion. The results, not all of which are public at this time, appear to have piqued investors’ interests.

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Technology

NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Wednesday, October 2 (game #213)

Published

9 mins ago

October 2, 2024

NewsAdmin

NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background

Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.

Your Strands expert

Marc McLaren

NYT Strands today (game #213) – hint #1 – today’s theme

What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?

• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Fresh out of the oven

NYT Strands today (game #213) – hint #2 – clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

TRAIT
STONE
SOAR
TRUMP
DINE
LINE

NYT Strands today (game #213) – hint #3 – spangram

What is a hint for today’s spangram?

• Dough but not nuts

NYT Strands today (game #213) – hint #4 – spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?

First: top, 3rd column

Last: bottom, 4th column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #213) – the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 213 on a blue background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today’s Strands, game #213, are…

SCONE
DANISH
CROISSANT
MUFFIN
STRUDEL
GALETTE
SPANGRAM: PASTRIES

My rating: Moderate
My score: Perfect

Hello, Mr/Mrs/Ms NYT, I have a question for you: in what way is a MUFFIN a PASTRY? Or a SCONE? STRUDEL, yes. CROISSANT, definitely. DANISH, sure. GALETTE… well, we’ll get to that. But not MUFFIN or SCONE, which are both quick breads or potentially cakes. Maybe I’m missing some crucial detail here – I’m not a chef – but I just don’t get why they were included.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult for me to find them anyway, because I’m well aware that sometimes the NYT makes odd decisions with categorization, so I always watch out for curveballs. That didn’t help me with GALETTE, though, chiefly because I’ve never heard that word before. Still, they look lovely, so I shall be trying one next time I see one.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Tuesday 1 October, game #212)

PARAMOUNT
DISCOVERY
HISTORY
HALLMARK
LIFETIME
SPANGRAM: NETWORK

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT’s new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It’s now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT’s games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I’ve got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you’re struggling to beat it each day.

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Servers computers

Dell Blade Server Cost (PowerEdge M420, M520, M620, M820, M910, M915)

Published

25 mins ago

October 2, 2024

NewsAdmin

Dell Blade Server Cost (PowerEdge M420, M520, M620, M820, M910, M915)

http://bit.ly/newDellCoupon
Find the latest Dell PowerEdge M420, M520, M620, M820, M910, M915 Blade server cost and discount coupon code .

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Technology

Watch how astronauts drink coffee in space

Published

30 mins ago

October 2, 2024

NewsAdmin

Watch how astronauts drink coffee in space

How Do Astronauts Drink Coffee in Space?

Like many folks, astronauts enjoy a cup of joe from time to time, but the lack of gravity means that preparing and drinking it is a little different to how you do it back on terra firma.

With that in mind, NASA has just released a short video (above) revealing how astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) get their daily coffee fix.

To get the water for their brew, the astronauts use a specially designed water dispensing unit that takes recycled liquids and moisture drawn from the air. Once the water has been heated, the astronaut grabs a plastic pouch filled with freeze-dried coffee grounds, connects it to the unit, and fills it with the hot water. After that, they can go off to enjoy their coffee, sipping it through a straw. Or from a cup … let us explain.

Zero Gravity coffee cup

Back in 2008, one astronaut, Don Pettit (who happens to be aboard the station right now, too), decided that he wanted to enjoy his coffee in the more traditional way, by drinking it from a mug. So he invented what eventually became known as the Zero Gravity coffee cup, and you can see it in the video. To make a prototype, Pettit tore a piece of plastic from his Flight Data File mission book to create a teardrop-shaped drinking vessel. The design relies on surface tension and the laws of physics to keep the liquid from floating away in the microgravity conditions.

Further development and refinement of the design led to the Zero Gravity coffee cup becoming the first patented product invented in space.

Now that you know how astronauts drink coffee in space, you may be wondering how they go to the bathroom — apparently this is the question that astronauts get asked most. Well, this video explains all.

For more insight into how astronauts live and work aboard the space station, take a look at this collection of videos made over the years by visitors to the orbital outpost.

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Technology

AT&T claims T-Mobile Priority is ‘false and confusing marketing’

Published

51 mins ago

October 2, 2024

NewsAdmin

AT&T has called out T-Mobile for its marketing campaign that promotes “T-Mobile Priority”. A direct competitor to AT&T’s FirstNet, T-Mobile Priority will cater to the public safety community.

AT&T claims T-Mobile Priority marketing campaign is misleading or confusing

Telecommunications and data networks for first responders and emergency workers operate on a different level. They are not clubbed with commercial cellular communication.

