New low-cost technique forms durable, easy-to-apply cell sheets in just five hours
McMaster scientists create robust cell sheets in five hours using simple tools, opening new paths for tissue repair and cultivated meat.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Know what the Bible says and understand why it matters with the fully revised NIV Study Bible featuring updated notes, full-color design, and Comfort Print typography designed for immersive reading.
A trusted companion for deep personal study, sermon prep, and devotional reading highlighted in our faith and leadership coverage.
McMaster scientists create robust cell sheets in five hours using simple tools, opening new paths for tissue repair and cultivated meat.
The Late Cretaceous apex predator easily grew to the size of a great white shark.The post Mosasaurs may have terrorized rivers as well as oceans appeared first on Popular Science.
In a recently published study in Genome Research, "A map of enhancer regions in primary human neural progenitor cells using capture STARR-seq," a team of researchers looked at regions of human genetic code that are known for harboring risk factors for psychiatric disease.
Most smaller galaxies may not have supermassive black holes in their centers, according to a recent study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This contrasts with the common idea that nearly every galaxy has one of these giant black holes within their cores, as NASA leads the world in exploring the secrets of how the universe works.
This issue of The FASEB Journal features studies on aging, organ protection, inflammation, the microbiome, women's health, and new therapeutic targets--offering fresh insights into mechanisms that drive health and disease.
A local mineral company has announced the discovery of rare metals essential to technology creation in a Provo mining site, bearing potentially positive implications for domestic production.
A Rutgers Health-led study, published in BMJ Open Quality, examines potential challenges associated with online qualitative data collection and how to prevent possible fraudulent respondents.
Cities do not always grow in a straight line. Like living organisms, they experience growth, maturity, and sometimes decline. This decline, known as urban shrinkage, is a natural phase in the urban life cycle. It is common in industrialized cities, marked by aging social infrastructure resulting from population decline.
Fireball lights up the North Country sky The Timberjay'Space junk' confirmed to be satellite TBNewsWatch.comStreak of light in night sky believed to be 'space junk' SooToday.comStreak of light in night sky believed to be “space junk” TBNewsWatch.com
The Hjortspring boat carried warriors on an attempted attack of a Danish island over 2,000 years ago. Archaeologists have new clues about where these raiders...
The Hjortspring boat carried warriors on an attempted attack of a Danish island over 2,000 years ago. Archaeologists have new clues about where these raiders came from.
400,000-year-old Neanderthal campfire traces found in UK DWEarliest evidence of making fire NatureNews - 400,000-Year-Old Hearth Identified in England Archaeology MagazineFire-making materials at 400,000-year-old site are the oldest evidence of humans making fire NPRArchaeologists Find Oldest Evidence of Fire-Making The New York Times
With a $5 million investment from New York state, Cornell is building a processing hub and “service center,” where businesses can research, develop and prototype new hemp-based materials.
Manipulating mouse brains during sleep improved their ability to remember new experiences that would normally be forgotten – a finding with important implications for treating Alzheimer’s disease.
We describe how the ESA Comet Interceptor mission, which is due to launch in 2028/29 to a yet-to-be-discovered target, can provide a conceptual basis for a future mission to visit an Interstellar Object. Comet Interceptor will wait in space until a suitable long period comet is discovered, allowing rapid response to perform a fast flyby [...]The post Intercepting Interstellar Objects appeared first on Astrobiology.
Will "Salt-Tolerant Plants" Soon Be Grown in the Lab? New Research Reveals How This Evolutionary Hack Could Happen The DebriefMyosin XI-1: A key molecular target for salt-tolerant crops Phys.orgExclusive: Waseda researchers reveal Myosin XI-1 as novel target for salt-tolerant crops Agro Spectrum India
The search for exomoons, or moons in other star systems, has attracted significant interest in recent years, driven both by advancements in detection sensitivity and by the expanding population of known exoplanets. The β Pictoris system is a particularly favorable target, as its proximity and directly imaged planets allow for precise astrometric monitoring. We present [...]The post First Astrometric Limits On Binary Planets And Exomoons Orbiting β Pictoris b appeared first on Astrobiology.
"The first human landing on Mars will be the most significant moment for human space exploration since we first set foot on the moon over 50 years ago."The post Scientists Say the Time Has Arrived to Land Astronauts on Mars appeared first on Futurism.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)
The tiny pantheon known as the Asgard archaea bear traits that hint at how plants, animals and fungi emerged on Earth.
Learn more about brown dwarfs, the cosmic misfits that blur the line between planet and star.
Learn more about how researchers can take evidence from the past to better shape our idea of what Neanderthals looked like.
