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John Ward

The Sphinx in ancient Egypt was not only created by humans

by John Ward

written by John Ward

New York University has suggested that people worked on the creation of the legendary Egyptian sphinx only partially. Experts have modelled the processes that took place on the territory of the current Giza Plateau 4.5 millennia ago and concluded that nature itself, namely erosion, probably did a lot of work on one of the wonders of the world.

Laboratory studies have confirmed that the strange sphinx-like shape often occurs on rocks due to the destructive effects of fast water flows and winds. Such rocks, often found in deserts, are called yadrangas.

The researchers modelled the landscape of northeastern Egypt and accounted for the combination of soft clay rocks with hard sediments. The computer then calculated the effects of weathering and water erosion on these materials. The outcome coincided with the hypothesis mentioned above.

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Science

A great monarch could have died because of a tiny bacteria: scientists have examined the remains of Louis IX

by John Ward

written by John Ward

The University of Paris-Saclay has taken an interest in the cause of death of a medieval monarch. French King Louis the Saint died unexpectedly, in the midst of the eighth Crusader campaign in 1270.

Ludovic’s remains have been preserved to this day. Researchers used radiocarbon dating, electron and optical microscopy, elemental, molecular and other analyses, using a 4.3-gram sample of tissue.

Elemental and palynological analyses confirmed that the king’s body had been embalmed. At the time of his death, the monarch did not suffer from infectious diseases: the sample showed no signs of plague, amoebiasis, shigellosis, typhoid fever.

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Science

Scientists have given humanity 6 years to save the planet

by John Ward

written by John Ward

According to calculations by British scientists, if humanity does not make maximum efforts to curb greenhouse emissions over the next 6 years, the global temperature will inevitably increase by one and a half degrees, and this will be the point of no return.

Imperial College (London) emphasised that the remaining carbon budget of the Earth is about 250 GtCO2. If this bar is exceeded, the global temperature will be 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than in the pre-industrial period.

If current emission rates continue, the critical mark will be exceeded by the beginning of 2029. Today, annual emissions reach about 40 Gt.

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Science

Scientists have identified an unexpected cause of dinosaur extinction

by John Ward

written by John Ward

About 66 million years before us, a huge asteroid crashed into the planet. But by what mechanisms events developed further, it is not clear exactly.

Researchers resorted to a computer model based on information about the state of the climate at that time, the nature of sediments and the factor of the dust blown into the atmosphere after the impact.

The results showed that silicate dust particles remained suspended in the air for at least 15 years, preventing the sun’s rays from reaching the Earth’s surface. Because of this, photosynthesis soon stopped, and it got sharply colder. This was enough to disrupt food chains and started a chain reaction of death of entire species.

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Technologies

Saudi Arabia will have a stadium on a giant cliff face

by John Ward

written by John Ward

Populous has announced the creation of an unusual stadium as part of the construction of the giant ultra-modern Kiddiyah complex in Saudi Arabia. The stadium will be located on a 200 metre high cliff above the main part of the complex. It will be able to accommodate 45,000 visitors.

The structure is designed as a universal platform for various public events – sporting, cultural, social and even shows. The main feature of the stadium is the empty space above the cliff itself, which creates a magnificent view of Kiddia. However, this space can be blocked off with a giant retractable LED wall, which will become a screen to show the necessary content. The rest of the walls will also be equipped with the same LED panels, allowing for spectacular events to take place inside.

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Technologies

Velozzi’s upcoming hypercar will have a body made of spider silk

by John Ward

written by John Ward

Renowned for its strength and durability, spider silk – but this time in a synthetic version based on alfalfa – has found another revolutionary application. It has been incorporated into the body of the Velozzi hypercar created by Robert Velozzi, renowned inventor, designer and head of Spidey Tek, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Lotus.

As part of this project, scientists identified proteins produced by spiders to spin six types of web. They then created synthetic genes that produce large quantities of these proteins and introduced them into genetically modified alfalfa. Spidey Tek already makes products based on spider silk – adhesives and medical devices. Spider silk has been blended with carbon fibre to create the body and monocoque chassis of the hypercar.

