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Submission + - More durable UV coating for solar panels made from red onion skins (zmescience.com)

Submitted by fahrbot-bot
fahrbot-bot writes: In a lab in Turku, Finland, scientists have found a surprising ally in the fight for sustainable solar energy: the papery red skin of an onion.

Researchers from the University of Turku, in collaboration with Aalto University and Wageningen University, have developed a bio-based UV protection film for solar cells that not only blocks nearly all harmful ultraviolet light but also outperforms commercial plastic films. The key ingredient is a water extract made from red onion skins.

Sunlight can degrade the delicate components in solar panels—particularly the electrolyte inside dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), a type known for their flexibility and low-light performance. To mitigate this, manufacturers typically wrap cells in UV-protective films made from petroleum-based plastics like polyethylene terephthalate (PET). But these plastics degrade over time and are difficult to recycle.

Seeking a greener alternative, the team turned to nanocellulose, a renewable material derived from wood pulp. Nanocellulose can be processed into thin, transparent films that serve as the perfect substrate for UV-blocking compounds.

Their breakthrough came when they dyed these films using an extract from red onion skins, a common kitchen waste. The result was a filter that blocked 99.9% of UV radiation up to 400 nanometers, a feat that outstripped even the PET-based commercial filters chosen for comparison.

In solar cells, preserving visible and near-infrared light is crucial. That’s the part of the spectrum that powers electricity generation. And here, too, the onion-treated filter excelled: it let through over 80% of light in the 650–1,100 nm range—an ideal sweet spot for energy absorption.

Testing under 1,000 hours of artificial sunlight, the CNF-ROE film—short for cellulose nanofiber with red onion extract—held up remarkably well. It exhibited only minor discoloration and preserved the yellow hue of the electrolyte far better than any other filter. Even predictive modeling based on early degradation trends suggested the CNF-ROE filter could extend a solar cell’s lifetime to roughly 8,500 hours. The PET-based filter? Just 1,500 hours.

Google: red onions solar panels

Submission + - Worlds tallest Wind Turbine due next summer, with 2x capacity

Submitted by Qbertino
Qbertino writes: German public news outlet Tagesschau has a video report on the progress of the world's tallest Wind Turbine that is due next summer. The Turbine will have roughly 2x the capacity of regular wind turbines and is planned as a proof of concept for accessing an additional layer of wind for energy and 3x-ing the output of existing wind farm zones by upgrading them with additional extra tall turbines.

Submission + - Trump signs proclamation adding $100K annual fee for H-1B visa applications (apnews.com) 1

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Looking to reshape the U.S. visa system for highly skilled foreign workers and investors, President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation that will require a new annual $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications.

The moves face near-certain legal challenges and widespread criticism that Trump is going beyond presidential authority by sidestepping Congress. The actions, if they survive legal muster, will deliver staggering price increases for high-skilled and investor visas created by Congress in 1990.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the H-1B visa fee will be $100,000 per year and added that “all big companies” are on board.

H-1B visas are meant to bring the best and brightest foreigners for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill with qualified U.S. citizens and permanent residents. The program instead has turned into a pipeline for overseas workers who are often willing to work for as little as $60,000 annually. That is far less than $100,000-plus salaries typically paid to U.S. technology workers.

Submission + - Could plastic in your food be fueling Azheimer's? (sciencedaily.com) 1

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Plastic particles from everyday items like Styrofoam cups and take-out containers are finding their way into the brain, where they may trigger Alzheimer’s-like symptoms. New research shows that mice carrying the Alzheimer’s-linked APOE4 gene who consumed microplastics exhibited sex-dependent cognitive decline, mirroring the differences seen in human patients.

Submission + - C++ Commitee Prefers Bjarne Profiles Over Baxter Rustification

Submitted by robinsrowe
robinsrowe writes: No surprise, the C++ Committee is still trending toward C++ Profiles. It would have been a huge change had the Committee embraced Baxter's Rustification memory safety proposal. Would mean banning pointers. Making the C++ language much like Rust would deeply break every C++ program in the world. Article at TheRegister: “Rust-style safety model for C++ 'rejected' as profiles take priority” https://www.theregister.com/20...