Over the past decades, engineers have introduced numerous technologies that rely on light and its underlying characteristics. These include photonic and quantum systems that could advance imaging, communication and information processing.
Scientists at the University of Geneva have successfully tested key components of RISTRETTO, a new spectrograph designed to analyse light from Proxima b, the nearest exoplanet to Earth. The instrument uses coronagraphic techniques and extreme adaptive optics to block a star's overwhelming glare and detect planets that shine 10 million times fainter. Simulations suggest RISTRETTO could not only spot Proxima b with just 55 hours of observation time but potentially identify oxygen or water in its atmosphere, offering our first chance to study the conditions on an Earth sized world orbiting our nearest stellar neighbour.
Astronomers have developed a new technique called "X-arithmetic" that reveals the hidden physics inside galaxy clusters. By analysing Chandra X-ray Observatory data at different energy levels and painting the results in vibrant colours, researchers can now distinguish between sound waves, black hole inflated bubbles, and cooling gas, enabling them to classify structures by what they are rather than how they look. The method has already exposed striking differences between galaxy clusters and galaxy groups, showing that supermassive black holes wield dramatically different influence on their surroundings.
Time has named the “Architects of AI” — including Jensen Huang, Elon Musk and Sam Altman — as its 2025 Person of the Year, citing their global influence.
Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott are pouring more semiconductor investment into the University of Texas.
(MENAFN - EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- The global DNA vaccine market is steadily gaining prominence as genetic immunization technologies continue to evolve and demonstrate strong potential in ...
(MENAFN - EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- The Europe Creator Economy Market: A thorough analysis of statistics about the current as well as emerging trends offers clarity regarding the Europe ...
<img src="https://www.newswise.com/legacy/image.php?image=https://now.tufts.edu/sites/default/files/styles/xlarge_1920w_1280h/public/uploaded-assets/images/2025-12/vet_surgery_course.jpg?h=c3635fa2=56n884M4width=100height=150" alt="Newswise image" /Helping veterinary students successfully prepare for their first surgery.
Residents packed up and prepared to flee rising rivers in western Washington state Wednesday as a new wave of heavy rain swept into a region still reeling from a heavy storm a day earlier.
The Wearable Imaging for Transforming Elderly Care (WITEC) collaborative research project aims to develop the world's first wearable ultrasound imaging system for continuous, real-time monitoring and personalised diagnosis of chronic conditions such as hypertension and heart failure.WITEC is a multi-million...
img src="https://www.newswise.com/legacy/image.php?image=/images/uploads/2025/12/10/6939e91763f23_Researchers.jpgwidth=100height=150" alt="Newswise image" /Florida State University researchers have created a new crystalline material with unusual magnetic patterns that could be used for breakthroughs in data storage and quantum technologies. In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the research team showed that when two materials with neighboring chemical compositions but different structure types are combined, they can form a new material that exhibits a third structure type with highly unusual magnetic properties.
Brain-imaging study shows imagined experiences activate the same learning circuits as real ones.
img src="https://www.newswise.com/legacy/image.php?image=/images/uploads/2025/12/10/6939a778e6d51_SM-NR-bannereveland-1.jpgwidth=100height=150" alt="Newswise image" /Andrea Eveland, Ph.D., Principal Investigator and member at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, will lead a multi-institutional project to deepen the understanding of sorghum, a versatile bioenergy crop, and its response to environmental challenges.
Everyday acts of care—tightening a loose hinge, patching up a wall, or simply moving a crate—may seem mundane. But a new study from Ritsumeikan University shows that these small repairs are key to sustaining autonomy and an inclusive social life in a squatted space in Japan.
Recent fieldwork by Griffith University researchers has highlighted an African country that is facing a rapidly escalating environmental crisis as severe gully erosion—locally termed "mega gullies"—advances across valuable agricultural landscapes.
(MENAFN - EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- Understanding Modified Starch:Modified starch refers to starch that has been physically, chemically, or enzymatically altered from its native form to ...
img src="https://www.newswise.com/legacy/image.php?image=/images/uploads/2025/12/10/6939f3870e714_steve-johnson-0iV9LmPDn0-unsplash.jpgwidth=100height=150" alt="Newswise image" /Researchers at UCLA have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can use electronic health records to identify patients with undiagnosed Alzheimer's disease, addressing a critical gap in Alzheimer's care: significant underdiagnosis, particularly among underrepresented communities.
If you're thinking about buying Christmas presents for children, chances are a Lego set isn't too far from your mind. The endless creativity that Lego bricks present means they can be used for far more than following instructions to build the model on the front of the box. They are even used in academic research.
img src="https://www.newswise.com/legacy/image.php?image=/images/uploads/2025/12/10/6939d8870827c_20251210StudyCheapClimateFriendlyHealthyFood.jpgwidth=100height=150" alt="Newswise image" /Healthy diets can be affordable and good for the planet
Susan G. Komen recognized five exceptional leaders in the breast cancer field who have furthered our understanding of the disease, treatment, progression and survival.
