Science & Technology – Winnipeg Free Press

From left, Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Sweden's King Carl Gustaf at the inauguration of Esrange's new satellite launch ramp, Spaceport Esrange outside Kiruna Sweden, Friday Jan. 13, 2023. The European Commission and the Swedish government met in Sweden's northernmost city Kiruna and nearby Jukkasjarvi on Jan. 12-13, the first meeting since Swedish took over the EU presidency on Jan. 1, 2023. (Jonas Ekströme/TT News Agency via AP)

EU inaugurates first mainland satellite launch port

The Associated Press 2 minute read Friday, Jan. 13, 2023

KIRUNA, Sweden (AP) — The European Union wants to bolster its capacity to launch small satellites into space with a new launchpad in Arctic Sweden.

European officials and Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf inaugurated the EU's first mainland orbital launch complex on Friday during a visit to Sweden by members of the European Commission, which is the 27-nation bloc's executive arm.

The new facility at Esrange Space Center near the city of Kiruna should complement the EU’s current launching capabilities in French Guiana.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said small satellites are crucial to tracking natural disasters in real time and, in the light of Russia's war in Ukraine, to help guarantee global security.

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Toyota pushes zero-emission goals by converting old models

Yuri Kageyama, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Toyota pushes zero-emission goals by converting old models

Yuri Kageyama, The Associated Press 3 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

CHIBA, Japan (AP) — To accelerate the global move toward sustainable vehicles, Toyota is suggesting simply replacing the inner workings of vehicles already on the roads with cleaner technology like fuel cells and electric motors.

“I don’t want to leave any car lover behind,” Chief Executive Akio Toyoda said Friday, appearing on the stage at the Tokyo Auto Salon, an industry event similar to the world’s auto shows.

The message was clear: Toyota Motor Corp. wants the world to know it hasn’t fallen behind in electric vehicles, as some detractors have implied.

Japan’s top automaker, behind the Lexus luxury brands and the Prius hybrid, is highlighting its clout: It has all the technology, engineering, financial reserves and industry experience needed to remain a powerful competitor in green vehicles.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

Toyota Motor Corp. Chief Executive Akio Toyoda delivers a speech on the stage at the Tokyo Auto Salon, an industry event similar to the world's auto shows Friday, Jan. 13, 2023, in Chiba near Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

EXPLAINER: List of states banning TikTok grows

Scott Bauer, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

EXPLAINER: List of states banning TikTok grows

Scott Bauer, The Associated Press 4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin and North Carolina have joined at least 22 other states in banning the popular social media app TikTok on state-owned devices, including Mississippi, Indiana, Louisiana and South Dakota.

Congress also recently banned TikTok from most U.S. government-issued devices over bipartisan concerns about security.

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020. It has been targeted by critics who say the Chinese government could access user data, such as browsing history and location. U.S. armed forces also have prohibited the app on military devices.

TikTok is consumed by two-thirds of American teens and has become the second-most popular domain in the world. But there’s long been bipartisan concern in Washington that Beijing would use legal and regulatory power to seize American user data or try to push pro-China narratives or misinformation.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

Study: Exxon Mobil accurately predicted warming since 1970s

Seth Borenstein And Cathy Bussewitz, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Study: Exxon Mobil accurately predicted warming since 1970s

Seth Borenstein And Cathy Bussewitz, The Associated Press 7 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

DENVER (AP) — Exxon Mobil’s scientists were remarkably accurate in their predictions about global warming, even as the company made public statements that contradicted its own scientists' conclusions, a new study says.

The study in the journal Science Thursday looked at research that Exxon funded that didn’t just confirm what climate scientists were saying, but used more than a dozen different computer models that forecast the coming warming with precision equal to or better than government and academic scientists.

This was during the same time that the oil giant publicly doubted that warming was real and dismissed climate models’ accuracy. Exxon said its understanding of climate change evolved over the years and that critics are misunderstanding its earlier research.

