Apollo News Snippets – September 2022

If you are a regular reader of The Geospatial Times and this article in particular, you might know that this technology review is always the favorite piece I draft each month! So, with that said, here we go:
Bioleaching could make mining more sustainable.
Improved sodium-ion battery developed.
Major stride forward in commercialization of low-cost solar cells.
Best semiconductor found but it’s unclear if commercial production is possible.
New material absorbs heavy metals in drinking water.
Bacteria can help eliminate plastics from our lakes.
New hardware material could super-charge computers.
Improved combination solar cells.
New 3D-printed nanostructure could improve aerospace materials.
New, inexpensive form of silicon could significantly reduce solar energy costs.
A simple technique to keep water off surfaces.

The NOAA extreme weather events map for July 2022 shows the 12th-smallest and the smallest (ever) recorded ice extents in the Artic and Antarctic Seas (respectively). It is also the second month in a row with a smallest-extent record set over Antarctica. North America experienced its second-warmest July ever while Asia had its third warmest on record followed by South America with its fourth warmest.

The July 2022 NOAA global climate report is out and yep, you guessed it, it was hot in July! Just how hot was it? Well, it was the 6th warmest July on record at some 1.57°F (0.87°C) above the 20th Century temperature average; and it was also the 451st consecutive month with temperatures above this average–that is quite a streak! Will the warming ever reverse? We certainly hope it does for the fate of our planet; and we also commend the Biden administration for passing a historic bill to help address Global Climate Change.

September 15th is El Salvador’s Independence Day, so in honor of this holiday our Google search of the month was, “El Salvador and GIS.” Of course there was a plethora of research in this search, with this one by Farahani et al. catching my attention on a GIS analysis of eating habits. In their study, the researches use a household-level GIS approach to understand how cooking, eating, food preparation, etc. cluster to create distinct regions for an efficient, productive use of space.