In this week’s mainstream news, everyone’s been talking about the blank and white #ChallengeAccepted trend on Instagram, the woman killed in Maine’s first great white shark attack and the magnitude 4.2 earthquake that rocked Los Angeles. And for anyone that has the 2020 Summer Olympics blues, check out how you can go for the gold for now.
For all of the parents out there trying to figure out what the start of school may look like, be sure to check out new pandemic pods and homeschooling tips that have been all over social media lately. And if you need a distraction from the back to school debate, here is some energy news to get you ready for the weekend. As always, if you missed last week’s list you can find it here.
1NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Uses Nuclear Energy
A critical aspect of spacecraft is its power source, especially since deep-space missions require a lot of energy! Scientific American explains why radioactive plutonium is critical for space missions and why NASA started looking at this power source for its Perseverance Mars rover.
2Garbage dump to be converted into a solar farm
A waste-management firm in the United Arab Emirates is proposing to convert a garbage landfill into a solar power farm. E&E News sheds light on the project to build a solar farm on 116 acres of a closed landfill near Dubai.
3Solar power technology that creates electricity from invisible light
New discoveries in solar energy could make it cheaper and more efficient to transform sunlight into electricity. Business Insider details two recent studies that may be game-changers for solar energy.
4You had me at wind, solar, batteries and hydrogen
Plans were announced for the construction of a super-hybrid offshore wind farm that would contain solar, storage and hydrogen elements. GreenTech Media shares how this project would combine the various energy technologies to provide continuous power.
5Energy-efficient microchip makes headlines
An inventor announced a new energy-efficient microchip being developed will revolutionize technology by combining different types of processors into one chip. The Washington Times reports on why this new chip could save billions of dollars for technology companies, such as Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Google.
