Lugh3h ago

Mechanical drills can't reach the deepest, hottest rocks for geothermal energy. Quaise Energy in Oregon says its non-contact drill that vaporizes rock can, potentially boosting energy efficiency 5-10X

https://futurology.today/post/9748218

Mechanical drills can't reach the deepest, hottest rocks for geothermal energy. Quaise Energy in Oregon says its non-contact drill that vaporizes rock can, potentially boosting energy efficiency 5-10X - Futurology Today

“Quaise uses a gyrotron, originally developed for fusion research at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, to produce millimeter-wave energy that ablates rock by vaporizing it with no mechanical contact. Last year, they drilled through 100+ meters of granite in Central Texas in the first field demonstration of the technology. This year, they’re targeting a kilometer, then eventually, 10-12 miles. At full depth, a single superhot well would produce 5-10x more power than a conventional geothermal well.” [https://www.notboring.co/p/weekly-dose-of-optimism-189] So far, geothermal energy’s potential has been limited by location. A small number of places on the planet, like Iceland, are naturally very well suited to it. Quaise aren’t the only people trying to reexamine geothermal by focusing on its fundamental constraints. In Texas, Fervo is exploring the use of existing oil drilling technology [https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/fervo-highlights-stable-operations-of-project-red-geothermal-project-after-600-days/] so that geothermal plants can be placed anywhere, not just “ideal” geological locations. Now Quaise is doing the same, but with a different approach. Fervo is drilling 2-5km deep. Quaise wants to tap 300–500°C rocks 15-20km down. Geothermal energy could be the key to 100% renewable grids. Even when solar & wind are overbuilt, the grid would still be vulnerable in winter, where weeks go by with low wind. In those circumstances, geothermal energy could be the ideal base load. So far, the constraints Quaise & Fervo are trying to fix have limited this. Quaise looks to advance ‘superhot’ geothermal power plant in Oregon [https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/geothermal/quaise-superhot-geothermal-power-plant-oregon]

RewindAgain4h ago

Living neurons in mouse brain tissue responded to signals from a printed electronic device exactly as they would to a biological neighbor, in a breakthrough from Northwestern University engineers.

https://futurology.today/post/9747206

Living neurons in mouse brain tissue responded to signals from a printed electronic device exactly as they would to a biological neighbor, in a breakthrough from Northwestern University engineers. - Futurology Today

Lemmy

Lugh23h ago

Another sign of the coming extinction of gasoline cars. A Chinese firm launches solid-state EV batteries with twice the energy density of existing lithium battery tech.

https://futurology.today/post/9733119

Another sign of the coming extinction of gasoline cars. A Chinese firm launches solid-state EV batteries with twice the energy density of existing lithium battery tech. - Futurology Today

Solid-state batteries might not be cheaper at first. But once economies of scale from mass production efficiencies kick in, they will be. One thing that goes under-appreciated about EVs is that even though they are winning today against gas-cars on reliability and cheapness, they still have years of improvements and cost reductions ahead. By the 2030s, they will be vastly cheaper & better than fossil fuel cars. China is already making decent cars in the $10-15k price range; this battery tech will make that even easier. It’s also making these cars with good Level 3 self-driving tech. There is a vast unserved market in the Global South (& huge chunks of the Western world) for cars like this. The standard global car of the 2030s will be Chinese-made, an EV, self-driving & cost about $10,000. Anyone who still thinks gas cars have a future in this world is a dinosaur who can’t see that asteroid streaking through the sky & about to hit them. Solid-state EV batteries are coming sooner than expected after another breakthrough [https://electrek.co/2026/04/15/solid-state-ev-batteries-coming-sooner-than-expected/]

Futurologist1d ago

China shock 2.0: the flood of high-tech goods that will change the world.

https://futurology.today/post/9732768

China shock 2.0: the flood of high-tech goods that will change the world. - Futurology Today

Lemmy

turdas1d ago

Solid-state EV batteries are coming sooner than expected after another breakthrough

https://suppo.fi/post/11683338

Lugh2d ago

Just as world gasoline prices start to soar, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia now manufacture enough solar panels to cheaply power 20 million EVs, six times their annual new car sales.

https://futurology.today/post/9708953

Just as world gasoline prices start to soar, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia now manufacture enough solar panels to cheaply power 20 million EVs, six times their annual new car sales. - Futurology Today