Sydney, like many other Australian cities, has a long history of urban farming. Market gardens, oyster fisheries and wineries on urban fringe once supplied fresh food to city markets.
img src="https://www.newswise.com/legacy/image.php?image=/images/uploads/2025/12/10/6939db08a13f7_QuEEN-M-Microscope-Image1600x900.jpgwidth=100height=150" alt="Newswise image" /Scientists at Argonne and UIUC have developed a way to pinpoint and create quantum emitters -- atomic-scale light sources -- in ultrathin materials, advancing quantum computing, secure communication and next-generation sensors.
Free or subsidized school meals lead to modest gains in math and school enrollment, according to a new Cochrane review that examined the global impact of school feeding programs on disadvantaged children in both high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries.
A study from management consulting firm McKinsey says that global spending on data centers could eclipse $6.7 trillion between now and 2030, with most of that spending taking place in the United States, where over 4,000 data centers are already operating or under construction. The boom has thrust ...
Conventional petroleum-based adhesives rely heavily on the petrochemical industry and pose environmental risks due to harmful emissions and limited reusability. In a new study, researchers developed a novel photo-switchable smart adhesive based on materials derived from rose oil. It is both eco-friendly and highly reusable, while exhibiting great adhesion to a variety of surfaces. This innovative adhesive paves the way for more sustainable and smart material technologies.
As drug-resistant infections threaten to undermine decades of medical progress, scientists are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) for innovative solutions. With its strengths in data mining and pattern recognition, AI is transforming how antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is detected, predicted, and managed.
Imagine a future where quantum computers supercharge machine learning—training models in seconds, extracting insights from massive datasets and powering next-gen AI. That future might be closer than you think, thanks to a breakthrough from researchers at Australia's national research agency, CSIRO, and The University of Melbourne.
SpaceX sent up its second launch in less than 24 hours on the Space Coast on Dec. 9, while also bringing home its booster for the last time on a landing zone it has been leasing for the last 10 years.
New research has given policymakers and aged care providers first-hand insights about how to uphold dignity and meet the unique needs of Forgotten Australians.
What if your conscious experiences were not just the chatter of neurons, but were connected to the hum of the universe? In a paper published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, I present new evidence indicating that conscious states may arise from the brain's capacity to resonate with the quantum vacuum—the zero-point field that permeates all of space.
Astronomers are a step closer to cracking one of the secrets of dark energy—the mysterious force believed to be causing the universe's accelerated expansion.
University of Houston microbiologists discovered that a rare bacterium in NASA clean rooms can “play dead” to survive extreme sterilization conditions.
The Global Radio Explorer telescope is a series of eight terminals being built and tested at Cornell and the California Institute of Technology, and installed at locations around the world.
Neutrinos are one of the most mysterious particles in the universe, often called "ghost particles" because they rarely interact with anything else. Trillions stream through our bodies every second, yet leave no trace. They are produced during nuclear reactions, including those that take place in the core of our sun.
A new study published in Nature Communications details a hybrid robot that combines the wind-driven mobility of tumbleweeds with active quadcopter control, offering a new paradigm for energy-efficient terrestrial exploration.
The post Top Stories: Third-Annual Discovery Days Celebrates Research and Innovation at FSU appeared first on Florida State University News.
The findings of a new academic paper suggest that warming winters are causing damage to the DNA of some lizards.
A team of researchers from the University of Zurich and the NCCR PlanetS is challenging our understanding of the solar system planets' interior. The composition of Uranus and Neptune, the two outermost planets, might be more rocky and less icy than previously thought.
Astronomers have employed NASA's Chandra spacecraft to perform X-ray observations of a massive galaxy cluster known as SPT-CL J0217-5014. Results of the observational campaign, published December 4 on the arXiv preprint server, yield important insights into the properties and nature of this cluster.
Dark matter is an elusive type of matter that does not emit, reflect or absorb light, yet is estimated to account for most of the universe's mass. Over the past decades, many physicists worldwide have been trying to detect this type of matter or signals associated with its presence, employing various approaches and technologies.