Scientists, governments, activists and news sites, including Inside Climate News and the Los Angeles Times, several years ago reported that “Exxon knew” about the science of climate change since about 1977 all while publicly casting doubt. What the new study does is detail how accurate Exxon funded research was. From 63% to 83% of those projections fit strict standards for accuracy and generally predicted correctly that the globe would warm about .36 degrees (.2 degrees Celsius) a decade.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

FILE - Exxon Mobil Billings Refinery sits in Billings, Mont. Exxon Mobil’s scientists were remarkably accurate in their predictions about global warming, even as the company made public statements that contradicted its own scientists' conclusions, a new study says. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

How technology used by NASA on Mars could reduce emissions from Canada’s oilsands

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

How technology used by NASA on Mars could reduce emissions from Canada’s oilsands

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

CALGARY - The same technology used to search for signs of ancient life on Mars could be key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the Canadian oilsands.

At least that's what members of the Pathways Alliance — an industry consortium of this country's six largest oilsands companies — appear to believe. On Thursday, the group announced Impossible Sensing Energy, the Calgary-based affiliate of U.S. space exploration company Impossible Sensing, as the winner in an industry-sponsored global competition aimed at helping to accelerate the widescale use of steam-reducing technologies in oilsands operations.

The company won with a proposal to use optical imaging technology, adapted from its Sherloc system currently installed on the Mars Rover, in an oilsands application.

Just as optical imaging can be used to search for faint traces of potential carbon-based past life on Mars, it can also detect precise amounts of carbon-based solvents in the oil production stream, said Ariel Torre, co-founder and CEO of Impossible Sensing Energy.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

The Sherloc technology currently installed on the Mars Rover is shown in a handout photo. Proponents say the same technology that is used to search for signs of ancient life on Mars can be used to help decarbonize the oilsands. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-NASA/JPL **MANDATORY CREDIT**

2022 was fifth or sixth warmest on record as Earth heats up

Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

2022 was fifth or sixth warmest on record as Earth heats up

Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press 6 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

DENVER (AP) — Earth’s fever persisted last year, not quite spiking to a record high but still in the top five or six warmest on record, government agencies reported Thursday.

But expect record-shattering hot years soon, likely in the next couple years because of “relentless” climate change from the burning of coal, oil and gas, U.S. government scientists said.

Despite a La Nina, a cooling of the equatorial Pacific that slightly reduces global average temperatures, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calculates 2022’s global average temperature was 58.55 degrees (14.76 degrees Celsius), ranking sixth hottest on record. NOAA doesn’t include the polar regions because of data concerns, but soon will.

If the Arctic -- which is warming three to four times faster than the rest of the world -- and Antarctic are factored in, NOAA said it would be fifth warmest. NASA, which has long factored the Arctic in its global calculations, said 2022 is essentially tied for fifth warmest with 2015. Four other scientific agencies or science groups around the world put the year as either fifth or sixth hottest.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

FILE - The cracked bed of the Poyang Lake is exposed during drought season in north-central China's Jiangxi province on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. A prolonged drought since July has dramatically shrunk China's biggest freshwater lake, Poyang. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Endangered North Atlantic right whale baby found dead near North Carolina

Hina Alam, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Endangered North Atlantic right whale baby found dead near North Carolina

Hina Alam, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

FREDERICTON - The recent death of a weeks-old endangered North Atlantic right whale is a blow to the fragile species, say researchers.

The calf was found dead Jan. 7 under a pier in Beaufort, N.C., and had been swimming alone without its mother anywhere nearby, Philip Hamilton, senior scientist with the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, said in an interview.

"Mothers and calves don't stray from each other when the calves are so young," he said. "Something may have happened to the mother or there was confusion, they got separated .... But it would not have survived for more than a few weeks without being fed."

There are about 340 right whales in existence and every calf is valuable, Hamilton said.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

Aerial survey teams locate and document the lone right whale calf in Beaufort Inlet, N.C., in a handout photo. Researchers say the death of a newborn endangered North Atlantic right whale is a blow to the population. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute **MANDATORY CREDIT**

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Virgin Orbit: Premature shutdown behind rocket launch fail

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Virgin Orbit: Premature shutdown behind rocket launch fail

The Associated Press 2 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

LONDON (AP) — Virgin Orbit said Thursday its first attempt to launch satellites into orbit from the U.K. failed after its rocket's upper stage prematurely shut down.

The U.S.-based company used a modified Boeing 747 plane to carry one of its rockets from Cornwall in southwestern England over the Atlantic Ocean on Monday. The plane released the rocket, which carried nine small satellites, but the rocket failed to reach orbit.

