All posts tagged: Plasma

I made KDE Plasma look like Apple made it with a few surprisingly simple tweaks

I made KDE Plasma look like Apple made it with a few surprisingly simple tweaks

Published by skeptic

Everyone has a favorite desktop layout, and that taste carries on over when switching to another operating system (in this case, Linux) as well. I’ve mostly been used to Windows machines throughout my childhood, so it’s only natural that I’d be drawn to something like KDE Plasma — most of the time, anyway. There really is something to be said about Apple’s design language, though, and I would be lying if I said that I haven’t been tempted to switch over to the dark side at times. That being said, “ricing” your desktop can be a fun way to bring back some of that macOS feel without all the compromises that you’d expect from macOS. Related KDE makes some of the best free Windows apps nobody talks about KDE’s free Windows apps are criminally underrated. Getting the themes ready and installed (Almost) everything can be found within the KDE theme store Setting up KDE Plasma to look like macOS isn’t exactly difficult, but it’s a lengthy process. You’ll need a lot of scripts and installs …

Mars astronauts may do laundry by blasting clothes with a plasma beam

Mars astronauts may do laundry by blasting clothes with a plasma beam

Published by skeptic

White shirt material being cleaned with cold plasma University of Alabama in Huntsville, Propulsion Research Center Astronauts in space can’t do laundry – but that may be about to change. And it could mean that those on longer-duration missions will be able to have more of the comforts of home on the surfaces of the moon or Mars. Aboard the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts tend to wear the same clothes for days on end and then pack them up to be thrown back towards Earth where they burn up in the atmosphere. That’s all well and good for missions lasting a few weeks or even months, but it is not a viable solution for missions that last longer and that aren’t regularly resupplied from Earth. That’s where Gabe Xu at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and Chelsi Cassilly at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama come in. They have developed a sort of “laundry gun” that can be used to blast fabrics with cold plasma, killing off the microbes that cause unpleasant …

Kubuntu vs. Fedora KDE: Which KDE Plasma distro is right for you?

Kubuntu vs. Fedora KDE: Which KDE Plasma distro is right for you?

Published by skeptic

Jack Wallen/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Both Kubuntu and Fedora KDE use the KDE Plasma desktop. Each distribution takes a different approach to the desktop. One of these may have an edge for new users. KDE Plasma has won me over. It’s gorgeous, smooth, fast, and as stable as any desktop on the market. On top of all that, it has features that other desktops only dream of, including KDE Activities, KRunner, Window Rules, and KDE Connect.  But when you go to try KDE Plasma, you’ll find several distributions that offer the open-source desktop. Which one should you try? Also: Microsoft surprises with its first server Linux distribution: Azure Linux 4.0 In my opinion, two distributions stand out for newcomers to KDE Plasma or Linux: Kubuntu and Fedora KDE. Considering that both distributions default to the KDE Plasma desktop, you’d expect them to be, for the most part, the same. They are not. And I’m here to help you choose. Kubuntu is on the left and …

NASA Fires Up Futuristic Plasma Thruster Designed to Take Us to Mars

NASA Fires Up Futuristic Plasma Thruster Designed to Take Us to Mars

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Covering the well over 100 million miles to Mars is no easy feat. Even in the best case scenario, the journey can take many months. As an alternative to heavy and inefficient chemical rockets, NASA continues to investigate an intriguing alternative that instead uses electricity for propulsion. Combined with a nuclear power source, such a thruster could greatly lower our dependence on heavy propellants, bringing human explorers one small step closer to visiting Mars for the first time. Earlier this year, the space agency fired up a “next generation” prototype thruster in a special chamber at its Jet Propulsion Lab, cranking it up to “power levels exceeding any previous test in the United States,” according to a new update. JPL Tests Next-Generation Electric Thruster Newly-released video footage shows the thruster glowing a mesmerizing shade of red as a tungsten electrode in its center heats up to over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The prototype, a “lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster,” generates …

KDE Linux is the purest form of Plasma I’ve tested – but the install isn’t for the meek

KDE Linux is the purest form of Plasma I’ve tested – but the install isn’t for the meek

Published by skeptic

Jack Wallen/ZDNET ZDNET’s key takeaways KDE Linux is a distribution that highlights KDE Plasma. This distribution gives you Plasma exactly how it should be. KDE Linux is still in alpha stage, so it’s not yet suitable for daily use. Over the past few years, I’ve become a big fan of KDE Plasma. Not only has it become one of the most stable Linux desktop environments, but it’s also incredibly user-friendly, fast, and beautiful.  But did you know that most Linux distributions present KDE Plasma with a version of the desktop usually customized to meet the aesthetic and functionality of that particular OS? For example, when you use KDE Plasma on Kubuntu, it looks and feels different from what the KDE Plasma developers created. Also: Garuda KDE Dr460nized might be the coolest-looking Linux distro available Sometimes those differences are hard to catch; they could be subtle tweaks of the theme, or how the desktop behaves, such as what you’ll find in KDE Neon. On the other hand, some distributions (such as Garuda Dr460nized) present KDE Plasma in …