The plan is not strictly catered to U.S.-based researchers impacted by Trump
How multi-agent AI can strengthen space missions against the unknown SpaceNewsAI is making spacecraft propulsion more efficient – and could even lead to nuclear-powered rockets SpaceAI Could Revolutionize Space Travel: Faster Rockets and More Efficient Propulsion The Daily Galaxy
The power surging through transmission lines over the iconic stone walls of England’s northern countryside is pushing the United Kingdom’s grid to its limits. To the north, Scottish wind farms have doubled their output over the past decade. In the south, where electricity demand is heaviest, electrification and new data centers promise to draw more power, but new generation is falling short. Construction on a new 3,280-megawatt nuclear power plant west of London lags years behind schedule.The result is a lopsided flow of power that’s maxing out transmission corridors from the Highlands to London. That grid strain won’t ease any time soon. New lines linking Scotland to southern England are at least three to four years from operation, and at risk of further delays from fierce local opposition.At the same time, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is bent on installing even more wind power and slashing fossil-fuel generation by 2030. His Labour government says low-carbon power is cheaper and more secure than natural gas, much of which comes from Norway via the world’s longest underwater gas pipeline and is vulnerable to disruption and sabotage. The lack of transmission lines available to move power flowing south from Scottish wind farms has caused grid congestion in England. To better manage it, the U.K. has installed SmartValves at three substations in northern England—Penwortham, Harker, and Saltholme—and is constructing a fourth at South Shields. Chris Philpot The U.K.’s resulting grid congestion prevents transmission operators from delivering some of their cleanest, cheapest generation to all of the consumers who want it. Congestion is a perennial problem whenever power consumption is on the rise. It pushes circuits to their thermal limits and creates grid stability or security constraints.With congestion relief needed now, the U.K.’s grid operators are getting creative, rapidly tapping new cable designs and innovations in power electronics to squeeze more power through existing transmission corridors. These grid-enhancing technologies, or GETs, present a low-cost way to bridge the gap until new lines can be built.“GETs allow us to operate the system harder before an investment arrives, and they save a s***load of money,” says Julian Leslie, chief engineer and director of strategic energy planning at the National Energy System Operator (NESO), the Warwick-based agency that directs U.K. energy markets and infrastructure. Transmission lines running across England’s countryside are maxed out, creating bottlenecks in the grid that prevent some carbon-free power from reaching customers. Vincent Lowe/Alamy The U.K.’s extreme grid challenge has made it ground zero for some of the boldest GETs testing and deployment. Such innovation involves some risk, because an intervention anywhere on the U.K.’s tightly meshed power system can have system-wide impacts. (Grid operators elsewhere are choosing to start with GETs at their systems’ periphery—where there’s less impact if something goes wrong.)The question is how far—and how fast—the U.K.’s grid operators can push GETs capabilities. The new technologies still have a limited track record, so operators are cautiously feeling their way toward heavier investment. Power system experts also have unanswered questions about these advanced grid capabilities. For example, will they create more complexity than grid operators can manage in real time? Might feedback between different devices destabilize the grid?There is no consensus yet as to how to even screen for such risks, let alone protect against them, says Robin Preece, professor in future power systems at the University of Manchester, in England. “We’re at the start of establishing that now, but we’re building at the same time. So it’s kind of this race between the necessity to get this technology installed as quickly as possible, and our ability to fully understand what’s happening.”How is the U.K. Managing Grid Congestion?One of the most innovative and high-stakes tricks in the U.K.’s toolbox employs electronic power-flow controllers, devices that shift electricity from jammed circuits to those with spare capacity. These devices have been able to finesse enough additional wind power through grid bottlenecks to replace an entire gas-fired generator. Installed in northern England four years ago by Smart Wires, based in Durham, N.C., these SmartValves are expected to help even more as NESO installs more of them and masters their capabilities.Warwick-based National Grid Electricity Transmission, the grid operator for England and Wales, is adding SmartValves and also replacing several thousand kilometers of overhead wire with advanced conductors that can carry more current. And it’s using a technique called dynamic line rating, whereby sensors and models work together to predict when weather conditions will allow lines to carry extra current.Other kinds of GETs are also being used globally. Advanced conductors are the most widely deployed. Dynamic line rating is increasingly common in European countries, and U.S. utilities are beginning to take it seriously. Europe also leads the world in topology-optimization software, which reconfigures power routes to alleviate congestion, and advanced power-flow-control devices like SmartValves. Engineers install dynamic line rating technology from the Boston-based company LineVision on National Grid’s transmission network. National Grid Electricity Transmission SmartValves’ chops stand out at the Penwortham substation in