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Can Transient Plasma Ignition Save the Internal Combustion Engine?

What does the future of automobiles look like? The answer, it turns out, varies wildly from expert to expert. Some say that the cars of tomorrow will be fitted with hydrogen engines. Others say that the coming years will be characterized by the slow and steady transition from the internal combustion engine to the more traditional electrical vehicles being developed by Tesla and others. But whatever path we take as we transition from internal combustion engines, it needs to be a long one. If we try and transition too quickly, it could prove to be incredibly destructive (to put it very…

Artificial Intelligence That Understands Object Relationships – Enabling Machines To Learn More Like Humans Do

Lead Image: MIT researchers have developed a machine learning model that understands the underlying relationships between objects in a scene and can generate accurate images of scenes from text descriptions. Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT, and iStockphoto A new machine-learning model could enable robots to understand interactions in the world in the way humans do. When humans look at a scene, they see objects and the relationships between them. On top of your desk, there might be a laptop that is sitting to the left of a phone, which is in front of a computer monitor. Many deep learning models struggle…

Here’s Why We Will Never Run Out of Crude Oil

Lead Image: Multiple blue oil barrels, credit: iStock Crude oil is one of the most important resources we have ever discovered. Oil and the many products made from it have literally and figuratively transformed the world beyond all recognition. However, as we are constantly reminded, crude oil is not in infinite supply. After all, it took millions of years to “brew”. Estimates vary, but if our current consumption continues apace, we may well see a time in the near future when it is completely exhausted. But, are such claims true? Have we reached what is commonly referred to as “peak…

Extraordinary Roman Mosaic and Villa Complex Discovered Beneath Farmer’s Field in England

Lead Image: A member of the team from University of Leicester Archaeological Services during the excavations of a large mosaic in Rutland, UK. Credit: Historic England Archaeologists have unearthed the first Roman mosaic of its kind in the UK. A Roman villa complex containing a rare mosaic has been discovered beneath a farmer’s field in Rutland, and was today protected by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the advice of Historic England. The mosaic is the first example in the UK displaying scenes from Homer’s The Iliad, and one of only a handful from across Europe.…

Russian Anti-Satellite Weapon Test: What Happened and What To Do Now?

Lead Image: If a satellite is destroyed, the debris fans out in orbit and poses serious threats to other satellites or crewed spacecraft. Credit: ESA/ID&Sense/ONiRiXEL On November 15, 2021, U.S. officials announced that they had detected a dangerous new debris field in orbit near Earth. Later in the day, it was confirmed that Russia had destroyed one of its old satellites in a test of an anti-satellite weapon. Wendy Whitman Cobb is a space security researcher. She explains what these weapons are and why the debris they create is a problem now – and in the future. What do we…