The hypercar will be really outstanding – a two-seater, two-door with a Formula 1 V-12 engine with an output of 1000 hp in conjunction with a six-speed manual gearbox. Its speed maximum is 370 km/h, and it will accelerate to 100 km/h in 2.7 seconds.

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Technologies

Dogen City’s ambitious floating city will accommodate 40000 people

by John Ward

written by John Ward

Japanese company N-Ark has unveiled plans for Dogen City, a unique city that aims to save humanity from rising global sea levels. Because it is a floating city that is not tied to a specific place on the planet. At the same time, it is 100% self-sufficient, although from the published information it is not clear where energy, food, water and other resources come from.

Dogen City is designed for permanent residence of 10 thousand residents and another 30 thousand will be able to visit it as tourists. The city is designed in the form of a lagoon inside a rounded hull-barrier 4 kilometres long, which protects it from bad weather, icebergs and even tsunamis. The outer ring consists of multi-storey modules where people live and life support systems are located. In the middle is an underwater data centre, which is cooled by ocean currents.

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Technologies

The US has come up with a technology to create super-strong paper bags

by John Ward

written by John Ward

The catastrophic damage to nature from rubbish every day brings us closer to the hour of reckoning for carelessness. The most common type of rubbish has long been plastic food packaging. Environmentalists and scientists are sounding the alarm and talking about the need to replace cheap and accessible plastic. A solution to the problem has been found by specialists from the University of Pennsylvania in the form of bags made of modified paper.

Ordinary paper is still used to make eco-packages today. But such packaging is not very strong, which makes it impossible to reuse. The durability of paper bags decreases even more when they get wet. The alternative developed by American scientists allows us to get away from all these disadvantages: the new bags, although being paper, are resistant to moisture, have a strength comparable to plastic, and meet the requirements of environmental friendliness, allowing multiple use.

The key to these properties is the torrefaction process. This involves slowly heating the paper in an oxygen-deficient environment to significantly increase its wet tensile strength. After 40 minutes of firing at a temperature of 200 degrees Celsius, scientists recorded a 1.533 per cent increase in tensile strength.

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Technologies

Climfeet double-sided insoles keep your feet warm or cool according to the weather

by John Ward

written by John Ward

Unlike electrically heated insoles powered by batteries, their “relatives” Climfeet insoles manufactured by Solecooler (France) – receive energy directly from the feet of the wearer. The principle of their work is based on the use of mechanical energy generated by walking.

There are heating/cooling elements on both sides of the insoles and the user places the insole on the correct side depending on the weather.

How it works: when the user steps on the insole, the bubble capsules on the “cool” side compress and push air into the cells on the “warm” side, creating a 4 °C heating effect.

When the foot is lifted off the surface, the air returns back to the cells on the “cool” side, where it cools by 3.5 °C. As the user only feels the temperature of the upper part of the insole, they can adjust it to the weather.

The Climfeet structure is a combination of copper and silicone that provides flexibility and effective thermoregulation. The air cells provide cushioning and walking comfort in addition to their primary function.

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Nature

Turns out rainforests are not record-breaking carbon sinks

by John Ward

written by John Ward

Specialists from the University of Paris-Saclay in a publication in Nature Geoscience reported that during the 2010s, temperate and boreal forests located in the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth, linked more carbon contained in the atmosphere than the humid tropical forests, which were previously considered leaders in this indicator. It is noted that the shift in the carbon balance in the tropics towards emissions was due to the impact of logging combined with unsustainable land use.
According to the researchers, the dynamic global land cover models used in predicting climate change significantly overestimate the ability of tropical forests to absorb carbon.

The researchers used L-VOD satellite data to estimate the carbon balance of temperate and boreal forests. This information had previously been impossible to obtain because of radio interference that distorted the signal around cities, but the scientists were able to solve the problem by using a new filtering method they had developed.

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