Printing the future: New factory tech reshapes the US industrial economy

DEVENS, Mass., Sept 21 (Reuters) – The giant machines churning out metal parts on this factory floor do not bang or clang – or make any other noise usually associated with heavy-duty manufacturing.

They hum.

“It sounds like a data center in here,” said John Hart, a co-founder of VulcanForms, a start-up 3D printing company that grew out of his research at the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology and offers a glimpse of how the Biden administration would like to reshape the US industrial economy.

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VulcanForms, which recently raised $355 million in venture funding, exemplifies the type of manufacturing – cutting edge, clean, futuristic – that needs to flourish to achieve that ambition.

A wave of government initiatives, including billions earmarked for semiconductor factories and other advanced technologies, have raised the profile of the factory sector in a way few thought

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Could Tattoos Be Painless? New Technology Purports Pain-Free Tats

Pain-free tattoos? The company Micro Biomedical, backed by a study at the Georgia Institute of Technologysays it’s developed painless and bloodless tattoos that can be self-administered.

After all, getting a tattoo can be a painful affair, depending on one’s tolerance for pain. What if there was a painless way to do it?

The new biomedical tech involves a low-cost skin patch containing microscopic, ink-filled needles. The patch is pressed into the skin to apply the tattoo, and the “microneedles” can be arranged in different shapes to create a design, as Digital Trends reported.

“We’ve miniaturized the needle so that it’s painless but still effectively deposits tattoo ink in the skin,” Micro Biomedical head Mark Prausnitz explains.

The painless tattoo process was developed within the realm of medical tattoos. Medical tattoos often cover up scars or restore nipples after breast surgery, among many other applications.

“This could be a way

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New tech aims to track carbon in every tree, boost carbon market integrity

  • Climate scientists and data engineers have developed a new digital platform billed as the first-ever global tool for accurately calculating the carbon stored in every tree on the planet.
  • Founded on two decades of research and development, the new platform from nonprofit CTtrees leverages artificial intelligence-enabled satellite datasets to give users a near-real-time picture of forest carbon storage and emissions around the world.
  • With forest protection and restoration at the center of international climate mitigation efforts, CTrees is set to officially launch at COP27 in November, with the overall aim of bringing an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability to climate policy initiatives that rely on forests to offset carbon emissions .
  • Forest experts broadly welcome the new platform, but also underscore the risk of assessing forest restoration and conservation projects solely by the amount of carbon sequestered, which can sometimes be a red herring in achieving truly sustainable and
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6 Things to Check Before Buying iPhones Wholesale from China

iPhones Wholesale

Buying iPhones wholesale from China is risky, and you must be very careful during the process. Your little inattentiveness can cause you a considerable loss. Discover the six things you must check before making the whole purchase from a Chinese iPhones wholesale dealer.

Buying iPhones Wholesale from China

The refurbished iPhones market is growing at a yearly rate of 15%. It explains the rising demand for used or refurbished iPhones and the shifting paradigm of users’ habits as they’re now more focused on saving money. But the growing market has also brought so many fraudulent iPhones wholesalers into the market that sell fake or extremely low-quality iPhones. And therefore, it has become more critical than ever for buyers to learn about the factors that can help in identifying if a refurbished device is okay to buy or not.

Here are the six things that you must check before buying iPhones

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NOAA deploys new hurricane technology to improve forecasting

The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) is tracking Hurricane Fiona by plane and drones. Through NOAA’s new research program, sail drones are taking us closer than ever before to one of Earth’s most destructive forces.

In partnership with NOAA, Saildrone Inc. is deploying seven ocean drones to collect data from hurricanes during the 2022 hurricane season with the goal of improving hurricane forecasting.

