Oil prices in New York and London fell as much as 5 per cent, and the oil futures curve showed signs of near-term weakness following widening lockdown measures in Germany, France, and Italy, BNN Bloomberg reports.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/oil-drops-with-renewed-lockdowns-dimming-outlook-for-demand-1.1580832
MIT researchers have developed an algorithm to help engineers design soft robots that collect useful information about their surroundings, reports Tech Xplore. Creating soft robots that complete real-world tasks has been a long-running challenge. Rigid robots' limited number of joints and limbs makes for manageable calculations by the algorithms that control mapping and motion planning.
https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-algorithm-soft-bodied-robots-positions-space.html
A study from Microsoft released today found that among more than 31,000 workers surveyed, 73% hoped remote work options would continue when the pandemic ends, but 67% said they want more in-person work or collaboration. A lot of Gen Z workers, it seems, want to have their cake, eat it, too, then complain that the icing was a little too thick.
https://www.cnet.com/news/gen-z-is-getting-screwed-by-remote-work-new-microsoft-survey-says/
A 3D-printed battery that uses electrodes made from vegetable starch and carbon nanotubes could provide mobile devices with a more environmentally friendly, higher-capacity source of power, reports Tech Xplore. Engineers from the University of Glasgow developed a battery to make lithium-ion batteries capable of storing and delivering power more efficiently. The battery's design is outlined in a paper in the Journal of Power Sources.
https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-recyclable-veggie-battery-power-future.html
There is no need to rush to a confessional, but asteroid 2001 FO32 will pass the Earth just two million kilometres away, giving scientists and amateur astronomers a chance to check out a very large, very old chunk of space rock.
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/large-asteroid-of-2021-called-2001-fo32-to-make-closest-approach-to-earth-2395572
It seems like it would be pretty cool to float around a space capsule, but six months of microgravity may aggravate strain by skewing astronauts' perception of the emotional state of their fellow travelers, according to a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/mar-20-when-greenland-was-green-bear-back-scratching-mars-voyage-emotional-toll-and-more-1.5955275/microgravity-on-a-trip-to-mars-might-leave-astronauts-emotionally-impaired-1.5955282
An open-access quantum computing testbed is ready for the public, reports SciTechDaily. Scientists from Indiana University were the first team to use Sandia National Laboratories’ Quantum Scientific Computing Open User Testbed, or QSCOUT. Scientists from around the world can use QSCOUT for research that might not be possible at their home institutions.
https://scitechdaily.com/free-open-access-quantum-computer-now-operational/amp/
The Tokyo Summer Olympics and Paralympics will not be open to spectators from outside Japan, CNET reported today. Those from other countries who bought tickets from the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee will be reimbursed, organizers said.
https://www.cnet.com/news/tokyo-summer-olympics-bars-overseas-spectators/
Scientists at Ohio State University have developed technology to "retrain" cells to help repair damaged brain tissue, reports Medical Xpress. "We can rewrite the genetic code of skin cells so that they can become blood vessel cells," says study leader Daniel Gallego-Perez. "When they're deployed into the brain, they're able to grow new, healthy vascular tissue to restore normal blood supply and aid in the repair of damaged brain tissue."
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-technology-retrains-cells-brain-tissue.html
NASA successfully completed a test on the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in existence, the BBC reports. Engines on the rocket's "core stage" were kept running for more than eight minutes, simulating the time it would take the SLS to go from the ground to space. NASA intends to use the SLS to send humans to the moon's surface for the first time since 1972.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56442020