I switched from GNOME to KDE Plasma 6 and I’m not going back to Ubuntu defaults

I switched from GNOME to KDE Plasma 6 and I’m not going back to Ubuntu defaults

Published by skeptic

When I installed and booted into Ubuntu GNOME, I stuck to the defaults, and that was fine for a while. Even though GNOME is a clean, minimal, and modern setup, it was far from perfect. Certain extensions broke, and even something as basic as waking from sleep often felt sluggish. I didn’t expect much better from KDE Plasma 6 when I switched. So it was really exciting to see defaults like panel customization, drag-and-drop that actually worked, and shell stability — features I had begged for in GNOME. KDE Plasma 6 was intuitive and, unexpectedly, fun. My experience with the desktop environment makes me feel that this is officially the year of the KDE Linux desktop. GNOME forced me to rely on extensions KDE Plasma 6 includes what GNOME makes you beg for The GNOME desktop environment is simplistic. This means key features are missing by default, and the only workaround is to patch them with extensions. I started using Dash-to-Panel, DING, and Arc Menu to make it more functional, but each of these solutions …

Mother who lost sight after birth has vision restored following plasma donation | UK News

Mother who lost sight after birth has vision restored following plasma donation | UK News

Published by skeptic

A mother left blind after the birth of her first child has had her sight restored following a plasma donation. Jessica Kent-Hazledine, 33, woke up two weeks after giving birth to her son with little vision in her left eye. She put that down to tiredness but then lost vision in her right eye, leaving her fearing “the worst”. But a year on, she said her sight is “so much better”. ‘I thought I’d never see my son again’ Ms Kent-Hazledine, from Cornwall, said: “I was a new mum, not getting much sleep. “But I thought I should probably get it checked out, and the next thing I knew, I was having an urgent MRI and blood tests. It was all very scary; I was thinking the worst. “When my vision went in my right eye, too, I was terrified – I thought I wouldn’t be able to see my baby grow up. “I wouldn’t be able to see how his face changed or when he took his first steps or had his first day …

Plasma destruction reshapes the future of PFAS remediation

Plasma destruction reshapes the future of PFAS remediation

Published by skeptic

As regulatory pressure intensifies and the cost of PFAS remediation escalates, industry and government leaders face a common question: how to permanently eliminate PFAS contamination for clean drinking water – efficiently, safely and at scale. For decades, most treatment approaches have focused on separation rather than destruction – removing PFAS from water through filtration or adsorption, only to create secondary waste streams that require additional handling and disposal. Today, plasma-based destruction technology offers a fundamentally different path forward. DMAX Plasma Inc. is at the forefront of this shift, delivering a scalable plasma destruction platform designed to permanently break down PFAS molecules across a wide range of real-world water matrices, from landfill leachate to groundwater, stormwater, and industrial wastewater. Moving beyond separation to permanent destruction PFAS compounds are notoriously difficult to destroy due to the strength of their carbon-fluorine bonds – among the strongest in chemistry. Traditional treatment technologies, such as granular activated carbon, ion exchange, or membrane systems, capture PFAS but do not eliminate them, transferring long-term liability downstream. DMAX Plasma’s solution focuses on permanent …

Quark-gluon plasma may form in proton collisions

Quark-gluon plasma may form in proton collisions

Published by skeptic

New results from the ALICE Collaboration suggest quark-gluon plasma may form in proton collisions, not just heavy-ion experiments. A new analysis from the ALICE Collaboration is reshaping how physicists understand the conditions required to produce quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a state of matter thought to have existed moments after the Big Bang. The findings, published in Nature Communications, indicate that even relatively small particle collisions can exhibit characteristics long associated only with large-scale heavy-ion experiments. For decades, QGP has been studied by smashing heavy ions, such as lead nuclei, at extremely high energies. These collisions recreate the intense heat and density needed to free quarks and gluons from their usual confinement inside protons and neutrons. Smaller systems, like proton–proton collisions, were generally considered incapable of reaching those conditions. That assumption is now under increasing pressure. Evidence emerges from proton collisions The ALICE Collaboration analysed data from proton–proton and proton–lead collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), focusing on how particles emerge from these events. A key observable is ‘anisotropic flow,’ a phenomenon where particles are emitted …

Using plasma technology to break down PFAS contaminants

Using plasma technology to break down PFAS contaminants

Published by skeptic

Plasma Blue is addressing growing concerns about PFAS contamination by using plasma technology to effectively break down these harmful chemicals, offering a cost-effective solution amid increasing regulatory pressures and health risks associated with ‘forever chemicals’. Studies from the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, European Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and university systems like Oxford and Harvard are showing the reality of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) being found in everyday items and the effects of PFAS on the health of people and animals. With more discussion and awareness than ever, regulatory bodies from around the world are working to enact new regulations for the removal of PFAS in the manufacturing process of consumer goods and food. To accomplish this, thousands of public municipalities and public firms will need to make a deliberate effort to adopt consolidation and destruction technologies. Regulations are also on the way with the release of legacy PFAS that makes its way into the environment and drinking water through numerous sources, including landfills and processing water. The scientific community …