Lancashire, England, one of two National Grid sites where the device made its U.K. debut in 2021. Penwortham substation is a major transmission hub, whose spokes desperately need congestion relief. Auditory evidence of heavy power flows was clear during my visit to the substation, which buzzes loudly. The sound is due to the electromechanical stresses on the substation’s massive transformers, explains my guide, National Grid commissioned engineer Paul Lloyd.Penwortham’s transformers, circuits, and protective relays are spread over 15 hectares, sandwiched between pastureland and suburban homes near Preston, a small city north of Manchester. Power arrives from the north on two pairs of 400-kilovolt AC lines, and most of it exits southward via 400-kV and 275-kV double-circuit wires. Transmission lines lead to the congested Penwortham substation, which has become a test-bed for GETs such as SmartValves and dynamic line rating. Peter Fairley What makes the substation a strategic test-bed for GETs is its position just north of the U.K. grid’s biggest bottleneck, known as Boundary B7a, which runs east to west across the island. Nine circuits traverse the B7a: the four AC lines headed south from Penwortham, four AC lines closer to Yorkshire’s North Sea coast, and a high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) link offshore. In theory, those circuits can collectively carry 13.6 gigawatts across the B7a. But NESO caps its flow at several gigawatts lower to ensure that no circuits overload if any two lines turn off.Such limits are necessary for grid reliability, but they are leaving terawatt-hours of wind power stranded in Scotland and increasing consumers’ energy costs: an extra £196 million (US $265 million) in 2024 alone. The costs stem from NESO having to ramp up gas-fired generators to meet demand down south while simultaneously compensating wind-farm operators for curtailing their output, as required under U.K. policy.So National Grid keeps tweaking Penwortham. In 2011 the substation got its first big GET: phase-shifting transformers (PSTs), a type of analog flow controller. PSTs adjust power flow by creating an AC waveform whose alternating voltage leads or lags its alternating current. They do so by each PST using a pair of connected transformers to selectively combine power from an AC transmission circuit’s three phases. Motors reposition electrical connections on the transformer coils to adjust flows. Phase-shifting transformers (PSTs) were installed in 2012 at the Penwortham substation and are the analog predecessor to SmartValves. They’re powerful but also bulky and relatively inflexible. It can take 10 minutes or more for the PST’s motorized actuators at Penwortham to tap their full range of flow control, whereas SmartValves can shift within milliseconds.National Grid Electricity Transmission Penwortham’s pair of 540-tonne PSTs occupy the entire south end of the substation, along with their dedicated chillers, relays, and power supplies. Delivering all that hardware required extensive road closures and floating a huge barge up the adjacent River Ribble, an event that made national news.The SmartValves at Penwortham stand in stark contrast to the PSTs’ heft, complexity, and mechanics. SmartValves are a type of static synchronous series compensator, or SSSC—a solid-state alternative to PSTs that employs power electronics to tweak power flows in milliseconds. I saw two sets of them tucked into a corner of the substation, occupying a quarter of the area of the PSTs. The SmartValve V103 design [above] experienced some teething and reliability issues that were ironed out with the technology’s next iteration, the V104. National Grid Electricity Transmission/Smart Wires The SmartValves are first and foremost an insurance policy to guard against a potentially crippling event: the sudden loss of one of the B7a’s 400-kV lines. If that were to happen, gigawatts of power would instantly seek another route over neighboring lines. And if it happened on a windy day, when lots of power is streaming in from the north, the resulting surge could overload the 275-kV circuits headed from Penwortham to Liverpool. The SmartValves’ job is to save the day.They do this by adding impedance to the 275-kV lines, thus acting to divert more power to the remaining 400-kV lines. This rerouting of power prevents a blackout that could potentially cascade through the grid. The upside to that protection is that NESO can safely schedule an additional 350 MW over the B7a.The savings add up. “That’s 350 MW of wind you’re no longer curtailing from wind farms. So that’s 350 times £100 a megawatt-hour,” says Leslie, at NESO. “That’s also 350 MW of gas-fired power that you don’t need to replace the wind. So that’s 350 times £120 a megawatt-hour. The numbers get big quickly.”Mark Osborne, the National Grid lead asset life-cycle engineer managing its SmartValve projects, estimates the devices are saving U.K. customers over £100 million (US $132 million) a year. At that rate, they’ll pay for themselves “within a few years,” Osborne says. By utility standards, where investments are normally amortized over decades, that’s “almost immediately,” he adds.How Do Grid-Enhancing Technologies Work?The way Smart Wires’ SSSC devices adjust power flow is based on emulating impedance, which is a strange beast created by AC power. An AC flow’s changing magnetic field induces an additional voltage in the line’s conductor, which then acts as a drag on the initial field. Smart Wires’ SSSC devices alter power flow by emulating that natural process, effectively adding or subtracting impedance by adding their own voltage wave to the line. Adding a wave that leads the original voltage wave will boost flow, while adding a lagging wave will reduce flow.The SSSC’s submodules of capacitors and high-speed insulated-gate bipolar transistors operate in sequence to absorb