Apollo News Snippets – December 2020

Not only is our monthly technology review your favorite part of the Snippets, it’s also mine! So without further delay, here is our final list of 2020 😊
Extremely powerful electrical pulses created by a picosecond generator.
A 100% efficient quantum engine that exists in two locations, crazy!
Next-generation, color-changing windows that also generate power.
Power-generating clothing fibers developed.
New lithium-ion battery technology promises rapid-charge electric car batteries.
Sustainable soil-based fuel cells.
From plastic waste to usable graphene.
Transparent solar panels are on the horizon.
Organic solar cells make major stride forward.
This window saves energy by blocking the sun and absorbing its heat energy.

The October 2020 temperature departure map show lots of record warmth centered over the Middle East, northern South America and south Asia. A marked pocket of cool weather hoovered over central North America.

I bet you are shocked to find out that for the 430^th month in a row it was really hot on our planet? Well put that shocked face away as according to the NOAA Global Climate Report, October 2020 was the fourth hottest on record with the seven hottest Octobers all occurring in the past seven years. Some 6.8% of the world saw record warmth in the month. But at least some sanity could be restored here in the USA as we’ll have an administration in January that is willing to move on Climate Change reform, finally.

December 1^st is World AIDS Day and so our Google search of the month was, “AIDS and GIS.” In the multitude of results, you might find this research by Yao et al. who use GIS to assess the spatial distribution of AIDS testing in Mozambique. And their results could surprise you (or perhaps not) a bit as access to AIDS testing was less an issue of spatial distribution and more about a citizen’s maximum educational achievement.