All posts tagged: Plasma

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 …

How plasma propulsion facilitates science and exploration at NASA

How plasma propulsion facilitates science and exploration at NASA

Published by skeptic

The Innovation Platform Editor Georgie Purcell spoke with NASA’s John W Dankanich to find out how the space agency is using plasma propulsion to improve its missions. Plasma propulsion is an advanced form of electric space propulsion that uses electric and magnetic fields to ionise a propellant into plasma – a charged gas of electrons and ions – which is then accelerated to extremely high velocities, far exceeding chemical rockets. This solution offers a range of benefits for space missions, including increased efficiency and reduced costs. NASA has utilised plasma technologies for a variety of activities and missions in its history and is continuing to do so in an effort to optimise efficiency, cost effectiveness, and capability. To learn more about the role of plasma propulsion within NASA’s work, Georgie Purcell spoke with John W Dankanich, In-Space Transportation Systems Capability Lead at NASA. Can you identify some of the key uses of plasma propulsion within NASA’s missions? Plasma propulsion, or what we generally refer to as ‘electric propulsion’ (EP), encompasses a diverse set of propulsion …

When KaOS Linux dropped KDE Plasma, I worried – now I’m loving the new default desktop

When KaOS Linux dropped KDE Plasma, I worried – now I’m loving the new default desktop

Published by skeptic

Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways KaOS Linux no longer defaults to KDE Plasma. In Plasma’s place is the scrollable tiling Niri. KaOS is free to install and use. Over the years, I’ve watched Linux distributions make all sorts of changes — some that made sense and some that didn’t. So when I read that KaOS was dropping the KDE Plasma desktop in favor of Niri (which I’d never heard of), I thought, “Hoo boy, this marks the beginning of the end.” I was wrong. Niri is actually pretty cool. Also: After 30 years with Linux, I switched it for Windows 11 – and found 9 serious problems What is KaOS? KaOS, according to the developer’s website, is a “rolling and transparent distribution for the modern desktop, built from scratch with a very specific focus — focus on one DE (desktop environment), one toolkit (Qt), one architecture (x86_64).” That DE is Niri, a scrollable, tiling compositor. Unlike most tiling window managers, Niri tiles all …

More investment in US fusion and plasma technologies needed

More investment in US fusion and plasma technologies needed

Published by skeptic

A new report sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recommends increased investment in America’s fusion diagnostic capabilities to speed up the delivery of commercial fusion power plants. As part of the DOE’s Basic Research Needs Workshop on Measurement Innovation, experts from academia, private industry, and national laboratories such as PPPL identified the critical diagnostics and measurement technologies needed to advance US leadership in fusion energy and plasma technologies. The workshop supported the goals outlined in the DOE’s Fusion Science & Technology Roadmap, which “targets actions and milestones out to the mid-2030s, providing the scientific and technological foundation to support a competitive US fusion energy industry.” Luis Delgado-Aparicio, head of advanced projects at PPPL, who chaired the workshop, explained: “Measurement innovations have led and will continue to lead to scientific and engineering breakthroughs in plasma science and technology activities supported by the DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences programme, especially fusion energy sciences. “This new report provides substantive findings across seven key areas of fusion and plasma technologies.” Strengthening US leadership in fusion and plasma technologies …

Want your Linux looking more like Windows? KDE Plasma makes it easy – here’s how

Want your Linux looking more like Windows? KDE Plasma makes it easy – here’s how

Published by skeptic

I do love some transparency. Jack Wallen/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways KDE Plasma can be highly customized. If you want KDE Plasma to look like Windows 11, you can. It only takes the addition of a theme and a widget to make this work. KDE Plasma is a remarkably customizable desktop environment. On top of being highly flexible, it’s also fast and stable, so it would make perfect sense why you might want to migrate from Windows to a KDE Plasma-powered desktop distribution. But if you want to carry over the look and feel of Windows 11, how do you do that? With a bit of tweaking.  Don’t worry, it’s not nearly as hard as you might think it is; you just have to know where to look, what to add, and how to set it up. Changing the theme What you’ll need: I’ll demonstrate this via KDE Neon, which includes the most recent release of the KDE Plasma desktop.  First, open System Settings and go to Colors …