Cows wearing smart-watch-style sensors may be the future of ranching...ASU, Mexico to partner for semiconductor production
Science Business Today
Courtesy NTT TechnoCross
Cows wearing smart-watch-style sensors may be the future of ranching:
Cows wearing smart watches? I find that udderly delightful.
Now researchers report in iScience that they’re developed wearable smart device able to moo-nitor the cows that is powered by the animals moo-vements.
“On a ranch, monitoring environmental and health information of cattle can help prevent diseases and improve the efficiency of pasture breeding and management,” says co-author Zutao Zhang, an energy researcher at Southwest Jiaotong University in China. “This information can include oxygen concentration, air temperature and humidity, amount of exercise, reproductive cycles, disease, and milk production.”
The team’s smart ranch design has the cows wearing the devices on ankles and necks.
“There is a tremendous amount of kinetic energy that can be harvested in cattle’s daily movements, such as walking, running, and even neck movement,” says co-author Yajia Pan, also an energy researcher at Southwest Jiaotong University. Once captured, the energy is stored in a lithium battery and used to power the device.
“Our kinetic energy harvester specially harvests the kinetic energy of weak motion,” says Zhang, adding that, “with the development of 5G technology and the Internet of Things, the operation of the entire industrial chain of the food system is more intelligent and transparent.”
ASU, Mexico to partner for semiconductor production:
Arizona State University is signed on to partner Higher Ed in Mexico and the microelectronics industry to boost North American semiconductor production.
The ASU agreement will start the ball rolling on alliances with Mexican universities and the chip industry to foster worker training a production facility construction.
The move will pull the industry away from China.
“Today, the industries and national securities of the United States depend on the supply of semiconductors produced in China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea. If this supply chain is broken, there will be a global economic crisis, as we experienced during the pandemic when China closed almost all economic activities,” said Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, the Mexican ambassador to the U.S.
“Semiconductors are the most essential input for a wide range of products — electronics, smartphones, computers, automobiles, the aerospace industry, information technologies, telecommunications infrastructure, medical devices, electromobility and household appliances,” he added, noting that the manufacturing process requires specialized technology and materials.
Semiconductors make up 40% of the total cost of a new car today, according to the Ambassador, noting that 75% of all semi manufacturing no happens in Asia.
“In 1990, the U.S. produced almost 40% of worldwide semiconductors, and now only 12%,” he pointed out.
Today, the U.S. and China account for 50% of the global demand.
Mexico is a key partner because it offers economic, social and political stability, fiscal incentives, low taxes, access to international airports and proximity to customers and supplies, plus qualified engineers and an available workforce, according to the ambassador.
“Remember that almost 40% of U.S. semiconductor plants are in border sites,” he added.
Intel and Texas Instruments already maintain facilities in Mexico.