Renewable Blobbery | RoboCrop | Disc Disco - The Convo Kit #52

This issue marks 52 straight weeks of The Convo Kit!

Thank you for sharing a piece of your weekend with me, especially those who’ve been here since the start! (peep that logo made in Google Slides)

New year, new(s) letter. Meet st3v, pictured below. Our new TCK field correspondent will investigate one weekly story. Normally he’ll meet you at the end, but he insisted on also greeting you up here today.

-Steve

Join The Convo for weekly briefings on science, space, and tech news!

Renewable Blobbery

An inflatable blob in Sardina, Italy is changing the way we look at carbon dioxide. Energy Dome created the world’s first CO2 battery.

• Compresses CO2 into a liquid, generating heat

• Heat is stored and used later to convert CO2 back to gas

• Closed loop system = zero carbon emissions

Renewable energy sometimes isn’t needed right when it’s generated. Energy Dome joins the list of clever renewable batteries that save temporary energy for later.

Carblob Dioxide storage in action

RoboCrop

Some robots just like to watch the grass grow. Canada’s Solinftec’s Solix rolls around crops on four wheeled legs.

• Onboard cameras and sensors check for plant needs and weeds

• AI determines when to use water or insecticides

• Reports back to farmers with specific location notes

Targeting only areas of need will help save farmers time and money they may have otherwise spent treating an entire field “just in case”. Increasing crop yields while decreasing chemical use is a win-win. No word on if Solix can also watch paint dry.

Holy crop

Disc Disco

Back pain caused by Degenerative Disc Disorder (DDD) has a new treatment option, gel. ReGelTec’s Hydrafil reduces back pain by filling cracks and tears in damaged discs.

• Heated gel is inserted into injured disc

• Forms an implant as it cools to body-temp

• Cooled Hydrafil biomechanically simulates our natural discs

In the first human trial of 20 patients, all participants gained at least some improvement in back pain. More trials and research is needed, but all signs point to a future with improved DDD relief. Which means more DDR relief for all!

Hey, you gellin?

Clickables

• What kind of animal is a space shuttle?

• Chocolate bar on the largest holographic display

• Pizza vending machine, with robots

• AI Mayflower crossed the Atlantic

• Megalodon’s massive toothache

st3v on site

st3v emissions

Energy Dome may not have carbon emissions, but thanks to a stray anvil, they now have to worry about the effects of “st3v emissions” on our atmosphere.

Thank you for reading!

Missed last week’s Convo?

Catch-up here: 8 Step | Asteroid Finder | Big Grass - The Convo Kit #51

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