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An announcement made by a team of China’s nuclear scientists from the Institute of Plasma Physics stated that their Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, also known as EAST has reached a new record-setting temperature of 100 million degree Celsius, to maintain a nuclear fusion process which produces more energy than what it consumes.

Feat to Set Stage for Efficient and Super Clean Energy Sources for the World

The original Sun of our solar system in comparison reaches only around 5,500 degree Celsius. The achievement by the Chinese scientists is widely considered to be an important step in forwarding the science of nuclear fusion, for not just China, but also the rest of the world. Nuclear fusion reactors are thought to be a feasible solution to the global energy scarcity issues.

If done right, the process will be able to generate extremely high amounts of energy, without any greenhouse gas emission or long-lasting waste of a radioactive nature. In addition to this, nuclear fusion also eliminates the risks usually associated with nuclear fission processes such as catastrophic meltdowns and the weaponization of nuclear fission materials. The news of the successful nuclear fusion reaction vent viral rapidly on Chinese social media.

Major Ramifications for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

The results achieved during the EAST experiment is considered to be very important for the implementation of the next international nuclear fusion science experiment, which will be conducted at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ITER in Southern France. The project is built in collaboration of 35 countries including China, and it is anticipated to produce 10 times the amount of power that is required to run the system. The ITER is expected to create its first plasma and begin operating by 2025.

How China Made the Nuclear Process a Success

While on one hand most conventional nuclear reactors rely on a fission process, where uranium atoms are pushed into a chain reaction to split and produce energy, on the other, nuclear fusion turns the process on its head, producing energy by forcing atoms to fuse or merge.

The method used by the scientists from the Institute of Plasma Physics utilizes the EAST device known as a tokamak, which replicates the process nuclear fusion as it occurs naturally in the sun and stars. The device has a diameter of 8 meters and is 11 meters high, along with a weight of 360 tons.

The machine makes use of super-heavy and house-heavy atomic variations of hydrogen, namely deuterium and tritium, which are heated to extremely high temperatures by utilizing high energy electric currents that forcibly separate electrons from their atoms, which results in a plasma state of hydrogen ions.

High powered magnets that line the walls of the tokamak further push the hydrogen ion plasma into a tiny area in the structure, so that the ions are in high concentration and have a much higher chance of fusing together, and in the process generating a tremendous amount of energy. This energy can be harnessed at a power plant and be used to produce clean and pollution free electricity.

The team of Chinese nuclear scientists stated that although they were able to achieve the record breaking temperature through the use of some innovative techniques of plasma heating and control, the state was kept sustained for only 10 seconds, providing enough evidence that the milestone of 100 million degree Celsius was truly possible.

The news comes barely a month following the shocking announcement by China on their intention to launch an artificial moon in to space by 2020 that would be bright enough to replace streetlights.

Almost every business is responsible for at least some part of global air pollution, be it through their regular operations or through their supply chains. The heavy consumption of fossil fuels for temperature control, food and beverage production, and goods and passenger transport are increasingly releasing greenhouse gases and pollutants that affect people around the world constantly. This is estimated to cost the global economy more than $5 Trillion through expenses on welfare programs.

Until now, businesses could easily deflect responsibility, and put the blame on other parties. However, with the advent of new technology involving satellites and sensors, the real sources of pollution can now be easily and accurately tracked, putting actionable insights back into the hands of brands and businesses involved.

With this new technology, modern businesses will have to make a choice: On one hand, they can choose to tackle the sources of pollution head on and reap the benefits of being a pro-environment organization. Alternatively, they will have to risk eventual exposure regarding their polluting activities, which can adversely affect their business’s profitability.

Pilot Satellite and Sensors Programs Launched in the UK and US

The technology to detect air pollution sources will be made available to not just companies and governments but also to the citizens of the cities involved.  Pilot programs for this ambitious project have already been launched in London in the United Kingdom, and Houston and Oakland in the United States. New innovations to improve the systems are being constantly included, with data analytics creating an open source knowledge base for the world.

This means that very soon information on the amount of pollutants being released by individual locations and operating fleets, will be tied to the corresponding economic and health impacts they have on their surroundings. This will allow companies to accurately gauge their pollution footprint, and take action against it to improve their standing with investors, communities and consumers.

Pro-Environment Measures to Boost Initiative

Leading businesses across the world have already started to take initiative by increasingly investing in alternative energy sources and pollution free transport solutions, to eliminate the presence of emissions from their operations and supply chains. Steps including energy audits, electrification of heat sources, contracts with clean energy providers, best practices are increasingly gaining popularity. With efficient pro-environment frameworks in place the satellite and sensors program is anticipated to show great potential for the future.

Amazon had recently announced about its new headquarters, however the company wasn’t expecting a negative response out from public. The technology graveyard has been riddled with unsuccessful products and developments such as Amazon’s Fire Phone and Apple Newton. The technology giants in the long run are expected to focus on high-tech marketing organization, which needs an understanding of market-adoption process. The most common misunderstanding that most of the companies consider is that customers are early-adopters or hold similar characteristics or personalities.

Multi-Billion-Dollar Tech Firms to Witness Downfall in Revenue Sales

In the chosen territories of Amazon, which is Virginia and New York, the local politicians recoiled at the taxpayer-funded incentives promised to Amazon. Journalists throughout the political spectrum had panned deals and the social media has been flooded with Virginians and New Yorkers’ voices pledging resistance.

