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Make sure to read today’s motivational monday article. I feel that a lot of us need to hear this…

Innovation

World’s Largest Battery

A company in northern Maine is planning to build the world’s largest battery, with 8,500 megawatt-hours of storage. Its goal is to store excess renewable energy, like solar and wind, for use when production is low, such as during cloudy or calm days.

The battery uses a process called "reverse rusting." It contains iron, which oxidizes (rusts) when storing energy and returns to pure iron when discharging it. While this method isn’t suitable for small-scale devices, it's cost-effective for large-scale energy storage—about one-tenth the cost of lithium-ion batteries. Form Energy, the company behind this project, has secured over $380 million in Department of Energy grants for projects across the North Atlantic, with $147 million going to the Maine battery.

At full capacity, the battery could power 85,000 homes for up to 100 hours. It will be the largest energy storage system ever built, according to Form Energy CEO Mateo Jaramillo. The energy stored could also power an electric vehicle around the world 1,288 times. Each battery is the size of a washer-dryer unit, and 50 will make up the station.

Space

First Spacewalk by a Private Citizen

On Thursday, September 12 at 7:58 a.m. ET, the SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew completed the world’s first all-civilian spacewalk, 450 miles above Earth. Jared Isaacman, tech entrepreneur and adventurer, exited the Dragon capsule first, followed by SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, as the capsule passed over Australia and New Zealand.

Though there have been celebrations and coverage of the crew’s safe return on Sunday, one key aspect hasn’t received enough attention. “The images of Isaacman and Gillis silhouetted more than 200 miles high against a dramatic backdrop of Earth will be added to the annals of space history at a time when companies such as SpaceX are authoring new chapters of exploration,” Christian Davenport writes in the Washington Post.

The mission tested SpaceX’s latest spacesuit. Isaacman and Gillis’ spacewalks marked the successful debut of the new extravehicular activity (EVA) suit, which is far more mobile than Apollo-era suits. Unlike previous models, the Polaris crew could move freely inside the Dragon capsule and exit through the hatch without an airlock. In a Starlink-powered interview with the Post, Isaacman reported that the suit performed well and that the "pretty good data" would influence the development of two more suits.

SpaceX’s Polaris Program is preparing for the future of commercial space travel. The Polaris Dawn mission tested various technologies, including the EVA suit. The second mission aims to visit the Hubble Space Telescope, which Isaacman suggested his crew could help by giving it a push, as Hubble is gradually being pulled toward Earth.

Good News

A Double Proposal!

A couple who unknowingly planned separate marriage proposals ended up getting down on one knee at the same time during a concert.

Rachel Hundertmark had been preparing for months to propose to her partner, Rashad Polk, at a concert by their favorite band. The couple shared their first kiss at a Modest Mouse concert in 2021, and on June 14, they attended another show with friends, family, and Rachel’s 16-year-old daughter, Jasmine. Rachel had a ring in her pocket, ready to propose, unaware that Rashad had the same plan. Both had told Jasmine about their proposals, leaving her to keep both secrets without spoiling the surprise.

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Mind Stretchers

⁉️ 

What common chemical compound is represented by the letters H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O?

Answers to yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:

Gerry Moore got the answer first!

The first to send us the correct answer for today’s mind stretcher for a shout-out with the answer tomorrow. Just send us the answer and your name to [email protected] or reply to the email.

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