New Florence. New Renaissance.

A better baby formula?

One answer may lie in a chemically complex type of sugar called human milk oligosaccharides, which make up about a third of the compounds in breast milk. Scientists think the sugars might be responsible for many of the infant health benefits of breast milk: They nourish and support healthy gut bacteria, block infectious bacteria, and support developing immune systems, according to laboratory research and clinical studies. Around 150 HMOs have been identified since the 1950s, but it took until 2010 for the Danish company Glycom to figure out how to mass-produce two of them, known as 2’FL and LNnT.

WSJ

 

 

 

 

 

Ikea's design lab for a changing environment

In the past, Space10 has tackled problems such as creating sustainable and affordable homes in densely populated urban centers, prototyping a solar-powered neighborhood, and developing autonomous vehicles to serve as moving co-working spaces, cafés, grocery stores, and healthcare centers.

This is the first time that Space10 has come to India. The Delhi lab will be unlike previous pop-ups, partly because it will be open for significantly longer, allowing the local mix of artists, designers, and technologists to spend more time developing solutions to problems. Delhi is a fast-growing city that’s experiencing a web of issues, many of which are accelerated by the detrimental effects of climate change.

FastCompany

 

 

 

 

Japan's lithium ion submarines

Toryu, built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and launched on November 6th, is equipped with lithium ion batteries. Lithium ion batteries are lighter and have a higher energy density, meaning a pound of lithium ion batteries will store more electricity than a pound of lead acid. Lithium ion batteries also hold their charge longer and are faster to recharge. Toryu will be able to sit quietly on the bottom of the ocean, waiting in ambush for the enemy fleet, then sneak away on battery power after it unleashes a salvo of torpedoes.

Lithium ion batteries aren’t a risk-free technology. Lithium catches fire when exposed to water, a precarious situation for a submarine. In the event of a leak, the batteries must be shielded from water at all costs. Lithium fires are hot, burning at up to 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit, and release hydrogen gas

Popular Mechanics

IBM's High Res Weather Model

IBM, in collaboration with its subsidiary The Weather Company, has developed a new high-resolution weather model it claims will cover the entire world with a resolution and update frequency unseen in other weather models in use today.

The new IBM GRAF, short for Global High-Resolution Atmospheric Forecasting system, will utilize a finer grid—giving users a more detailed view of the atmosphere—and a faster update speed than other global models currently in operational use. IBM GRAF boasts a grid of just 3 km and updates on an hourly basis, which would allow forecasters to quickly predict the development of small-scale weather

Forbes

 

 

 

Google helps you pronounce complex words

Studies have shown that practicing how to say a word can be helpful for remembering it, especially when you’re learning a new language. Previously, when you searched for things like “how to pronounce quokka,” you could play audio and hear the word. With the new pronunciation feature, you’ll be able to also practice saying “quokka” into your phone’s microphone and receive feedback on what, if anything, can be adjusted in your pronunciation. This feature is rolling out to American English today, with Spanish soon to follow.

Google Blog

 

Cruise ships get greener

In the coming months, Carnival’s engineers will begin pulling 115,000-ton ships into dry dock and crawling beneath the hulls. There, they’ll weld nine mattress-size metal boxes to the outside of each hull in the shape of a “V” and install air compressors inside the vessels. The system, from Silverstream Technologies, will ­create a carpet of tiny air bubbles between the ships and the water. The expected benefit: less drag and 5% to 10% better fuel efficiency, achieving up to $1 million in annual savings per ship.

Fortune

 

 

 

Google's S. American undersea Cable

Curie, a 10,500-kilometer-long undersea cable, now connects Google data centers in the US and Chile. Today, Google announced that the fiber optic cable has been successfully installed and tested. It is expected to begin transmitting data in the second quarter of 2020, and Google is already working on a branch into Panama.

Curie (named after scientist Marie Curie) contains four 18 terabit per second (Tbps) fiber-optic pairs, which allow it to deliver 72 Tbps of bandwidth. As Google points out, 98 percent of its traffic travels through fiber optic cables, and in areas like Chile, Google cannot grow using existing cables, which are nearing end-of-life and don't have enough capacity. Submarine cable systems like Curie offer an alternative.

Engadget

 

 

 

 

GitHub's thousand year archive

GitHub, the software collaboration platform recently acquired by Microsoft, will store 6,000 software repositories in long-term storage.

The open-source software will be stored at Piql's data center in Svalbard, known as the Arctic World Archive. Instead of hard drives or tape, the company uses its own proprietary film which is designed to last for 1,000 years.

The selected collection includes the source code for the Linux and Android operating systems; the programming languages Python, Ruby, and Rust; web platforms Node, V8, React, and Angular; cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum; AI tools TensorFlow and FastAI; and more. GitHub will store all active public repositories as of February 2, 2020.

Data Center Dynamics

 

 

 

 

Precision Farming in Italy

A PANTHEON project robot moves through the orchard, stops and uses its camera to take images

Determining the individual needs of each plant would take humans too much time and effort, so that’s where robots could help. This prototype is being developed to move around a hazelnut orchard autonomously, taking measurements of the trees.

Renzo Fabrizio Carpio is a robotics engineer at Roma Tre University:

“We collect data with a laser scanner for 3D geometric reconstruction, and we use cameras to take multi-spectral and high-resolution images to assess the physical or health status of each tree.”

Euronews

Enchanting Libraries

It has been said that reading books is surreal: You stare at marked slices of tree for hours on end, hallucinating vividly. Book lovers, therefore, are a strange bunch. They spend hours by themselves, escaping this world and immersing themselves in another. The variety of their worlds is as limitless as human knowledge. It’s a wonder that any one thing would bring these solitary souls together—until you consider the library.

National Geographic

It has a slideshow of spectacular libraries including this in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil