A new experiment demonstrates that commercial solar farms in space could one day be possible, according to the researchers behind it. Scientists from the UK say that a satellite launched into space to test the opportunities to gather sunlight for power has shown more success than expected. The experiment showed that it was possible to make lightweight solar panels at low cost that would be able to work in space, researchers said. They sent one of those units into space and examined how it worked over a period of six years and 30,000 orbits. It was able to withstand the solar radiation and other damage of space, they said, and continue generating power. “We are very pleased that a mission designed to last one year is still working after six. These detailed data show the panels have resisted radiation and their thin-film structure has not deteriorated in the harsh thermal and vacuum conditions of space,” said Craig Underwood from the University of Surrey, “This ultra-low mass solar cell technology could lead to large, low-cost solar power stations deployed in space, bringing clean energy back to Earth – and now we have the first evidence that the technology works reliably in orbit.” The panels were made at the University of Swansea, and used a new kind of solar cell made out of cadmium telluride. That material allows for larger panels at lighter weights, which provide more power and are relatively cheap. Colleagues at the University of Surrey then built those panels into a satellite that could be delivered to space, as well as the technology to measure how they continued to perform once they were in orbit. Those measurements showed that the panels gradually became less efficient, but researchers say they nonetheless showed that the panels could eventually be commercially viable. Solar farms in space would overcome many of the problems with existing renewable infrastructure on Earth. The solar farms could allow for more space on the ground, but more notably would be able to avoid issues caused by weather and benefit from more intense sunlight than there is on the surface. Making units that are able to withstand the difficulties of space is just one of a number of challenges for solar farms in space. There would also need to be a way to get the energy back down to us, for instance – though this summer researchers were able to successfully beam power down to Earth using microwaves. A study describing the findings, ‘IAC-22-C3.3.8 Six years of spaceflight results from the AlSat-1N Thin-Film Solar Cell (TFSC) experiment’, is published in the journal Acta Astronautica. Read More Scientists receive powerful ‘radio burst’ that travelled billions of years Apple announces surprise event: ‘Scary fast’ ChatGPT and other chatbots ‘can be tricked into making code for cyber attacks’

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X says it has removed "hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts" and taken down thousands of posts since the attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group.

All Louisiana public schools are now required to display the national motto of "In God We Trust" inside of classrooms, under a new law that went into effect on August 1.

President Joe Biden said extreme heat is costing the US $100 billion a year and linked it directly

Very few new users were attracted by the anticipated launch of Twitter rival Threads’ web application, new data suggests. Instagram’s Threads, launched in early July, swiftly became the fastest-growing app in the world and initially posed as a legitimate rival to Elon Musk’s platform Twitter, now rebranded as X. Though launched without key features of its rival, its early strategic roll out at a key time when Twitter was facing widespread backlash for policy changes under Mr Musk helped Threads quickly accumulate users. But weeks since its launch, Threads lacked one of the most basic features of social networks – to be able to use it outside of an app. Last week, the Threads web app was finally rolled out, with the platform’s chief and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri announcing that the web experience was available for everyone at threads.net. “Let us know what you think,” he said. While in the US, Threads’ website use jumped up by a fifth over the past week compared to the week prior, how this traffic may have contributed to the onboarding of new users remains unclear. Globally, the traffic increase to the platform via the website during this period was also only 3 per cent, according to digital intelligence firm Similarweb. In terms of other parameters as well, Threads’ traffic appears worrying. Mobile intelligence firm Sensor Tower reported earlier this month that daily active users on Threads dropped over 80 per cent since the platform’s launch, with only 8 million users using the app daily. There isn’t much data to also suggest there’s a rapid influx of new users signing up to join Threads since its web app launch. Similarweb speculates that much of the new Threads website visitors in the US were likely just older users moving from the app to the web. The Meta-owned app is continuing to test and roll out new features to woo in more users. The company is also starting to test keyword search in Australia and New Zealand. Mr Mosseri said the tests began on Thursday, and would expand to countries including the US “soon”. “Get excited – search is coming to Threads,” Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg posted on Threads along with a GIF of Vin Diesel from the Fast and Furious franchise saying, “I bet you gonna enjoy this.” Read More Threads launches on the web for everyone – apart from Europeans Musk admits X may be doomed to fail as new glitch wipes out pictures from former Twitter platform Twitter/X indicates it will start collecting ‘biometric information’ and ‘employment history’ Threads launches on the web for everyone – apart from Europeans Meta could finally launch Threads feature everyone is waiting for Elon Musk became ‘anti-woke’ because of his daughter’s gender transition, book claims

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Scientists suffering insults and mass-spam are abandoning Twitter for alternative social networks as hostile climate-change denialism surges on the platform...

Mobvoi, a Chinese artificial intelligence company and smart device maker, has selected banks for a Hong Kong initial