Man-made Leaves: Artifical Leaves that Convert CO2 into Fuel

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have recently created a way to convert carbon dioxide into fuel by mimicking plants. This can decrease the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere whilst also producing clean energy.

According to assistant professor Amin Salehi-Khojin, the artificial leaf recycles the carbon dioxide to produce fuel. Another aspect that they used from plants is that the leaves are solar powered, which makes these leaves almost the same as real leaves. The only major difference between these artificial leaves and real leaves besides one being man-made and the other being organic is the fuel that is produced. Real leaves convert CO2 into sugar whilst the artificial leaves convert the CO2 into hydrocarbons like gasoline.

These leaves could propel solar energy years ahead of what it currently is. It does not produce any harmful waste product while also eliminating CO2 from the atmosphere. This could potentially be scaled further to the size of solar farms to eliminate large quantities of carbon dioxide. Salehi-Khojin believes that this could potentially be possible within 5 years.

Nikola Motors Reveals a Truck with a Hydrogen Fuel Cell with a Range of 1200 Miles

The Nikola Motor Company (aka the Tesla of trucks) has revealed a new class 8 truck, named The Nikola One,  that is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. They announced that this fuel cell will have an operating range of 1,200 miles and will be released in 2020.
The Nikola One is designed to hull cargo over long distances and boasts over 1,000 horsepower and delivers nearly 2,000 foot-pounds of torque. The company claims that its battery will last around 1,200 miles on a single tank of fuel. The power of this truck would exceed current trucks on the market by nearly double if Nikola’s claims are true.

The fuel cell charges a high-density lithium battery. This makes the truck fully electric.  Unfortunately, there are not many hydrogen fueling stations around. However, this isn’t stopping the company from constructing fueling stations around the country like Tesla.

There is currently no announced price of the truck but it is expected to be very high with not only the fuel cell but the amenities included in the truck. Nikola CEO Trevor Milton announced that the truck will have a smart dashboard which will find the most cost-efficient route. 1-2 full size beds, a 40 inch 4k curved TV with Apple TV, Wi-Fi, and 4G LTE connectivity, along with a refrigerator, freezer, and microwave will be included. This sounds like the truck is not only a method of transportation for drivers but also a mobile hotel room.

The future for eco-vehicles seems bright with The Nikola One entering the market. Tesla also announced they would be making a truck. Toyota and Riversample also released hydrogen fuel cell cars. With the talks about Climate Change and being eco-friendly it would be amazing to have a vehicle known for long distance driving to be more green. I am interested to see if other car companies will pick up a hydrogen fuel cell as well in the future if this happens to take off.

http://arstechnica.co.uk/cars/2016/12/nikola-hydrogen-fuel-cell-truck/

Tinder for Sperm Donations: How The London Sperm Bank Can Change How Women Choose Donors

Women seeking sperm donations now have the ability to choose the perfect “dad”.

The London Sperm Bank just released an app which allows women to choose their donor based on ethnicity, occupation, personality, eye color, staff impressions, etc. All donor results still remain anonymous. The women are even given the option to create a wish list of desired traits. This allows women who know what they want to be notified if a surrogate father matches the traits that they want. The app even allows the user to order and pay for the donation from the app.

picture courtesy: CNN

Creating the perfect child. Picture Courtesy: CNN

The London Sperm Bank has over 25,000 vials of sperm available at any given time so women shouldn’t have a problem trying to find “the perfect match.” Each treatment is ~$1200 and costs the same as if you were to order through their catalog.

This app is interesting because it could change the way that people could make babies. Women can now choose only “desirable” traits for their children without any of the hassle involved. They can simply filter out traits that they do not want and create “the perfect baby”.

Picture Courtesy: play.google.com

App logo. Picture Courtesy play.google.com

The are some eugenics issues involved with picking out traits for your baby however. Creating a baby based upon traits you desire seems to be something straight out of the movie Gattaca. Furthermore, decreasing the genetic diversity pool may leave some unintended health side effects to the general populations. Another concern that critics have for this app is the objectification of men. The mens’ sperm is chosen solely by their appearance, occupation, etc.

Reproduction via a mobile app could be something that will shake up how babies are being born in the future. Swiping right for the perfect father could be something that we see in the future. Who knows, maybe we’ll see an entire generation of children who all look like Scarlet Johansson or Ryan Reynolds.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/28/technology/london-sperm-bank-donor-app/

Swipe right for a sperm donor