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New reactor design improves plastic feedstock synthesis using oxygen and electricity

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In Short: Nike has launched the Alphafly 4, the latest version of its marathon racing shoe, designed to improve running efficiency and performance.

ATI RV670 die shot light etch
Photo: Martijn Boer / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

The new model also features a new outsole material called Light Shot, contributing to its lightweight design.

Nike emphasizes that the Alphafly 4 was designed based on feedback from runners across various backgrounds, abilities, and experience levels around the world.

The company uses the term 'running economy' to measure how efficiently a runner uses energy, tracking the amount of oxygen their muscles require during sustained effort.

In addition to the Alphafly 4, Huawei has introduced the Mate XT2, which comes with a redesigned hinge, improved water resistance, and a privacy screen that prevents nearby people from viewing the display.

Meanwhile, researchers at Mälardalen University in Sweden have developed semi-transparent, rose-tinted solar panels that allow specific wavelengths of light to pass through to plants while also capturing solar energy for electricity.

The solar panels use part of the incoming sunlight to generate renewable electricity while allowing part of the light to pass through to crops growing underneath.

This innovative approach could potentially harvest sunlight more efficiently by allocating different portions of the solar spectrum to crop growth and electricity generation.

In a separate development, researchers have combined AI technologies to create proteins capable of bypassing conventional DNA synthesis detection, a significant challenge for researchers, synthesis firms, and biosecurity enthusiasts.

The researchers used AlphaProteo with a SynthID Bio-equipped version of ProteinMPNN to design binders for three targets: VEGF-A, the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD), and PD-L1.

The results of wet-lab testing show that watermarked designs perform similarly to non-watermarked designs in terms of hit rate, binding affinity, and sequence diversity.

The new version improves search functionality and supports Google’s Material Design, enhancing the aesthetics and cohesion with the rest of Android.

In another technological advancement, a team led by Simin Ma at Yunnan University has developed perovskite solar cells designed to work underwater, potentially providing a new power source for marine sensors and autonomous underwater equipment.

What this adds

The new Alphafly 4 is designed to enhance running efficiency and performance, incorporating feedback from a diverse group of runners.

The AI technologies used to create proteins capable of bypassing conventional DNA synthesis detection could have significant implications for biosecurity and research.

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