Show Notes 18 July 2025
Story 1: Bill Gates-backed rectangular turbine pilot could upend wind power
Source: Electrek.com Story by Michelle Lewis
Link: https://electrek.co/2025/06/26/bill-gates-backed-rectangular-turbine-pilot-could-upend-wind-power/
See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTWhGSdZh1o
See company website here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTWhGSdZh1o
Story 2: Owls’ silent flight inspires new noise reduction technology
Source: American Chemical Society website
Link: https://www.acs.org/pressroom/presspacs/2025/june/owls-silent-flight-inspires-new-noise-reduction-technology.html
See also: https://hearingreview.com/hearing-loss/hearing-loss-prevention/industrial-military/new-noise-reduction-tech-inspired-by-owls-silent-flight
Story 3: Contactless system to detect fentanyl and other drugs
Source: Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Story by Tom Rickey
Link: https://www.pnnl.gov/news-media/chemists-develop-contactless-system-detect-fentanyl-other-drugs
Story 4: Controversial World-First Project to Create Human DNA From Scratch Takes First Steps - The massive project will likely take decades to complete, but it has significant oversight built into it to ensure it remains ethical.
Source: IFLScience.com Story by Dr. Russell Moul
Link: https://www.iflscience.com/controversial-world-first-project-to-create-human-dna-from-scratch-takes-first-steps-79797
See also: https://wellcome.org/news/researchers-take-first-steps-creating-synthetic-human-genomes
Honorable Mentions
Story: Scientists rewind heart ageing using lab-grown scaffold that mimics young tissue
Source: Interesting Engineering Story by Neetika Walter
Link: https://interestingengineering.com/health/reverse-heart-ageing-ecm-decipher
Story: Study shows making hydrogen with soda cans and seawater is scalable and sustainable
Source: TechXplore.com Story by Jennifer Chu, MIT
Link: https://techxplore.com/news/2025-06-hydrogen-soda-cans-seawater-scalable.html
Story: Donut Lab reveals 845-hp electric motor weighing 88 pounds
Source: MotorAuthority.com Story by Viknesh Vijayenthiran
Link: https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1145467_donut-lab-reveals-845-hp-electric-motor-weighing-88-pounds
See company website here: https://www.donutlab.com/
Story: AugWind Energy to Install First Commercial-Scale AirBattery in Germany
Source: CleanTechnica.com Story by Jake Richardson
Link: https://cleantechnica.com/2025/07/01/augwind-energy-to-install-first-commercial-scale-airbattery-in-germany/