power from a line and synthesize its novel impedance-altering waves. And thanks to its digital controls and switches, the device can within milliseconds flip from maximum power push to maximum pull.You can trace the development of SSSCs to the advent of HVDC transmission in the 1950s. HVDC converters take power from an AC grid and efficiently convert it and transfer it over a DC line to another point in the same grid, or to a neighboring AC grid. In 1985, Narain Hingorani, an HVDC expert at the Palo Alto–based Electric Power Research Institute, showed that similar converters could modulate the flow of an AC line. Four years later, Westinghouse engineer Laszlo Gyugyi proposed SSSCs, which became the basis for Smart Wires’ boxes.Major power-equipment manufacturers tried to commercialize SSSCs in the early 2000s. But utilities had little need for flow control back then because they had plenty of conventional power plants that could meet local demand when transmission lines were full.The picture changed as solar and wind generation exploded and conventional plants began shutting down. In years past, grid operators addressed grid congestion by turning power plants on or off in strategic locations. But as of 2024, the U.K. had shut down all of its coal-fired power plants—save one, which now burns wood—and it has vowed to slash gas-fired generation from about a quarter of electricity supply in 2024 to at most 5 percent in 2030.The U.K.’s extreme grid challenge has made it ground zero for some of the boldest GETs testing and deployment.To seize the emerging market opportunity presented by changing grid operations, Smart Wires had to make a crucial technology upgrade: ditching transformers. The company’s first SSSC, and those from other suppliers, relied on a transformer to absorb lightning, voltage surges, and every other grid assault that could fry their power electronics. This made them bulky and added cost. So Smart Wires engineers set to work in 2017 to see if they could live without the transformer, says Frank Kreikebaum, Smart Wires’s interim chief of engineering. Two years later the company had assembled a transformerless electronic shield. It consisted of a suite of filters and diverters, along with a control system to activate them. Ditching the transformer produced a trim, standardized product—a modular system-in-a-box.SmartValves work at any voltage and are generally ganged together to achieve a desired level of flow control. They can be delivered fast, and they fit in the kinds of tight spaces that are common in substations. “It’s not about cost, even though we’re competitive there. It’s about ‘how quick’ and ‘can it fit,’” says Kreikebaum.And if the grid’s pinch point shifts? The devices can be quickly moved to another substation. “It’s a Lego-brick build,” says Owen Wilkes, National Grid’s director of network design. Wilkes’s team decides where to add equipment based on today’s best projections, but he appreciates the flexibility to respond to unexpected changes.National Grid’s deployments in 2021 were the highest-voltage installation of SSSCs at the time, and success there is fueling expansion. National Grid now has packs of SmartValves installed at three substations in northern England and under construction at another, with five more installations planned in that area. Smart Wires has also commissioned commercial projects at transmission substations in Australia, Brazil, Colombia, and the United States.Dynamic Line Rating Boosts Grid EfficiencyIn addition to SSSCs, National Grid has deployed lidar that senses sag on Penwortham’s 275-kV lines—an indication that they’re starting to overheat. The sensors are part of a dynamic line rating system and help grid operators maximize the amount of current that high-voltage lines can carry based on near-real-time weather conditions. (Cooler weather means more capacity.) Now the same technology is being deployed across the B7a—a £1 million investment that is projected to save consumers £33 million annually, says Corin Ireland, a National Grid optimization engineer with the task of seizing GETs opportunities.There’s also a lot of old conductor wires being swapped out for those that can carry more power. National Grid’s business plan calls for 2,416 kilometers of such reconductoring over the coming five years, which is about 20 percent of its system. Scotland’s transmission operators are busy with their own big swaps. Scottish wind farms have doubled their power output over the past decade, but it often gets stranded due to grid congestion in England. Andreas Berthold/Alamy But while National Grid and NESO are making some of the boldest deployments of GETs in the world, they’re not fully tapping the technologies’ capabilities. That’s partly due to the conservative nature of power utilities, and partly because grid operators already have plenty to keep their eyes on. It also stems from the unknowns that still surround GETs, like whether they might take the grid in unforeseen directions if allowed to respond automatically, or get stuck in a feedback loop responding to each other. Imagine SmartValve controllers at different substations fighting, with one substation jumping to remove impedance that the other just added, causing fluctuating power flows.