Short Takes – 8-22-23 – Geek Edition –

A new approach to reduce the risk of losing solar-powered rovers on the moon. Phys.org article. A Pull quote: “A key objective of the recent work by Lamarre and his colleagues was to quantify the probability of losing solar-powered rovers as they are exploring these shadowed areas on the moon. In addition, the team wished to devise an approach that could help to maximize the probability that the solar-powered rovers will safely complete their missions.”

We could soon be getting energy from solar power harvested in space. TheConversation.com article. Pull quote: “In SBSP, the energy is converted several times (light to electricity to microwaves to electricity), and some of it is lost as heat. In order to inject 2 gigawatts (GW) of power into the grid, about 10 GW of power will need to be collected by the satellite.”

Pyrolysed plastic waste converted into valuable chemical feedstocks. ChemistryWorld.com article. Pull quote: “Pyrolysis is currently the most common way to recover hydrocarbons from plastic and involves heating the waste to high temperatures. The long polymer chains thermally decompose through a radical mechanism, forming an olefin-rich mixture known as pyrolysis oil which can then be used as a fuel for other industrial processes. However, George Huber from the University of Wisconsin–Madison believes we could extract greater value from this hydrocarbon mixture by exploiting the high proportion of alkenes present in the oil. ‘The whole chemical industry is based on first making an olefin from crude oil and then using that to access all these different chemistries,’ he explains. ‘So why not take advantage of the olefin functionality in pyrolysis oil and use it to make higher-value chemicals rather than just making fuels from it, or feeding it back to a steam cracker?’”

How Hilary Turned Into a Monster Storm. Wired.com article. Pull quote: “This topology helps explain why hurricanes behave differently on different sides of the US. The East Coast and gulf region are relatively flat, allowing storms to travel more easily, while the mountainous west coasts of Mexico and California tend to break them up quicker. That’s partly why Southern California has been getting such intense rainfall; Hilary is fragmenting and dumping its moisture much faster than a more cohesive hurricane would while lumbering along the East Coast. Think of the East Coast scenario as similar to letting air out of a tire until it’s flat. On the West Coast, with Hilary, it’s more like popping that tire.”

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