Swiss “water battery” with 20 million kWh of capacity is finally functional

The project took 14 years to complete

It’s taken Switzerland €2 billion and 14 years, but the country’s underground “water battery” is now complete and operational. The project took so long to complete in part because workers had to tunnel through more than 11 miles of the Swiss Alps.

Alien life confirmed? China says it could have detected evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations

Don’t get too excited/terrified just yet

Has China discovered signs of alien civilizations? According to the country’s state-backed Science and Technology Daily, the detection of new possible artificial signals suggests this could be the case. But then it might also just be radio interference.

NASA’s first full-color images from James Webb Space Telescope are stunning

First Webb images prove it was worth the wait

NASA has published the long-awaited first images from the James Webb Space Telescope. July 12 was the scheduled drop date for the first batch of Webb images and data for a while now. At the 11th hour, however, NASA decided that President Biden should help unveil the very first image, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

Physicists created an odd phase of matter with two dimensions of time

The discovery could lead to more stable quantum computing storage

The world of quantum physics and quantum computing is challenging for most people to wrap their heads around. I have read a fair number of books on the subjects, but the research I’m about to report has my head spinning. Somehow, scientists have created a new phase of matter with two-dimensional time.

Scientists have sequenced the full human genome for the first time

The complete genetic blueprint for human life

Scientists are confident the complete picture of the human genome will lead to an even better understanding of human evolution and perhaps help pave the way for discoveries in the fields of neurodegenerative conditions, aging, heart disease and cancer. Such discoveries are still years away, but at least scientists now have a complete roadmap to work with.

Here’s what it looks like to get flung from a centrifuge at 1,000 mph

BYOBB — Bring your own barf bag

Getting satellites into orbit is expensive. Each launch consumes tons of fuel, and missions can only occur once every few months. A company called SpinLaunch wants to eventually be able to launch multiple satellites per day, primarily using kinetic energy produced by a colossal centrifuge.

Low-cost ’transparent’ solar cells reach new efficiency record, electricity-generating windows incoming?

Dye-sensitized solar cells could turn glass windows into solar panels

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are cheap, transparent, and flexible. The promising technology set a new record in efficiency for turning visible light into electric energy, making it viable for use as energy-collecting windows.

US Navy brings down drone with all-electric laser weapon for first time

The laser should also be effective against missiles

In what could be viewed as a sign of the often frighteningly uncertain times we live in, the US navy has shot down a drone using an all-electric laser for the first time. The military branch’s Layered Laser Defense (LLD) took down the machine, which was representing a subsonic cruise missile, during tests in February this year.

Tech industry professionals are paying up to $120,000 to have their legs lengthened

For a lot of money and 90+ days of excruciating pain, you can be a few inches taller

How much would you pay to be three inches taller? $75,000? To some, that’s a fair price to increase their stature. Interestingly, tech industry professionals make up a good portion of the patients requesting this expensive and excruciating surgery. Is it really worth it? I suppose it depends on your perspective, but after reviewing the details, I’m not sold.

Japan is researching an artificial gravity facility for the Moon and Mars

Low gravity environments can be harmful to the human body

Nations around the world are increasingly thinking about our future in space, and not just jaunts to the Moon and back. Long-term colonies on the lunar surface and Mars are very well within reach but astronauts will need to contend with gravity – or a lack of it – before it becomes viable.