“These technologies operate very quickly, but the computers in the control room are still very reliant on people making decisions,” says Ireland. “So there are time scales that we have to take into consideration when planning and operating the network.”This kind of conservative dispatching leaves value on the table. For example, the dynamic line rating models can spit out new line ratings every 15 minutes, but grid operators get updates only every 24 hours. Fewer updates means fewer opportunities to tap the system’s ability to boost capacity. Similarly, for SmartValves, NESO activates installations at only one substation at a time. And control-room operators turn them on manually, even though the devices could automatically respond to faults within milliseconds. National Grid is upgrading transmission lines dating as far back as the 1960s. This includes installing conductors that retain their strength at higher temperatures, allowing them to carry more power. National Grid Electricity Transmission Modeling by Smart Wires and National Grid shows a significant capacity boost across Boundary B7a if Penwortham’s SmartValves were to work in tandem with another set further up the line. For example, when Penwortham is adding impedance to push megawatts off the 275-kV lines, a set closer to Scotland could simultaneously pull the power north, nudging the sum over to the B7a’s eastern circuits. Simulations by Andy Hiorns, a former National Grid planning director who consults for Smart Wires, suggest that this kind of cooperative action should increase the B7a circuits’ usable capacity by another 250 to 300 MW. “You double the effectiveness by using them as pairs,” he says.Operating multiple flow controllers may become necessary for unlocking the next boundary en route to London, south of the B7a, called Boundary B8. As dynamic line rating, beefier conductors, and SmartValves send more power across the B7a, lines traversing B8 are reaching their limits. Eventually, every boundary along the route will have to be upgraded.Meanwhile, back at its U.S. headquarters, Smart Wires is developing other applications for its SSSCs, such as filtering out power oscillations that can destabilize grids and reduce allowable transfers. That capability could be unlocked remotely with firmware.The company is also working on a test program that could turn on pairs of SmartValve installations during slack moments when there isn’t much going on in the control rooms. That would give National Grid and NESO operators an opportunity to observe the impacts, and to get more comfortable with the technology.National Grid and Smart Wires are also hard at work developing industry-first optimization software for coordinating flow-control devices. “It’s possible to extend the technology from how we’re using it today,” says Ireland at National Grid. “That’s the exciting bit.”NESO’s Julian Leslie shares that excitement and says he expects SmartValves to begin working together to ease power through the grid—once the operators have the modeling right and get a little more comfortable with the technology. “It’s a great innovation that has the potential to be really transformational,” he says. “We’re just not quite there yet.”
Once completed, this telescope will help usher in a new era of astronomy.
Learning later in life isn't just possible, it is important for good quality of life. It can boost memory, emotional well-being, and even a sense of purpose. A new study shows that older adults learn best when they're taught the same way that is best for younger people, with active participation, meaningful discussions, and material that feels relevant to their lives. The findings emphasize that the common method of lecture-based learning does not fit older adults' characteristics because it requires good memory and often feels irrelevant.
In the Ozarks, the growing college town of Fayetteville, Ark., is using clean energy to power city facilities and embracing nature-based solutions to climate threats.
A bipartisan push continues to compel the Pentagon to release footage of the double-tap strike by the US military on an alleged drug boat. "As soon as there’s something that’s questionable... they want to keep that from the American people," says Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) pursues big ideas to solve the most important security challenges facing the U.S. and the world. In that pursuit, scientific breakthroughs with market potential are discovered, protected and licensed to (or collaborated on) with industry partners through a process called technology transfer.
Students at Corbett High School staged a walkout on Tuesday, alleging that school administrators failed to act when informed that the images were circulating online.
There's more to the universe than meets the eye. Dark matter, the invisible substance that accounts for 85 percent of the mass in the...
GPS collars on cattle are letting ranchers remove fences in the West. That’s good for wildlife and for the land.
A “green glacier” of trees is steadily taking over native grasslands. Landowners are banding together to treat the problem with fire.
Aging taps us on the shoulder in many ways: wrinkles, thinning hair, loss of flexibility, slowing of the brain. But the process also unfolds at a more...
Researchers say comparing unknown compounds in a patient’s blood or urine to those in the publicly available GNPS Drug Library reveals a more accurate picture of their drug exposure than what may be listed on a patient’s medical record.The post GNPS Drug Library Uncovers Drug Exposures Using Untargeted Metabolomics appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
A comprehensive systems analysis reveals that Pakistan's agricultural sector is on an unsustainable trajectory. Current input-intensive practices cannot meet future food security needs without increasing ecological stress. A new study published in Agricultural Systems presents the first quantitative framework for transitioning to sustainable agriculture through integrated water-energy-food (WEF) nexus management. This framework has broad relevance for semi-arid regions worldwide.
A new student-run magazine focuses on long-form journalism that reflects the culture of Cornell and Ithaca.
The December issue of the Journal of Cardiac Failure (JCF), now available, offers a robust lineup of original research, expert consensus, and clinical insights that explore heart failure (HF) through a multidisciplinary, inclusive, and globally engaged lens.
