INDIA NEWS
ENERGY & RESOURCES
Researchers develop sustainable battery-free video game console London /IANS: Scientists have developed a battery-free handheld video game console or ‘Game Boy’ that harvests energy from the user to allow infinite gameplay.
Canberra/IANS: Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen to a 22-year low as a result of Covid-19 restrictions, the government revealed in a new update on August 31.
“But this Game Boy is not just a toy. It’s a powerful proofof-concept that pushes the boundaries of battery-free intermittent computing into the realm of fun and interaction,” the researchers at Northwestern University and the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands, wrote. Instead of batteries, which are costly, environmentally hazardous and ultimately end up in landfills, this device harvests energy from the sun -- and the user. These advances enable gaming to last forever without having to stop and recharge the battery. “It’s the first battery-free interactive device that harvests energy from user actions. When you press a button, the device converts that energy into something that powers your gaming,” said study co-author Josiah Hester. “Sustainable gaming will become a reality, and we made a major step in that direction -- by getting rid of the battery completely,” said TU Delft’s Przemyslaw Pawelczak. “With our platform, we want to make a statement that it is possible to make a sustainable gaming system that brings fun and joy to the user,” Pawelczak added. The researchers’ energy-aware gaming platform (ENGAGE) has the size and form factor of the original Game Boy, while being equipped with a set of solar panels around the screen.
Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions fall to 22-year low According to the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory update released by the government, emissions of greenhouse gases in Australia are estimated to be 518 million tonnes in the 2019-20 financial year, reports Xinhua news agency. It is Australia’s lowest emissions output since 1998.
battery-free video game Button presses by the user are the second source of energy. Most importantly, it impersonates the Game Boy processor. Although this solution requires a lot of computational power, and therefore energy, it allows any popular retro game to be played straight from its original cartridge. As the device switches between power sources, it does experience short losses in power. To ensure an acceptable duration of gameplay between power failures, the researchers designed the system hardware and software from the ground up to be energyaware as well as very energy efficient. They also developed a new technique for storing the system state in non-volatile memory, minimizing overhead and allowing quick restoration when power returns.
This eliminates the need to press “save” as seen in traditional platforms, as the player can now continue gameplay from the exact point of the device fully losing power -- even if Mario is in midjump.
The biggest fall came between April and June, the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in Australia, when emissions were 10 million tonnes lower than in the same period in 2019. The biggest drops in emissions were in the transport sector. Aviation fuel consumption was down 79 per cent and petrol consumption down 26.7 per cent.
Angus Taylor, Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, said that the unsustainable Covid-19 restrictions on travel “substantially reduced emissions”. “With the impacts of Covid-19 restrictions being felt across the economy, emissions have reduced as expected,” he said in a statement. Emissions from electricity fell 4.2 per cent as a result of an increased usage of renewable sources of energy. Agriculture emissions were down 5.5 per cent largely due to the drought’s impact on livestock populations. The data also confirmed that Australia’s emissions till March this year were 14.3 per cent below 2005 levels. The Australian government has committed to reducing emissions by 26 per cent to 28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 under the Paris climate agreement.
On a not-too-cloudy day, and for games that require at least moderate amounts of clicking, gameplay interruptions typically last less than one second for every 10 seconds of gameplay. The researchers found this to be a playable scenario for some games, including Chess, Solitaire and Tetris but certainly not yet for all (action) games. The research team will present the study virtually at UbiComp 2020, a major conference within the field of interactive systems, on September 15.
Queensland Supreme Court grants injunction against activist Ben Pennings Sept 11, Brisbane: The Queensland Supreme Court has today granted injunctive relief to Adani which forces Brisbanebased anti-fossil fuel activist Mr Ben Pennings to remove social media posts and any other online material related to the ‘Dob in a Contractor’ campaign, remove content from online channels that encourages the collation of confidential material about Adani Australia, and to stop what the company alleges is threatening behaviour towards their contractors and employees.
business and contractors, whilst the civil legal proceedings that they have brought against him are underway.
The injunction was requested in order to prevent Mr Ben Pennings from continuing what Adani Australia claims is a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation against their
Adani recently launched civil legal proceedings against anti-fossil fuel activist Mr Ben Pennings to protect its rights, as well as those of its employees and contractors,
www.indianews.com.au
“We are pleased with the outcome of today’s hearing that the injunction is now in place, and we will continue to pursue the civil legal proceedings while hoping that Mr Pennings honours the terms of this injunction and refrains from undertaking any further activity that could cause distress to our employees and contractors,” said a statement by Adani Australia.
to carry out legal and legitimate business activities free from intimidation and harassment. “We have advised Mr Pennings that we would no longer pursue this legal matter if he made a permanent undertaking to: remove any online material related to the ‘Dob in a Contractor’ campaign, remove content from online channels that encourages the collation of confidential material about our business, and to stop what we allege is threatening behaviour towards our contractors and employees. Mr Pennings to date has not agreed to this undertaking and so we are proceeding with the civil case. Our civil legal case alleges that Mr Pennings is a key organiser in the movement
to stop the development of our Carmichael Project working alone and with his group Galillee Blockade. We claim that he has been instrumental in organising blockades and the occupation of offices and industrial premises of many of our existing and potential suppliers, as well as some organisations that have absolutely no association with Adani. “We claim that he has caused distress to workers whose offices he has entered and he has used intimidation in an attempt to force meetings with executives. He has live-streamed video of our employees and our contractors and used their images without their consent or knowledge across social media channels in an alleged attempt
Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/indianewsaustralia
to belittle and intimidate them. After almost a decade of this type of intimidation we are saying enough is enough and we are exercising our legal rights to put an end to this obsessive and, in some cases, dangerous behaviour. Importantly, our legal action does not seek to limit free speech. As we have repeatedly stated, we believe a diversity of views is an important part of democracy. The civil legal action seeks to limit the campaign of alleged harassment and intimidation orchestrated by Mr Pennings against our business that aims to prevent us from legally and legitimately pursuing our commercial interests,” the statement further read.
SEPTEMBER 2020
11