“We’re really excited about this new technology. It’s going to allow us to fly the drones for up to two to three hours at a time collecting all the data that we either previously could get in very small pieces, or just couldn’t

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NTSB recommends technologies to curb drunk driving and speeding in new vehicles



CNN

The federal agency responsible for conducting independent accident investigations has recommended technologies in new vehicles to limit speeding and prevent impaired driving in an attempt to cut down on a growing number of related fatal crashes.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation of alcohol impairment detection systems are on a pathway toward requirement, after the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act gave the Transportation Department three years to craft a mandate for such a feature in new vehicles. The board’s re-recommendation of incentivizing intelligent speed adaptation systems, however, has yet to gain broader federal backing and could face resistance from US drivers accustomed to speed limits being enforced by law enforcement rather than the vehicle itself.

The NTSB’s recommendations – which cannot be implemented without being adopted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – specifically include requiring all new vehicles to have “passive vehicle-integrated alcohol impairment detection systems,

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Home heating: Here are some helpful hints and new technology

We have some of the seasonal suggestions for heating system care, but we also took a look at new heating technology on the horizon with climate change concerns.

BUFFALO, NY — 2 On Your Side recently told you that natural gas costs have risen sharply to the point that National Fuel predicts it will cost the average homeowner over $1,000 to heat their house this winter.

We have some of the seasonal suggestions for heating system care, but we also took a look at new heating technology on the horizon with climate change concerns.

Some of us may see it as the beast in the basement, but it’s really the heart and body warming equipment we should shower with attention this time of year. That’s your friendly furnace that should get its annual check-up from an HVAC contractor to check for leaks but also potential equipment issues.

“The licensed professionals

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New technology coming to Wastewater Treatment Plant will kill stench at landfill

CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The city’s Wastewater Treatment Plant is one step closer to a $40 million upgrade, one that should bring to an end the seasonal stench coming from the landfill in Woodlawn.

The project will get $15 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

“This grant funding will allow for important infrastructure upgrades that will benefit residents and businesses throughout the community,” states Sen. Bill Powers said in announcing the grant.

The big project: Thermal dryers

The grant will help pay for a new six-story building containing thermal dryers that will be constructed on the current wastewater plant site, according to Mark Riggins, general manager for Clarksville Gas & Water.

Thermal dryers dry out the leftover sludge – a byproduct of the water treatment plant’s purification process – making it easier to properly dispose of in ways besides just dumping it in the landfill, Riggins

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This revolutionary new technology pulls clean fuel from the air

Hydrogen, the most common element in the universe, has long been touted as a clean and plentiful alternative energy source. But the easiest way to produce hydrogen fuel requires pure water, which can be hard to get ahold of — and will only become more difficult to source amid worsening droughts around the globe.

Now, in a study published this week in the journal Nature Communicationsscientists have revealed a new way to churn out hydrogen fuel.

What’s new — It turns out that all you need is the humidity that’s naturally hanging in the air, they found, along with their new device that swallows moisture and spits out hydrogen and oxygen. Their method could spur hydrogen fuel production anywhere on the planet.

This innovative new method could create hydrogen fuel in even the harshest environments, like the Uluru Rock in the Central Australian desert.Brook Mitchell/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images

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Sycamore International Inc. batch on iron-flow batteries, solar power and the Inflation Reduction Act

In a repurposed mushroom barn in Chester County, Sycamore International Inc. recycles electronic equipment, including refurbishing 30,000 old laptops a month for resale. Steven Figgatt, Sycamore’s chief executive, says his West Grove company is all about the circular economy.

In keeping with its sustainable mission, Sycamore earlier this year installed a rooftop solar system to convert its operations to renewable energy. But Figgatt, 36, only declared his company’s freedom from the electric grid in late August, when he commissioned a new innovative battery storage system that assures his business is supplied by solar power even when the sun isn’t shining.

“We’re calling it our Energy Independence Day,” he said.

Figgatt went out on a limb with his choice of energy-storage technology, selecting a novel system called an iron-flow battery, the first of its kind on the East Coast.

Iron-flow batteries are among many promising grid-scale energy storage technologies that

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