In a statement Thursday, Virgin Orbit said initial data indicated that the first stage of the rocket performed as expected. It said the rocket reached space altitudes, and that stage separation and ignition of the upper stage occurred in line with the mission plan.

But it said that later in the mission, at an altitude of approximately 180 kilometers (112 miles), "the upper stage experienced an anomaly. This anomaly prematurely ended the first burn of the upper stage,” the company said.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

A repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, carrying Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, takes off from Spaceport Cornwall at Cornwall Airport, Newquay, England, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. The plane will carry the rocket to 35,000 feet where it will be released over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland, as part of the Start Me Up mission and the first rocket launch from U.K. The rocket will take multiple small satellites, with a variety of civil and defence applications, into orbit. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)

Taiwan chipmaker TSMC says quarterly profit up 78%

The Associated Press 2 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the biggest contract manufacturer of processor chips for smartphones and other products, said Thursday its quarterly profit rose 78% over a year earlier but forecast weak demand this year.

Revenue for the final quarter of 2022 rose 42.8% over a year earlier to 625.5 billion New Taiwan dollars ($20.6 billion), the company announced. Profit was 295.9 billion New Taiwan dollars ($9.7 billion).

TSMC, headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, makes processor chips for brands including Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. Many of their products are assembled by factories in China, which has exposed TSMC to the possible impact of U.S.-Chinese tension over technology and security.

Fourth quarter sales suffered from “demand softness” as global economies weakened, TSCM's chief financial officer, Wendell Huang, said in a statement. Huang said the company expects further sales weakness during the first quarter of 2023.

Bat fungus that causes fatal White-Nose Syndrome makes first appearances in Alberta

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Bat fungus that causes fatal White-Nose Syndrome makes first appearances in Alberta

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

EDMONTON - A fungus that causes a disease nearly wiping out bat populations in Eastern Canada and the United States has made its first appearance in Alberta.

The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, which starves bats to death by interrupting their winter hibernation, was identified in several locations in the province last year after being found in Saskatchewan in 2021.

"It looks like it's spreading about 500 kilometres a year," said Cory Olson of the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, which conducted the research.

Society researchers collected bat droppings from underneath 800 bridges where the tiny mammals like to rest during the night.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

A Little Brown Bat is shown in a handout photo. A disease that has been nearly wiping out bat populations in eastern Canada and the U.S. has made its first appearance in Alberta. White Nose Syndrome, a fungus that starves bats to death by interrupting their winter hibernation, was identified in several locations in the province last year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Cory Olson, WCS Canada **MANDATORY CREDIT**

Brazil rioters plotted openly online, pitched huge ‘party’

Joshua Goodman And David Klepper, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Brazil rioters plotted openly online, pitched huge ‘party’

Joshua Goodman And David Klepper, The Associated Press 6 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

MIAMI (AP) — The map was called “Beach Trip” and was blasted out to more than 18,000 members of a public Telegram channel called, in Portuguese, “Hunting and Fishing.”

But instead of outdoor recreation tips, the 43 pins spread across the map of Brazil pointed to cities where bus transportation to the capital could be found for what promoters promised would a huge “party” on Jan. 8.

“Children and the elderly aren’t invited,” according to the post circulated on the Telegram channel, which has since been removed. “Only adults willing to participate in all the games, including target shooting of police and robbers, musical chairs, indigenous dancing, tag, and others.”

The post was one of several thinly coded messages circulating on social media ahead of Sunday's violent attack on the capital by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro looking to restore the far-right leader to power.

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

Police stand on the other side of a window at Planalto Palace that was shattered by protesters, supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, after they stormed the official workplace of the president in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Investors mock Elon Musk’s bid to move Tesla buyout trial

Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Investors mock Elon Musk’s bid to move Tesla buyout trial

Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Lawyers for Tesla shareholders suing the electric vehicle maker's CEO Elon Musk over a misleading tweet are urging a federal judge to reject the billionaire's request to move an upcoming trial to Texas from California.

Musk contends he will be treated unfairly by potential jurors in the San Francisco federal court where the 4-year-old case was filed.

But in a Wednesday filing, the Tesla shareholders' attorneys asserted there aren't any legal grounds to move the upcoming trial that revolves around an Aug. 7, 2018 tweet in which Musk indicated he had lined up financing for a Tesla buyout — a deal that never materialized and resulted in a $40 million settlement with U.S. securities regulators.

