Koreans come up with the battery that charges in seconds / Tetris inspired a breakthrough in the nuclear industry / Al Pacino will play a new role

South Korean researchers have unveiled a battery model that charges in seconds, those in the United States have been inspired by the game “Tetris” for a new nuclear breakthrough, while Al Pacino will star in a new role in a new movie. In this weekend’s Nerd Alert column you can also read about the new “robodog” on sale in the US and the upcoming video game “Chornobyl Liquidators”.

Koreans come with the battery that charges in seconds

Fast-charging batteries haven’t been exactly new for a few years now, but researchers in South Korea have just presented one that’s several orders of magnitude better than anything currently not only available on the market, but also in the pipeline. of post-research to commercialization: a sodium-ion “hybrid” battery that can be charged in just seconds.

Unlike the “miracle battery” announced by some obscure Chinese firm in January, the new announcement came from the Daejeon Institute of Advanced Science and Technology (KAIST), one of South Korea’s most prestigious universities. Additionally, the invention was announced in a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Energy Storage Materials. So it’s not some kind of witchcraft, in Romanian.

Obviously, the South Korean researchers came up with some innovations to develop the battery and the title they gave to the study in which they presented it makes your mind stop: “Low-crystallinity conductive multivalence iron sulfide-embedded S -doped anode and high-surface area O-doped cathode of 3D porous N-rich graphitic carbon frameworks for high-performance sodium-ion hybrid energy storages”.

The very, very brief idea is that they integrated anode materials, typically used in batteries, with cathodes for supercapacitors in a formula that achieved both high storage capacities and ultra-fast charge rates. Among other things, the South Korean researchers say that the battery’s charge cells can reach an energy density of 247 Wh/kg and a specific power of 34.748 W/kg.

Those curious about the technical details of the battery can read more on Interesting Engineering or Texh Xplore. However, I also remember that in nature sodium is about 1,000 times more abundant than lithium, so it is quite obvious another asset of South Korean innovation. But as is usually the case in situations like this, scientists do not venture to estimate how long their invention could reach the market.

I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that the technical explanations boggle your mind

Americans can buy the first “robodog” with a flamethrower instead

Obviously, the battery developed by the South Korean researchers can have many applications, something they themselves emphasize in a press release published separately from the study. In the United States one of them could be powering “The Thermonator,” the world’s first robotic dog armed with a flamethrower, and a state-of-the-art one, according to Throwflame, the company that developed it.

As Ars Technica points out, the “robodog” sold by this Cleveland-based company is legal to buy in 48 of the 50 US states. Its back-mounted flamethrower has a range of about 9 meters and uses napalm as ammunition. The robot uses a battery with an autonomy of one hour and can be controlled via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

It is also equipped with a LIDAR sensor for mapping and clearing obstacles, a laser for fixing targets and an FPV camera. Throwflame states that it can be used for “wildfire prevention and control”, “agricultural management”, “ecological conservation”, “snow and ice removal”, but also for “entertainment and special effects”.

“The Thermonator” can be sold over the counter in the United States as flamethrowers are regulated in only two US states. Maryland is the only state where they are prohibited, while California requires a permit if the flamethrower has a range greater than 10 feet. Some cities require a local fire department to obtain a permit.

Tetris inspired a breakthrough in the nuclear industry

Also in the US, researchers from MIT and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) presented a model for designing very simple sensor systems that can detect the direction from which a radiation source is coming, also showing that by moving the sensors to be taken several measurements can be identified including the place from which the radiation originates. Why is this interesting?

Because today the radiation is usually detected using semiconductor materials, such as cadmium tellurium and zinc, which produce an electrical response when hit by high-energy radiation, such as gamma radiation. But because radiation passes so easily through the vast majority of materials, it is difficult to determine the direction from which the signal is coming.

It is edifying in this sense that those Geiger counters that everyone knows from movies and TV shows only click in the presence of radiation. To detect the source of radiation you have to get closer to it, in which case the sound becomes louder, but also increases the danger for engineers or rescuers. To overcome this shortcoming nuclear power plants currently use complex (and expensive) sensor systems.

