Friday of the future: about how many people will go deaf because of headphones, about chips from mushrooms and about the reality of virtual love

Greetings! The future, like Friday, is inevitable, and we will talk about what it brings us in the next issue

"Fridays of the Future"Is it possible to fall in love with a virtual character and how many people, according to WHO, can go deaf due to the use of headphones? How reliable is the antivirus built into Windows and is it possible to grow a chipset out of a mushroom? How about non-flammable lithium batteries and 99.99% purity silicon tetrachloride from Rosatom? Can WhatsApp turn off notifications on its own and should data centers be moved to space?

Russian polymer will not allow a lithium battery to catch fire ...
… but the Chinese already have an alternative
Rosatom will be able to produce high-purity silicon tetrachloride
The European Commission swung at the transfer of data centers in space
Mushroom computer chips
Whatsapp turns off notifications
Nvidia and Microsoft to build cloud-based AI supercomputer
The built-in Windows antivirus is the worst protection
WHO named the price of using headphones
You can fall in love with a computer character

Russian polymer will not allow a lithium battery to catch fire ...

Lithium-ion batteries are good for everyone exceptthat immediately contain active oxidizing agents, reducing agents and organic electrolytes. Those. all components that are good not only for generating electricity, but also for starting a small fire or even an explosion. To do this, the wrong charge, overcharge or overheating is enough. And instead of useful energy, we get a lot of problems, because putting out a lithium battery is not so easy. And the damage and danger to life, if we are talking about a fire in an electric car, is very high. As a rule, the minimum damage is the complete destruction of the device in which the battery was used. To avoid such damage from short circuit currents, the Institute of Chemistry of St. Petersburg State University suggests using a special protective polymer. Ni(CH3 OSalen) is sensitive to high temperatures and voltage. When changing their parameters, it switches between the conductive and insulating phases. If such a polymer is applied as a protective layer, then the conductive capacity inside the battery will decrease, and instead of explosion and fire, the battery will simply slowly discharge.

Image from MDPI website

… but the Chinese already have an alternative

An alternative solution, also able to dolithium batteries are fireproof, suggest Chinese scientists from Beijing Tsinghua University and Renmin University. They also worked on the polymer component of the lithium battery. But their choice was to use heat-sensitive polymers. At temperatures up to 92 degrees Celsius, these polymers work as usual, maintaining the flow of electrons between the electrodes. But when the specified temperature is exceeded, programmed three-dimensional patterns begin to form in them, which violate the integrity of the copper layer, and the electrochemical reaction in the battery stops. The downside, as in the case of Russian technology, is that such an “emergency shutdown” battery will no longer function, but will be sent for recycling. However, against the background of the potential consequences of a fire, such costs seem quite acceptable.

Image from Nano Letters website

Rosatom will be able to produce high-purity silicon tetrachloride

Giredmet JSC, a member of the concernRosatom reports that its researchers have been able to develop a new technology for producing high-purity silicon tetrachloride. Purification levels up to 99.999% are claimed to be achieved. Such material can be used to create fiber-optic cables, semiconductors and rubber, which is very important in the context of sanctions and import substitution. It is noteworthy that the technology proposed for development involves the use of inexpensive sedimentary rock diatomite as a feedstock, and after the extraction of silicon, it can later be used as an adsorbent in the food and agricultural industry or cosmetology. In this case, silicon tetrachloride is obtained in the form of an active liquid substance, which easily reacts with other substances, serving as the basis for creating compounds necessary in the production of optical fibers, semiconductors, as well as various rubbers, lubricants, rubbers and polymers. It can also be further used to obtain high-purity silicon.

Diatomite image from Wikipedia

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The European Commission swung at the transfer of data centers in space

In one of our previous episodes, we talked aboutthat, according to some scientists, data backups would be worth storing on the moon. But this technology is referred to the area of the future, when mankind will master the Earth's satellite to such an extent that it will be able to create autonomous bases on it. But the representatives of the European Commission, it seems, aim at a much more immediate future. As part of its study of ways to reduce the climate impact of data centers, the European Commission is evaluating various options for locating data centers and other high-performance computing facilities in near-Earth space. The European Commission has launched a business case for such placements as part of the wider Horizon Europe program. The option of placing in orbit data processing centers powered entirely by solar panels is being considered, while the communication of the centers with consumers on Earth will be carried out on the basis of optical communication. The EU is said to have already developed the underlying technology to enable such a transfer. One of the tasks will be to assess the negative impact on the climate of the process of launching the required amount of data center equipment into orbit, as well as the ability of equipment for long-term operation in space.