There were revelations that Facebook had exploited the anti-Semitic conspiracy ideas for undermining the legitimacy of critics, which in turn led to a negative impact on public view regarding the same. Even Apple and Amazon have been witnessing their share market values heading nearly US$1 trillion. All of the above factors has resulted in loss of the public trust in technology companies that have been promising to remake the planet politically, environmentally and socially. With each new scandal as well as failed response, companies are witnessed as turning out to be a serious danger for the society.

Warning Alarm for Tech Giants to Ramp up from What’s Left

The technological firms are definitely wealthy and powerful, however, their days of hiding scrutiny are about to end. American public have begun suspecting that technology giants are unprepared or perhaps unwilling for taking up the responsibility of tools that they introduce to the world. Future of the corporate offices of Amazon is shaping up as multi-sided brawl amongst the elected officials as well as people who they are planning to represent. The response of each technology firm to every new revelation draws up a standard pattern.

It’s high time that the tech giants should be changing themselves dramatically by either breaking themselves up or taking hold of responsibility for the damage caused to consumers because of their products and platforms. Using any technology holds related risks but increasing technological systems in complexity and size stimulates the probability of damage. In addition, the tech giants are also likely to focus on developing models that would help them in differentiating between discontinuous and continuous innovations.

Currently, as market leader, Samsung holds around 20 percent of the worldwide smartphone market, followed by Huawei and Apple at around 14 and 13 per cent respectively during the third quarter of this year.

Giants Fall to Technology Transition

Earlier, when the telecommunications industry moved from 2G, 3G and to 4G, a number of major smartphone market players lost significant amounts of market share owing to challenges rising from design innovations to keep up with technological advancements.

The biggest example of this was the fall of Finland-based Nokia which was a market leader during the period of 2G, and lost significant traction during 3G, and almost completely faded away during the era of 4G. The company was unable to keep up with new advances such as dual-sim capabilities. Despite the acquisition of the company by Microsoft, the business had to stop.

Similarly, Motorola also lost significant market share during the move from 2G to 3G. While Samsung was the biggest gainer during the 3G period, with an increase of double the market share, the company is anticipated to face a tough time with 5G, as China is anticipated to be one of the major markets for the new technology, with Chinese smartphone manufacturers taking center stage.

In addition, Huawei is also anticipated to face a challenging time during the period of transition, owing to the blockage of the company’s smartphone and 5G business within the United States.

Expected Winners of the 5G Battle

Small scale players including Sony, and Sharp are anticipated to gain market share in the local markets, provided they display agility in brand marketing and technology building. On the other hand, brands such as OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi, are anticipated to gain market share on a global scale, with the enhancement of distribution and marketing networks, leading to profitable sales of several million units. All of these companies already have a strong network in Asia and Europe and are anticipated to put forth strong competition in North and South America during the 5G phase.

At a time, when consumers are unwilling to pay high amounts on new phones which show only small improvements, the intense competition between smartphone manufacturers will largely come down to who has the wider portfolio of useful intellectual property.

Market players such as Lenovo-Motorola and LG will require smart strategizing to transition successfully in to 5G or risk heavy losses, While Samsung and Huawei, will face challenges owing to their limited presence in the China and US markets.

The top science and space agency of Australia announced a massive $35 million investment into space technology and artificial intelligence, which is anticipated to act as a significant part of the state run science and space agency’s portfolio for the Future Science Platforms, which was initiated by the organization during 2016.

Investment to Develop Solutions for Real-world Problems

A large chunk of the $35 million investment will be spent on developing machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities, to improve understanding and predictions on complex information build upon solutions for global issues of high importance including sustainable energy production, environment protection, and food security among others.

$16 million will be pressed into development of advancements in space technology that will primarily be used for the observation of the earth, efficient utilization of resources in space, manufacturing equipment for Mars and Moon missions, improving life support systems, alongside the accurate tracking of interstellar objects. The activities will also involve the employment of post-doctoral researchers and students, and a number of collaborations within the industry.

Apart from artificial intelligence, machine learning, and new space technology CSIRO’s future science platforms portfolio also includes modules such as environomics, precision health, synthetic biology, active integrated matter, probing bio-systems, digiscape, hydrogen energy systems, and deep earth imaging. For instance, the initiative made automotive hydrogen powered systems work through hydrogen extracted from ammonia.

Australian Space Agency Projected to Triple in Size

The $16 million investment combined with the $26 million from the federal budget earlier this year, will be key to the formation of a dedicated Australian Space Agency. This move is anticipated to grow the size of the Australian space sector by three times to $20 billion by the year 2030. The researchers at CSIRO are also currently researching laser technology that is touted to bring about a revolution in how data is captured from space. The process is anticipated to increase data capture by up to 10 times through the use of optics and light instead of radio waves.

The Future Science Platform is anticipated to utilize the challenging environment of Australia to opportunities for scientific growth that will put the country on center-stage on a global scale, by bringing the best expertise in regards to technology, science, math, and engineering. This will be able to develop innovative solutions for problems for various regions around the world, giving Australia an edge in the market.