The C++ standards committee abandoned a detailed proposal to create a rigorously safe subset of the language, according to the proposal's co-author, despite continuing anxiety about memory safety.

Article at Le Monde (in French): “The C++ standards committee rejected a proposal to create a secure subset of the language. Members prefer to focus on the Profiles framework pushed by C++ creator Bjarne Stroustrup.” https://www.lemondeinformatiqu...

"If you mark your code to apply a Profile, some features of the C/C++ language will stop working," he says. There is also a small problem, these guidelines were not integrated into version 26 of C++, but simply into a white paper. The controversy surrounding the security of C++ opens the door to another solution with the use of another language. The first advocated by several American authorities is Rust, but there is also Google's experimental Carbon project. Unveiled in 2022, it also aims to modernize C++.

If Profiles are eventually adopted, it may Balkanize C++ by dividing C++ into safe and unsafe subsets. C++ Profiles won't fix the issue of making C pointers memory safe. A proposal to implement pointer memory safety is TrapC, but for the C language, not C++. Some say make the switch to Rust, but that doesn't solve the safety problems lurking in billions of lines of existing C/C++ code.

Submission + - Shai-Hulud: The novel self-replicating worm infecting hundreds of NPM packages (sysdig.com) 1

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: On September 15, 2025, an engineer discovered a supply chain attack against the NPM repository. Unlike previous NPM attacks, this campaign used novel, self-propagating malware (also known as a worm) to continue spreading itself. At the time of this writing, approximately 200 infected packages have been identified, including several repositories such as the popular @ctrl/tinycolor and multiple owned by CrowdStrike.

Once executed, this novel worm — dubbed Shai-Hulud — steals credentials, exfiltrates them, and attempts to find additional NPM packages in which to copy itself. The malicious code also attempts to leak data on GitHub by making private repositories public.

Comment Covid-19 infection affects small blood vessels (Score 1) 34

by wherrera (#65538420) Attached to: COVID Pandemic Aged Brains By an Average of 5.5 Months, Study Finds
One of the reasons heparin, a blood thinner, was used for more severe Covid-19 infections was that the smallest arteries of the body, including the brain, tended to become clogged with products of the virus' effects on the body. Blood vessel problems are more common in males, and arterial blood vessel disease of various types are a known risk factor for brain "aging", cognitive impairment and dementia. This suggests the hypothesis that the "aging" effects of Covid-19 on the brain are mediated by effects of active Covid infection on small blood vessels.

Comment Re:Dum (Score 1) 88

by wherrera (#65518180) Attached to: Northern Arizona Resident Dies From Plague
"Usually" is correct. The vaccines for Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus, a cause of bacterial pneumonia) and Neisseria meningitidis (a bacterial meningitis) target proteins on the outside of the bacterium that are not secreted as toxins.

Submission + - Ingram Micro admits ransomware attack is disrupting orders and systems (nerds.xyz)

Submitted by BrianFagioli
BrianFagioli writes: Ingram Micro is facing a serious disruption after discovering ransomware on parts of its internal systems. The tech distributor confirmed the cyberattack today and says itâ(TM)s working to restore operations as quickly as possible.

Here is the full statement issued by the company:

âoeIngram Micro recently identified ransomware on certain of its internal systems. Promptly after learning of the issue, the Company took steps to secure the relevant environment, including proactively taking certain systems offline and implementing other mitigation measures. The Company also launched an investigation with the assistance of leading cybersecurity experts and notified law enforcement.

Ingram Micro is working diligently to restore the affected systems so that it can process and ship orders, and the Company apologizes for any disruption this issue is causing its customers, vendor partners, and others.â
At the moment, Ingram Micro has not disclosed who is behind the attack or whether any customer or partner data was exposed. But by taking systems offline, the company is clearly prioritizing containment and recovery over speed.

Ransomware incidents like this continue to plague the tech industry, and for a company like Ingram Micro that plays a key role in global supply chains, even temporary outages can have wide-reaching effects.

If you rely on Ingram Micro for products or services, expect delays while the company works to get its systems back online.

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