Optimistic Observer 09/05/24
By Capital Investment Counsel - September 1, 2025
First-ever cave and new mineral discovered on the moon
Italian scientists have, for the first time, discovered a cave on the moon. It's at least 100 metres deep and could be an ideal place for a permanent base. Meanwhile, Chinese scientists have discovered an unidentified mineral crystal called ULM-1 in Chang'e-5 lunar samples, marking the first time that molecular water has been found in lunar soil. Read more here and here.
Bionic limbs reach full usability for below-the-knee amputations
A team at MIT has enabled people to walk with bionic legs (mechanical prostheses that mimic biological counterparts) that can be fully controlled by their brains. Seven people with below-the-knee amputations can now walk normally with the help of surgery and robotic prostheses, with nerve signals traveling from the brain to the muscles and back, giving them full control of their new legs. Read more here.
The US installed more solar in Q1 2024 than it did in all of 2018
The U.S. solar industry had a record-setting Q1 2024, adding 11.8 GW of new solar panel manufacturing capacity, which accounted for 75% of all new electricity-generating capacity in the country. This increase brought the total installed solar capacity to 200 GW (one gigawatt is enough energy to power about 750,000 homes, so 200 GW could power 150 million homes!). Total U.S. solar capacity is projected to double by 2029. Read more here.
"We can make things visible that no one has seen before."
German physicists have developed a method that enables them to record the movement of electrons at extremely high spatial and temporal resolution for the first time. 'We can make things visible that no one has seen before. This makes it possible to settle questions about the movement of electrons in solids that have been unanswered since the 1980s.' Read more here.
Dark oxygen at the abyssal seafloor redefines scientific understanding.
Four kilometers below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, scientists have discovered oxygen being produced not by living organisms but by strange metallic lumps that give off almost as much electricity as AA batteries. 'I just ignored it, because I’d been taught – you only get oxygen through photosynthesis.' Read more here.
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