All posts by: Rahul Rao

world’s-largest-biofuel-program-places-a-risky-bet

World’s Largest Biofuel Program Places a Risky Bet

by Rahul Rao in Energy, Engineering, Engineering News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency runs the world’s largest biofuel program: the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). On its surface, the RFS requires providers of U.S. transportation fuel to blend in a certain quota of fuels from renewable sources. But when is a renewable fuel not renewable? On 23 February, ProPublica reported that the agency gave […]

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the-future-of-fission-reactors-may-be-small

January 15, 2023

The Future of Fission Reactors May Be Small

by Rahul Rao in Engineering, Engineering News

On the island of Hainan, south China, one possible future is taking shape within a compact labyrinth of concrete and metal. Last July, a crane hoisted the upper half of a steel containment shell into place. Slowly, steadily, workers are piecing together a miniature nuclear reactor. This is Linglong One, whose diminutive size is a […]

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the-world’s-largest-camera-is-nearly-complete

October 3, 2022

The World’s Largest Camera Is Nearly Complete

by Rahul Rao in Engineering, Engineering News

The world’s largest camera sits within a nondescript industrial building in the hills above San Francisco Bay. If all goes well, this camera will one day fit into the heart of the future Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. For the last seven years, engineers have been crafting the camera in a clean room at […]

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modeling-thermal-management-systems-for-electronics

October 3, 2022

Modeling Thermal Management Systems for Electronics

by Rahul Rao in Engineering, Engineering News

The ability to dissipate heat is one of the most important features of modern electronic devices and is usually a limiting factor in the miniaturization of these devices. COMSOL Multiphysics includes functionality for heat transfer through conduction, convection, and radiation. Its ability to treat conjugate heat transfer, including laminar and turbulent flow as well as […]

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converting-coal-power-plants-to-nuclear-gains-steam

September 26, 2022

Converting Coal Power Plants to Nuclear Gains Steam

by Rahul Rao in Engineering, Engineering News

On a planet aspiring to become carbon neutral, the once-stalwart coal power plant is an emerging anachronism. It is true that, in much of the developing world, coal-fired capacity continues to grow. But in every corner of the globe, political and financial pressures are mounting to bury coal in the past. In the United States, […]

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government’s-role-in-further-developing-5g-technologies-and-future-networks

September 26, 2022

Government’s Role in Further Developing 5G Technologies and Future Networks

by Rahul Rao in Engineering, Engineering News

Similar to 5G, many key technology developments have been supported by government funding and institutions for years. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) and University Affiliated Research Centers (UARC) have been foundational elements of this government support. This webinar will examine the impact this research has had on national security and the overall economy. […]

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this-ai-could-be-robocallers'-kryptonite

January 28, 2022

This AI Could Be Robocallers' Kryptonite

by Rahul Rao in Engineering, Engineering News

Last year, the U.S. government got serious about snuffing out robocalls. Effective 30 June 2021, the FCC mandated that phone providers verify all callers’ IDs with a cryptography-based protocol called STIR/SHAKEN. Anyone expecting robocalls to vanish in a puff of regulation will be disappointed. But relief may be coming, gradually. The technology to block robocalls […]

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video-friday:-apple-drone

January 28, 2022

Video Friday: Apple Drone

by Rahul Rao in Engineering, Engineering News

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We’ll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months; here’s what we have so far (send us your events!): ICRA 2022: 23–27 May 2022, Philadelphia ERF 2022: 28–30 June 2022, […]

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how-the-hall-effect-still-reverberates

January 28, 2022

How the Hall Effect Still Reverberates

by Rahul Rao in Engineering, Engineering News

Of the many physicists who didn’t win a Nobel Prize, Edwin Herbert Hall is among a select group for whom the failure seems a particular injustice. On 28 October 1879, the 23-year-old Hall made a discovery that still reverberates today (and which would eventually lead to Nobel Prizes for four other people). Working in a […]

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will-fukushima’s-water-dump-set-a-risky-precedent?

September 24, 2021

Will Fukushima’s Water Dump Set a Risky Precedent?

by Rahul Rao in Engineering, Engineering News

Since the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, groundwater has been trickling through the damaged facilities at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, filtering through the melted cores and fuel rods and becoming irradiated with a whole medley of radioisotopes. Japanese authorities have been pumping that water into a vast array of tanks on-site: […]

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