The lawyers also argued Musk only has himself to blame for any negative perceptions, largely because of his frequent activity on Twitter, the social media platform that he now owns and runs.

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

FILE - Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition on March 9, 2020, in Washington. Lawyers for Tesla shareholders suing Musk over a misleading tweet are urging a federal judge to reject the billionaire's request to move an upcoming trial to Texas from California. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Best of CES 2023: Pet tech’s smart collar, litter robot

Adriana Morga, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Best of CES 2023: Pet tech’s smart collar, litter robot

Adriana Morga, The Associated Press 5 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

LAS VEGAS (AP) — From a litter box that automatically cleans itself to buttons designed to allow your dog to communicate with you, this year’s CES tech show in Las Vegas featured a range of products aimed at gadget-loving pet owners.

Big and small companies representing everything from the food to the automobile industries put their latest products on display at the show, which wrapped up Sunday.

While some of the products are already available for purchase in the U.S., others, like Ilume's smart dog bowl, are not yet.

But whether you're hoping to keep your dog on an optimum diet, or you want to avoid the unpleasant work of cleaning your cat’s litter box, there are a lot of gadgets out there aimed at making pet owning easier.

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

People walk through the Venetian Expo center during the CES tech show Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

US official warns of risks posed by heavy electric vehicles

Tom Krisher, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

US official warns of risks posed by heavy electric vehicles

Tom Krisher, The Associated Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

DETROIT (AP) — The head of the National Transportation Safety Board expressed concern Wednesday about the safety risks that heavy electric vehicles pose if they collide with lighter vehicles.

The official, Jennifer Homendy, raised the issue in a speech in Washington to the Transportation Research Board. She noted, by way of example, that an electric GMC Hummer weighs about 9,000 pounds (4,000 kilograms), with a battery pack that alone is 2,900 pounds (1,300 kilograms) — roughly the entire weight of a typical Honda Civic.

“I’m concerned about the increased risk of severe injury and death for all road users from heavier curb weights and increasing size, power, and performance of vehicles on our roads, including electric vehicles,” Homendy said in remarks prepared for the group.

The extra weight that EVs typically carry stems from the outsize mass of their batteries. To achieve 300 or more miles (480 or more kilometers) of range per charge from an EV, batteries have to weigh thousands of pounds.

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

FILE - Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board speaks during a news conference, Oct. 3, 2019, in Windsor Locks, Conn. On Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, Homendy, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said she is concerned about the risk that heavy electric vehicles pose if they collide with lighter vehicles. (AP Photo/Chris Ehrmann, File)

Electric vehicles win truck, utility of the year awards

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Electric vehicles win truck, utility of the year awards

The Associated Press 2 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Electric vehicles took two of three categories for the first time in this year's North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year awards.

Ford's F-150 Lightning electric pickup won the truck category, while Kia's EV6 battery-powered EV was named the top SUV. The Integra, a small sedan from Honda's Acura performance brand, won car of the year.

Six of the nine finalists were powered by batteries, and analysts say the more of the awards are likely to go to electric vehicles in the future as the industry spends billions to roll out multiple new EV models.

Fifty automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada are judges for the three awards, which are announced every January. They’re chosen from dozens of candidates and must be new or substantially changed for the current model year. Automakers often use the awards in advertising.

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

NFL NextGen Stats turns focus to special teams returns

Josh Dubow, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

NFL NextGen Stats turns focus to special teams returns

Josh Dubow, The Associated Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

Returning a kick or punt for a touchdown has never been rarer in the NFL with one coming on average every 30 games.

So when there's a moment like there was Sunday when Nyheim Hines electrified the crowd in Buffalo with not one but two kickoff return scores in the same game, figuring out how it happened becomes a key question.

The NFL NextGen Stats group has teamed up with machine learning engineers from Amazon Web Services to develop the first advanced stats model focused on kick and punt returns to quantify it in a new statistic set to be officially released to the public Thursday.

Building on the work the NFL has done with AWS with player-tracking data to quantify statistics like completion percentage over expectation, rushing yards over expectation, yards after catch over expectation and defensive coverage classification, it now is doing the same on returns.

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

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