Most pet dogs carry a little wolf inside them; tiny snippets of wolf DNA that slipped into dog genomes after domestication. A new study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has found that almost two-thirds of dog breeds have a small amount of wolf genes, which may have provided them with unique advantages to survive in diverse human environments.Continue ReadingCategory: Biology, ScienceTags: Pets, Dogs, Genetics, DNA, Evolution
New gravitational lens measurements reveal a faster expansion rate for the universe The Brighter Side of NewsHubble Tension: Gravitational Lenses Confirm That Something Is Still Broken In The Universe IFLScienceQuasar time delays give astronomers bold new clue to cosmic expansion Interesting EngineeringThis Telescope’s Final Data Release Just Killed 30 Cosmological Theories Gizmodo'Hubble tension' is back again as a new cosmic map deepens the puzzle Space
Best Astrophotos of the Week [2-9 Dec]: Last Full Moon of 2025, Sky Halo, And More! Orbital TodayBreathtaking images of the supermoon from around the world CTV NewsIN PHOTOS | See final supermoon of 2025 CBCLook up! The Full Cold Supermoon shines highest in the sky this week The Weather NetworkA look at the most beautiful supermoon moments worldwide – DW – 12/05/2025 DW
(MENAFN - EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, Smart Hospitality Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by ...
Humans are far more monogamous than our primate cousins, but less so than beavers, a new study suggests.
Humans are far more monogamous than our primate cousins, but less so than beavers, a new study suggests.
The Starlink 15-11 mission will add another 27 broadband internet satellites to the low Earth orbit megaconstellation. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled for 3:40 a.m. PST (6:40 a.m. EST / 1140 UTC).
Traveling-wave parametric amplifiers (TWPAs) are electronic devices that boost weak microwave signals (i.e., electromagnetic waves with frequencies typically ranging between 1 and 100 GHz). Recently, many engineers have been developing TWPAs based on superconductors, materials that conduct electricity with a resistance of zero at low temperatures.
Australia is home to more than 1,800 orchid species—many found nowhere else. But these unique plants face growing threats.
In collaboration with scientists in Germany, EPFL researchers have demonstrated that the spiral geometry of tiny, twisted magnetic tubes can be leveraged to transmit data based on quasiparticles called magnons, rather than electrons.
The most comprehensive assessment of the global environment ever undertaken has found that investing in a stable climate, healthy nature and land, and a pollution-free planet can deliver trillions in additional global GDP, avoid millions of deaths and lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and hunger.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a nationwide conversation in the U.S. about how much people trust scientists and trained medical professionals. But for some communities, distrust has been the norm.
An international team of astronomers has investigated a short-lived optical flare designated AT2022zod. As a result, they found evidence indicating that this flare is an unusual tidal disruption event. The findings were presented in a research paper published Dec. 1 on the arXiv pre-print server.
The mission, dubbed NROL-77, is likely to be the final time SpaceX uses Landing Zone 2 to recover a first stage Falcon booster. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 2:16 p.m. EST (1916 UTC).
Researchers have developed a method to detect the destruction of buildings using freely available satellite radar imagery. Daniel Racek and colleagues' algorithm analyzes publicly available Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar images from the European Space Agency to identify destroyed buildings in conflict zones. The study is published in the journal PNAS Nexus.
Scientists working to enhance brain-computer interface (BCI) technology—which allows people to control devices with their thoughts—have found they can improve the performance of electrodes implanted in the brain by targeted delivery of anti-inflammatory drugs.
The coin minted between 1584 and 1586 celebrates England’s naval superiority.The post Elizabethan era gold coin sold for record-breaking price appeared first on Popular Science.
A sudden X-ray flare from a supermassive black hole in galaxy NGC 3783 triggered ultra-fast winds racing outward at a fifth the speed of light—an event never witnessed before. Using XMM-Newton and XRISM, astronomers caught the blast unfold in real time, revealing how tangled magnetic fields can rapidly “untwist” and hurl matter into space much like an enormous, cosmic-scale version of the Sun’s coronal mass ejections.
University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies announces a new white paper, "Leadership Opportunities for Increasing Employee Value through Artificial Intelligence," authored by Andrew C. Lawlor, Ph.D., and Pamayla E. Darbyshire, DHA, MSN/CNS, both Fellows at the Center for Educational and Instructional Technology Research (CEITR).
Researchers from Edith Cowan University (ECU) along with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) have been working together to help protect the world's rarest marsupial by better understanding their diet. The critically endangered Gilbert's potoroo, which is native to Western Australia, has less than 150 individuals remaining in the wild.
Analysts at China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Reddit (NYSE:RDDT – Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. China Renaissance’s target price suggests a potential upside of 26.62% from the company’s current price. Other equities research analysts [...]