To offer immediate and quick access to the internet and communications during a crisis, AT&T offers its FirstNet network. Similarly, Verizon has its Frontline service.

T-Mobile recently announced T-Mobile Priority or T-Priority, which could be considered a competitor to AT&T’s FirstNet and Verizon’s Frontline. However, there’s a big difference in the technologies employed to offer internet and communications during a crisis.

The Mobile Report has access to an internal AT&T document, wherein the telecom company has criticized T-Mobile. AT&T has written to its employees claiming T-Mobile “falsely claims it is the world’s first network slice for First Responders”.

The document stresses how FirstNet is different and better than T-Priority. The internal memo even implies T-Mobile is testing unproven technology on the “wrong people”. The company has called T-Mobile “irresponsible” for doing so.

How is AT&T’s FirstNet different from T-Mobile Priority?

In the internal document, AT&T has stressed its FirstNet service offers “a dedicated communications platform for public safety”. The company has called T-Mobile Priority a “commercial offering”.

Technically speaking, AT&T’s FirstNet operates on a dedicated cellular frequency (band 14). Similarly, Verizon Frontline uses band 13. Needless to say, these frequency bands are reserved for first responders.

T-Mobile Priority will reportedly operate on T-Mobile’s existing 5G bands. However, the company plans to segment the traffic ensuring emergency workers have a reliable communication pathway.

Moreover, T-Mobile has indicated it will deploy 24/7 Emergency Management trucks. These vehicles could act as mobile communication towers to help fix problems affecting the network. They will also offer support during disasters, public safety incidents, and more.

Although T-Mobile’s solution could work, AT&T has slammed the company for testing its technology on a sector that has critical communications needs. AT&T has suggested T-Mobile should have first tested its network slicing on commercial customers or subscribers.

Incidentally, AT&T has admitted it plans to deploy 5G network slicing. However, the company pointed out it will use them for specific mission needs only.

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Servers computers

What's the difference between a server and a cloud hosting?

Published

56 mins ago

October 2, 2024

NewsAdmin

What's the difference between a server and a cloud hosting?

Want to learn more? Check out our free course on tech management for startups: link: https://myctofriend.co/htbasaccess

If you have a specific question for your project, just go ahead and ask on: https://myctofriend.co/ask
Get all the links mentioned and the print-ready notes here: https://myctofriend.co/videos/

Sacha and his cofounder already developed the first version of their product. They are now undertaking the Version 2 of their development and are considering moving to Amazon Web Services (AWS) as their cloud hosting solution.

Moving an application to the cloud is usually a very good option because you are not renting a server anymore but buying a delivered service instead.

Let’s see how cloud services work.

If you want to know more about us and our program, visit: https://myctofriend.co
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If you want to swing into action and build a startup without a CTO, then check out our FREE course: “How to build a Startup without a CTO” : https://myctofriend.co/htbasaccess .

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Technology

Google allegedly got the Juno YouTube app removed from the Vision Pro App Store

Published

1 hour ago

October 2, 2024

NewsAdmin

Google allegedly got the Juno YouTube app removed from the Vision Pro App Store

Juno, a widely praised (unofficial) YouTube app for Vision Pro, has been removed from Apple’s App Store after complaints from Google, according to from Juno’s developer Christian Selig. Google, Selig says, suggested that his app violates their trademark.

It’s the latest setback for Selig, who shut down his popular Apollo last year after the company changed its developer policies to charge for use of its API. The shutdown of Apollo and other apps like it ignited a from Reddit users and moderators.

This time, Selig says he doesn’t want drama, noting the $5 app was a “hobby project” for him to tinker with developing for visionOS. “I really enjoyed building Juno, but it was always something I saw as fundamentally a little app I built for fun,” Selig wrote on his website. “Because of that, I have zero desire to spin this into a massive fight akin to what happened with Reddit years ago.”

It’s unclear what aspect of Juno may have been the issue. Selig says that Google referenced its “trademarks and iconography” in a message to Apple, “stating that Juno does not adhere to YouTube guidelines and modifies the website” in a way that’s not permitted. “I don’t personally agree with this, as Juno is just a web view, and acts as little more than a browser extension that modifies CSS to make the website and video player look more ‘visionOS’ like,” Selig explains. “No logos are placed other than those already on the website, and the ‘for YouTube’ suffix is permitted in their branding guidelines.”

Google hasn’t made its own YouTube app for Vision Pro, though the company said such an app was “on our roadmap.” The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Selig says that people who have already paid for the app should be able to keep using it for the time being, though there’s a chance a future YouTube update could end up bricking it.

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