#interesting engineering

The Gospel Is The ‘Power Of God To Salvation’ (Photo: CommonSpace Images) In Romans 1:16-17, we find two verses from the Apostle Paul that anchor this entire Congress—“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek,” and then, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to…

Solutions:

Plastic trash to extend battery power & 'life.'

In 2021, 390 million tons of plastic were made - for most to end up as street litter, plastic islands & other kinds of extreme pollution.

(Including micro-plastics inside of people's bodies!!)

Worse: landfills, recycling & incineration all create leftover pollution.

So, researchers are looking into reusing it instead.

Other scientists have turned plastic waste to fuel or carbon materials to help solve some energy problems:

1. Flash Joule Heating makes high quality graphene in milliseconds!

2. Catalytic Pyrolysis & One-Pot Synthesis result in carbon nanotubes & porous carbon - to serve as electrodes in batteries & super capacitors.

Such porous carbon has the energy storage capacity equal to selenium batteries & remain stable during repeated use.

This is a large step towards a circular carbon economy.

These materials are expected to close the loop between pollution control & renewable energy!

Because they can also be used for the capture of greenhouse gases and to remove heavy metals & antibiotics from wastewater...

But, before they can be used in such widespread ways, there's still some technical problems to solve.

Among them are:

I. The catalyst is being optimized.

&,

II. Conversion rates are being improved to ensure high value results every time...

— Sejal Sharma | February 19, 2024

A Q1 Computer

Tech enthusiasts and history buffs are in for a treat.

An iconic piece of computing hailed as the world's first true microcomputer, was recently spotted at an exhibition by Kingston University.

Not one, but two Q1 Microcomputers were found during a house cleanup by the company Just Clear in London. It’s surprising because these babies weren’t popular in Britain, with only a handful of units crossing the pond.

“It is a real bonus being able to feature two Q1s – the world’s earliest microcomputers – at Kingston University," said Paul Neve, an expert in early computers and a senior lecturer at Kingston University.

The Q1s were all the rage when launched in 1972 and played a big role in shaping today's computing world.

Surprisingly, only three of these computers are known to exist today, and two of them were found buried under boxes during the cleanup.

A couple of days ago, nestled among over 60 vintage computers from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, the Q1, with its distinctive orange screen and typewriter-like appearance, made it to the exhibition titled ‘Creating the Everything Device,’ which was celebrating the early evolution of computing.

The Q1 made its commercial debut in December 1972 under the banner of the Q1 Corporation in the US. Daniel Alroy owned the New York-based Q1 Corporation, which made history by creating the first complete microcomputer system with its screen and keyboard.

It Used The Intel 8008 Processor

The Intel 8008 processor was one of the earliest microprocessors developed by Intel Corporation. Introduced in April 1972, it was an 8-bit microprocessor and one of the first of its kind.

The 8008 had a clock speed of 200 kHz and could execute around 60,000 instructions per second. Today's processors operate at much higher clock speeds measured in GHz (billions of cycles per second) compared to the 200 kHz of the Intel 8008.

As an 8-bit processor, it processes data in 8-bit chunks. In contrast, modern processors have much wider data paths, typically 64-bit or more, allowing them to handle larger amounts of data simultaneously and perform more complex calculations.

Although it had limited computing power compared to modern standards, the Intel 8008 was groundbreaking at its release. It was used in various applications, including early personal computers, calculators, and industrial control systems.

“The early pioneers in the 1970s and 1980s laid the foundation for today’s everything device – the modern computer now so ubiquitous in everyday life,” said Neve.

“We rely on computers for our work, communication, productivity and entertainment, but without the early trailblazers none of these would exist. There would be no PCs, no Macs and no Apple or Android phones without Q1 Corporation, Sinclair and Acorn,” added Neve.

The 8008 processor paved the way for subsequent developments in microprocessor technology, leading to more powerful and versatile chips in the following years.