These systems, which generally require at least 100 sensors (also called pixels) arranged in a 10 by 10 matrix, use an algorithm to interpret the various measurements and signals received from each individual sensor. In addition, several such systems are needed together with a supersystem called a “mask” to obtain relevant results regarding the direction from which the radiation is coming.

But researchers at MIT and LBNL found that results close in accuracy can be achieved using just four pixels arranged in the game’s familiar “tetromino” shapes Tetris. The approach was inspired “in its own way by Tetris”, says Magda Li, professor at MIT and co-author of the study. The researchers found that the form of Tetris what looks like an upside down “S” gives the best results.

Placing the detection systems in “J” and “T”-like shapes also gave good results, while the square was less suitable, according to the researchers cited by SciTechDaily. The key is computer reconstruction of the angles from which the radiation waves arrive, based on each sensor’s detection times and relative signal strength.

It can also be played on your smartphone, in case we’ve whetted your appetite for a game (PHOTO: Shutterstock)

‘Chornobyl Liquidators’ promises to be tougher than ‘STALKER’ games

And speaking of radiation stuff, a new simulation video game called Chornobyl Liquidators wants to explore history in a way that Polish studio Live Motion Games and Frozen Way, the company that publishes the game, describe as “a commemoration of the disaster [de la Cernobîl] and his victims”. As the title suggests, the game will put gamers in the role of “liquidators” called to the scene of the disaster.

As those who have seen the hugely popular miniseries “Chernobyl” released by HBO in 2019 will of course know, these were the firefighters, soldiers and rescuers called to deal with the repercussions of the nuclear disaster in 1986. According to the developers of the new game that is due to be released on the 6 June, it was created based on historical documents from Ukraine to create the most authentic experience possible.

“You won’t be dealing with mutant creatures or other radiation-induced anomalies in this production. Instead, you’ll experience the real-life consequences of a reactor failure at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant,” Live Motion Games notes in the game’s official description. The reference to mutant creatures strikes me as a not-so-discreet “nod” in the direction of the popular “STALKER” video game franchise.

Chornobyl Liquidators also promises to offer a “mature and emotional” story that incorporates moral dilemmas and a stress system that will make it harder to complete some missions and can ultimately cause a heart attack for the characters the player takes on. And depending on the decisions made, gamers will be able to reach two different endings of the game, according to IGN.

Al Pacino will play a new role in a new film

Having reached the age of 84, the career of the legendary American actor needs no introduction. But he’s soon to play a role he’s never tried before, as far as I can tell: that of a priest. In this sense he will team up with the American producer David Midell (NightLights, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain).

The movie to be called The Ritual will mark a first for Midell as well, marking his directorial debut. The rights to the feature film have been bought by independent studio XYZ Films, which plans to release it next year after first showing it at the Cannes International Film Festival, according to Variety magazine.

According to the official description, the film will be based on a true story and will revolve around two priests – one questioning his faith and one facing a troubled past. He will be played by Al Pacino while the first priest will be played by the British actor Dan Stevens, known from the films as Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Marshall or Beauty and the Beast (variant from 2017).

The true story on which the feature film will be based will be that of Emma Schmidt, probably the most famous (certainly the most documented) case of alleged demonic possession in the history of the United States. Considering the title and the story it’s based on, it’s pretty sure it’ll be an “Exorcist”-type one, although it’s not clear yet if it’ll be a horror movie or more of a drama.

Until we learn more about The Ritual, I would remember that for Al Pacino the role will be new from another point of view. He will now play a priest in a film about demonic possession after playing the very devil in 1997 The Devil’s Advocatefeature film in which he starred alongside Charlize Theron and an early-career Keanu Reeves.

I hope you enjoyed this Sunday’s edition of Nerd Alert, more Tech and Science focused than usual. In case you are curious to read the one from last weekend as well, you can find it here: