We’ve studied enough comets from our solar system to know that they formed during its early stages, when there was a ton of material swirling around and coalescing into individual bodies. They are made primarily from ice, but in order to survive, they have to form at a distance where the sun’s heat and radiation…
Tag: Tech
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are 90% effective at stopping infection in the real world too
Solid findings: This new study provides yet more promising data on the positive effect vaccines are starting to have on the pandemic. Last month, England’s health authority reported that a single shot of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca or the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine cut the chance of needing hospital treatment by more than 80%. Israel, which has vaccinated…
The science and technology that can help save the ocean
Here on Earth, we have more detailed maps of Mars than of our own ocean, and that’s a problem. A massive force for surviving climate change, the ocean absorbs 90% of the heat caused by emissions and generates 50% of the oxygen we breathe. “We have the ocean to thank for so many aspects of…
Building customer relationships with conversational AI
We’ve all been there. “Please listen to our entire menu as our options have changed. Say or press one for product information...” Sometimes, these automated customer service experiences are effective and efficient—other times, not so much. Many organizations are already using chatbots and virtual assistants to help better serve their customers. These intelligent, automated self-service…
Keeping covid vaccines cold isn’t easy, but these ideas could help
Then there are the refrigerators themselves. In 2009, engineers at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle started designing an off-grid refrigerator for use in places with little to no infrastructure for the cold chain. The result was the Arktek—a barrel-size super Thermos intended to refrigerate vaccines or other biological samples. Different substances can…