Image from ITHome website

Mushroom computer chips

Work on the problem of recycling and recyclingelectronics sometimes give rise to technologies that almost sound like a joke. In the last issue, we talked about the fact that the printed circuit board in the future will be able to be printed on a conventional printer, and now that mushrooms will be used in chipsets. Of course, “a computer chip made from mushrooms” is some exaggeration, but Austrian scientists in all seriousness suggest replacing the polymers on which the microcircuits are placed with the skin of Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms (lacquered tinder fungus). This natural material has high insulating properties and can withstand high temperatures up to 250 degrees, and also has good flexibility. Yes, he is afraid of light and moisture, but for use in electronics, according to scientists, this will not be a big problem. The resulting material was named MycelioTronic and medical implants are seen as a primary area of application, but research is also being conducted towards the creation of a fully degradable substrate for a biodegradable printed circuit board, which could also be used in consumer electronics, solving the problem of disposal and recycling.

Image from Science website

Whatsapp turns off notifications

Coming soon with an updated versionthe popular WhatsApp messenger, the Russians will lose some more control over it. The app's updated policy says it will automatically turn off some notifications. This is all part of an upcoming update that should help users better customize their notification system. In general, it sounds good - it will be possible to more accurately configure the necessary chats and not receive intrusive notifications from not the most desirable ones. But if you are in a group with a lot of users (from 256), then the application will automatically turn off notifications. In order to see what's new there, you have to go to the application.

Nvidia and Microsoft to build cloud-based AI supercomputer

Nvidia and Microsoft will merge.But not as businesses, but in the development and creation of a cloud supercomputer for work on artificial intelligence. At the same time, as stated, the goal of the companies is to create the world's first public cloud for artificial intelligence. Microsoft's contribution to a good cause will be the provision of the Azure cloud platform. The "iron" side of the project will be provided by Nvidia, providing A100 and H100 graphics processors and Quantum-2 InfiniBand network switches. Nvidia will also be provided with the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform. It is noted that Azure is the first to use Quantum-2 InfiniBand to accelerate data processing and modeling, which will give Azure users the ability to generate various content. Among those who may need it are research organizations and commercial enterprises leading developments of various kinds.

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The built-in Windows antivirus is the worst protection

The German company AV-Test conducted the firsttesting antiviruses in the environment of the Windows 11 operating system. And, perhaps, Microsoft should regret this. After all, it was her built-in protection of the operating system that turned out to be among the outsiders of the rating. Moreover, it was Windows Defender that took the completely unprestigious last place in the ranking, losing to all 17 competitors. Note that in the Windows 10 operating environment, this protection system did not demonstrate such disappointing results (on the contrary, it was among the leaders), and in practice it demonstrates not so bad stability. However, in Windows 11, researchers from AV-Test noted that Defender significantly slows down the copying of files and installation of programs, while not being so good at eliminating attacks using a zero-day vulnerability. As a result, its effectiveness was estimated at 16 points, that is, 3 points less than the programs that shared the first place. However, it is worth noting that any program that scores more than 10.5 points in tests receives confirmation of the effectiveness of protection, so it is not necessary to consider the "Defender" insufficiently reliable. Directly according to the assessments of the effectiveness of protection, he missed only 0.5 points to the maximum possible rating, and the “failure” in the rating was provided by performance indicators. Although there is nothing new here. Windows 11 as a whole is showing some performance issues so far, so its antivirus protection is just in trend.

Image from Cnews website

WHO named the price of using headphones

World Health Organizationwarns that up to 1.3 billion people on Earth are at risk of partial or complete hearing loss. Experts came to this conclusion by analyzing 33 scientific papers devoted to the study of the effect of loud music on the hearing of 20,000 people aged 17 to 34 years. Provided that the sound volume exceeds 85 decibels, the inner ear, the auditory nerve are at risk, the number of hair cells is reduced, which leads to hearing loss. However, studies show that when using headphones, about half of young people exceed the safe volume level of sound, and the maximum volume of listening to music can reach 112 decibels. If the results are extrapolated to the entire population of the Earth, it turns out that from 670 million to 1.35 billion people are at risk of hearing loss.

Image from the RBC website

You can fall in love with a computer character

If you think you're in love with a charactercomputer game, then do not worry - this is normal. In any case, this is the conclusion made by the researchers who published an article in the British Journal of Social Psychology. As befits a British scholar of anecdotes, part of the study only formalizes the well-known truth that gamers can develop romantic feelings towards computer game characters. Scientifically, it sounds like this: "The romantic anthropomorphism of the virtual agent predetermines the desire for a real relationship with the virtual agent and greater positive influence through the feeling of authenticity of the relationship built with the virtual agent." But there is nothing to worry about. Projecting relationships with a virtual object into the real world turned out to be impossible. Subsequent studies have shown that romantic relationships in games do not predict behavior in relationships with a real person. It is also argued that having a virtual love relationship does not affect relationships with people in the real world. Love affairs in games will not destroy your marriage. But it is not exactly.

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