Apollo News Snippets – August 2022

Are you ready for a huge list of technology advances for the month?! Even if you aren’t here, we go 😊
This new computer chip can process billions of images a second.
New molecular switches that operate at room temperature could make electronics faster.
These super-charged plants could help reduce Greenhouse gases.
Tea and coffee residues could be used to sustainably produce valuable chemicals.
Wood-based sensors could harvest energy from human movements to power small electronics.
Net-zero emissions cement developed from algae.
These batteries last longer in extreme cold.
From waste plastic to 3D printing material.
Hurricane resistant wind turbines developed.
Yeast could help make water cleaner.
A step forward for next-generation lithium-metal batteries.
Milestone in quantum computing achieved in Chicagoland.
This company is trying to commercialize geothermal energy.
New optical filter can capture and concentrate light without moving parts.
New research could improve the recycling of waste methane gas.
Method to turn trash into plastics.
New technology could recycle carbon dioxide with the Sun’s energy.
3D printed solar cells close to commercialization.
Large stride forward for low-cost, iron-based hydrogen fuel cells.

The NOAA extreme weather events map for June 2022 shows the 10th-smallest and the smallest (ever) recorded ice extents in the Artic and Antarctic Seas (respectively) for the month. South America experienced its coolest June since 2016 while Asia and Europe had their 2nd warmest June’s on record.

The June 2022 NOAA global climate report is out and yep you guessed it, not hard to do that really, it was a warm month. This past June was the 6th warmest on record at some 1.57°F (0.87°C) above the 20th Century average–in fact the ten warmest Junes on record have all occurred since 2010. One more ‘fun’ factoid, 7.68% of the planet saw record temperatures in June–which is the highest percentage for the month since records began in 1951.

Did you know that August 22nd is National Tooth Fairy Day?! No seriously it is, so our Google search of the month was, “Tooth fairy and GIS.” And of course, we found a paper by Tanja Pless-Mulloli where she followed a group of children looking at lead levels in their teeth. Termed the ‘Tooth Fairy’ study, Pless-Mulloli found no significant association between lead levels of pre- and post-natal teeth even though previous studies found a significant relationship.