These 4 countries now manufacture approximately. 40GW of solar panels per year. That’s enough to power around 20 million EVs (maths below). That’s far in excess of new car sales in those 4 countries, which come in at 3-4 million cars per year. The oil shock from the Middle East War has not hit the world economy yet. Pre-war deliveries & reserves are still keeping prices artificially low, but that won’t last much longer. $6/gallon oil is not far off. This is an acute economic crisis for SE Asia. There’s an alternative, and it won’t take long for more and more people to start joining the dots. If you make cheap power yourself for EVs - why stick with gas-cars? A prediction? By year’s end, new gas-car sales will be plummeting in country after country. China won’t be able to keep up with the export demand for new EVs. Southeast Asia’s Solar Panel Boom: It’s not just about China. The world is now benefiting from historically cheap solar panels made in Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia. [https://thediplomat.com/2026/04/southeast-asias-solar-panel-boom/] Maths - 40 GW × 20% capacity factor × 24 hours/day × 365 days/year = 70,080,000 MWh/year (70.08 TWh/year). Annual energy per EV: 12,000 miles × 0.3 kWh/mile = 3,600 kWh (3.6 MWh) per year. 70,080,000 MWh / 3.6 MWh per EV ≈ 19.4666666667 EVs

Lugh3d ago

Ukraine’s Robots Capture Russian Position Without Soldiers or Losses; As with drones, the future of 21st century warfare is being invented by frontline conflict.

https://futurology.today/post/9695180

Ukraine’s Robots Capture Russian Position Without Soldiers or Losses; As with drones, the future of 21st century warfare is being invented by frontline conflict. - Futurology Today

For all the boasts the US’s AI military vendors make, I’m constantly struck by how few real-world achievements they have. They are battlefield tested in Gaza and Lebanon, but to what result? The mass destruction of civilian populations we see there looks exactly like WW2-era warfare. Now they want $445bn extra [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/03/defense-spending-trump-budget-proposal] for more of the same? What a waste. Meanwhile, with a tiny fraction of the budget & resources, it’s Ukraine that is inventing the future. Drones have already reconfigured 21st-century warfare. Once again, recent events in the Middle East have shown that. Now Ukraine is doing the same with robots. Some people find the idea of killer robots grim. But I’d rather see robots fight robots than WW2-style mass slaughter of civilians. Ukrainian robots capture enemy position without troops in historic first, Zelenskyy says [https://www.euractiv.com/news/ukrainian-robots-capture-enemy-position-without-troops-in-historic-first-zelenskyy-says/]

Lugh4d ago

Mutually Automated Destruction: The Escalating Global A.I. Arms Race || China, the U.S., Russia & others have ramped up their contest over artificial-intelligence-backed weapons and military systems.

https://futurology.today/post/9681458

Mutually Automated Destruction: The Escalating Global A.I. Arms Race || China, the U.S., Russia & others have ramped up their contest over artificial-intelligence-backed weapons and military systems. - Futurology Today

Lemmy

RewindAgain4d ago

World’s first 100% battery-electric cruise ship unveiled with 1,856 passenger capacity.

https://futurology.today/post/9681397

World’s first 100% battery-electric cruise ship unveiled with 1,856 passenger capacity. - Futurology Today

Lemmy

Lugh4d ago

The US government has moved closer to establishing an autonomous, self-governing libertarian enclave for Big Tech within San Francisco.

https://futurology.today/post/9665695

The US government has moved closer to establishing an autonomous, self-governing libertarian enclave for Big Tech within San Francisco. - Futurology Today

Once a military base and these days a public park, Presidio is 1,500 acres of federal land within San Francisco’s city limits. Fans of the Freedom City concept have long eyed it as a location. In March 2023, President Trump made that a campaign promise. Today, he started to make good on that promise by firing all the board members of the trust that runs it. America already has something like freedom cities. Native American tribal nations are autonomous and self-governing to a degree. But Freedom Cities adherents want more autonomy than tribal nations. Tribal nations are subject to US federal laws on the environment, science, tech & medical regulation. It’s those in particular that Big Tech wants to be free of. Will libertarian Big Tech get its wish? They’ve already succeeded in Honduras [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pr%C3%B3spera]. The US Congress may not be so keen. Setting up a ‘state-within-a-state’ has many downsides and will likely have little public support. But the people who really want it have plenty of money & buyable politicians on their side, so who knows. Build the Presidio Freedom City [https://www.palladiummag.com/2025/01/17/build-the-presidio-freedom-city/] Trump fires entire San Francisco Presidio Trust board [https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/trump-fires-sf-presidio-board-of-trustees/4067611/]