America's national laboratories are leading a consortium to move advanced battery storage technologies from the lab into domestic manufacturing. Dubbed the Battery Manufacturing Accelerator, or BattMan (no, really), the initiative aims to bring together a bunch of national laboratories, universities, and companies to overcome barriers in scaling up new battery technologies. Novel battery storage solutions are needed for applications in the electric grid, datacenters, and electric vehicles, as electrification gradually extends across industry. Batteries have a far lower energy density than fuels such as petroleum, so the hunt for better materials never stops. Researchers also want to improve on the safety of flammable lithium-ion cells, cut production costs, speed up charging, and reduce reliance on scarce raw materials. "The advances we make today in battery manufacturing technology will determine America's energy security and economic competitiveness for decades to come,” said Audrey Robertson, assistant secretary of Energy at the Department of Energy (DoE), which is overseeing the program. Researchers continue to develop new battery materials and chemistries, yet many promising technologies face obstacles on the way from the laboratory to commercial production. According to the DoE, BattMan will tackle that problem by combining super intelligence - known outside of the Trump administration as AI - with advanced manufacturing into a coordinated, data-driven innovation ecosystem. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory leads the consortium, along with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory and National Laboratory of the Rockies. Academic partners include the University of Washington, Binghamton University, University of Alabama, Arizona State University, and University of Michigan-Dearborn. The accelerator is also building ties with battery and materials manufacturers, and hopes to sidestep critical minerals supply problems by finding battery materials among more abundant, domestically sourced elements. ORNL is contributing its Battery Manufacturing Facility (BMF) R&D center and plans a smart test bed with advanced sensing, real-time monitoring, and data analysis to trial both wet and dry electrode manufacturing. BattMan will also introduce autonomous pilot lines that combine sensing, process monitoring and intelligent control systems to improve product quality and reduce variability in the manufacturing process. The goal is an AI-based manufacturing platform that spots production irregularities as they occur and adjusts parameters on its own to prevent defects. “The BattMan Accelerator is exactly the kind of coordinated national effort that turns scientific breakthroughs into economic and energy security advantages,” claimed distinguished R&D staff member Chins Chinnasamy, the consortium lead for ORNL. Organizations interested in becoming part of BattMan can visit the program website to learn more. ®

Den Haag was 26 en 27 oktober het internationale middelpunt voor Data Amplified. Op dit internationale evenement kreeg onder andere Standard Business Reporting (SBR) het podium om de Nederlandse standaard voor de digitale uitwisseling van bedrijfsrapportages internationaal op de kaart te zetten.

Den Haag 26 en 27 oktober het internationale middelpunt voor Data Amplified. Op dit internationale evenement kreeg onder andere Standard Business Reporting (SBR) het podium om de Nederlandse standaard voor de digitale uitwisseling van bedrijfsrapportages internationaal op de kaart te zetten.

As one of the world’s leading forensic anthropologists, Dame Sue Black has acted as an expert witness in a myriad of high-profile criminal cases. Her work has taken her from the lab to active war zones and the aftermath of natural disasters to identify victims’ bodies. Speaking to Ian Sample, the professor explains why standing up in front of a judge and jury has been one of the more terrifying parts of her career, the reputational risk of presenting evidence in court and what the future of forensic science could look like

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The current ban on diesel exports is due to expire on Oct. 31.

The proposed record defense spending comes alongside a new wave of tax hikes designed to fund the rising costs of the war in Ukraine.

Een man laat op zondagochtend 30 augustus rond 04:15 uur een explosief afgaan bij een portiek aan de Carry van Bruggensingel in Rotterdam-Zevenkamp. De knal veroorzaakt flinke schade aan het gebouw. De verdachte staat op camerabeelden en wordt gezocht door de politie.

Een ouder echtpaar uit Hilversum is door bankhelpdeskfraude bijna 70.000 euro kwijtgeraakt. Oplichters bellen de slachtoffers dagenlang en weten hun bankpassen en creditcard in handen te krijgen. Met de gestolen passen worden onder meer bij een juwelier in Rotterdam-Zuid grote bedragen uitgegeven. De politie is op zoek naar drie verdachten die vermoedelijk met de passen hebben betaald of geld hebben opgenomen.

Slashdot reader fjo3 shares an article from Wired: The internet must be put out of its misery. Any rational observer can admit that the current iteration of the web -- and the social fabric woven there -- is not what they signed up for. Symptoms of advanced cultural decay can no longer be ignored. This thing is eating itself. Giants including Meta and Google have been forced to settle massive consumer lawsuits brought over privacy violations and mental health harms allegedly caused by the addictive mechanisms of their platforms. Schools are banning smartphones as multiple countries institute social media restrictions for under-16s. Parents are in a panic about their kids aspiring to careers as social media celebrities, losing themselves in a vast ecosystem of online casinos, or joining extremist movements. Generative AI, briefly considered an amusing novelty, is now a turbocharged slop engine for the web, filling feeds and comment sections with useless, grotesque content. As humans scroll past headlines about AI taking their jobs, confusing fantasy for reality, and contributing to cognitive decline, any consumer appeal the technology might have is turning to anguish. The data centers that power it have become increasingly unpopular, and politically radioactive.

To be online, many now admit, is to be endlessly manipulated and exploited. In December, Oxford University Press declared rage bait to be the word of the year, noting that use of the term had tripled over the previous 12 months. The lexical spike represented a heightened awareness that monetized social accounts churn out bad-faith takes and extremist content, automating this abusive behavior with generative AI, simply to profit off hostile engagement. Billionaire oligarchs have opened the floodgates to such inauthentic activity, conspiracy-mongering, and hate speech by rolling back moderation. In short, when you hang around online in 2026, you see little worth saving. Perhaps a decade ago, you felt that the glimmers of community and joy, of artistic and intellectual exchange, were enough to balance out the toxic junk. No longer.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.