New Transmitter to Recharge Electronic Devices Wirelessly

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New Transmitter to Recharge Electronic Devices Wirelessly

Powercast announced that it won the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval for its PowerSpot transmitter.

According to CNET website, the idea of the new device is that charging certain devices could work a little like Wi-Fi does: The devices just have to be in the vicinity, rather than plugged in or plopped down in a particular spot.

The biggest beneficiaries for now will likely be keyboards, remote controls and certain wearables.

The company plans to show off prototypes of its 3-watt PowerSpot at CES, the consumer electronics extravaganza in Las Vegas in January.

Up to this point, wireless charging has been a very short-range thing, based on two main standards, Qi and Powermat, for the home and places like McDonald's and Starbucks.

Pittsburgh-based Powercast wants to give you more room to roam.

Here's how its technology works. A transmitter broadcasts radio frequency energy on the 915MHz ISM band to a receiver embedded in a device, and the receiver converts that energy to direct current to power the device or charge the battery.

Powercast said it expects that up to 30 devices within range of a PowerSpot will be able to charge overnight, depending on the distance, as well as the type and power consumption of the individual device.

Powercast expects production units to be ready in the third quarter of 2018.



70 South African White Rhinos Relocated to Rwanda

 White rhinos have been the targets of a poaching epidemic that has largely wiped them out. (AFP)
White rhinos have been the targets of a poaching epidemic that has largely wiped them out. (AFP)
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70 South African White Rhinos Relocated to Rwanda

 White rhinos have been the targets of a poaching epidemic that has largely wiped them out. (AFP)
White rhinos have been the targets of a poaching epidemic that has largely wiped them out. (AFP)

Rwanda said on Tuesday that 70 white rhinos had been successfully relocated to the Great Lakes nation after a two-day journey of some 3,000 kilometers (over 1,800 miles) from South Africa.

It was the largest ever relocation of rhinos, which can weigh up to two tons, Rwandan officials said.

Once abundant across sub-Saharan Africa, rhino numbers have dramatically fallen due to hunting by European colonizers and large-scale poaching.

The animals were transported in two loads of 35 -- first aboard a Boeing 747, then by road -- from South Africa's Munywana Conservancy to Akagera National Park in Rwanda, or about 3,000 kilometers as the crow flies, according to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB).

A "dedicated veterinary team will closely monitor their health and behavior for several weeks to ensure proper adaptation to their new environment and management of any stress associated with the move", it said in a statement.

The move was part of African Parks' Rhino Rewild Initiative, supported by The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and aims to support population growth and secure a new breeding stronghold in Rwanda.

According to the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), rhino poaching in Africa rose by four percent from 2022 to 2023, with at least 586 rhinos poached in 2023.

The southern white rhino, one of two subspecies, is now listed as "near threatened", with roughly 17,000 individuals remaining, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The northern white rhino has all but vanished, with only two females left alive.