A new six-junction solar cell, developed by NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), converts 47.1% of incident light into electricity when combined with optical concentration. Indications thus far suggest solar cells of this type can reach an efficiency rate of 50%. 143 sun concentration means they use mirrors or lens to focus light onto a smaller …
There was a recent updated analysis of various life-cycle energy impact measurements for fossil fuels, nuclear, solar and wind. Lifetime CO2 Emissions per Kilowatt-Hour Solar is 50% worse than nuclear for lifetime CO2 emissions per kilowatt-hour. Nuclear and wind tie for the best. The study finds each kilowatt-hour of electricity generated over the lifetime of …
China’s Qing class submarine displaces 6,628 tons submerged and measuring exactly the length of a football field at one hundred yards long (ninety-two meters), it is by most accounts the largest diesel submarine ever built. The Type 032 can fire not only long-range cruise missiles, but submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with the capacity to send …
Elon Musk said the rocket exploded due to a problem with ultra-cold oxygen reaction with carbon fibre in the rocket’s fuel tank. The catastrophic issue, which was alluded to at the start of November, is said to have happened during the fuelling procedures. “I think we’ve gotten to the bottom of the problem,” Musk told …
The world’s first horizontala and vertical elevator can literally open up new directions of travel in underground transport hubs. MULTI breaks the 160-year tradition of rope-driven elevators and has been designed to increase passenger shaft capacity by 50%. It does this by enabling multiple cabins to travel safely up one shaft and down another in …
A NASA team has been tapped to build a new type of communications modem that will employ an emerging, potentially revolutionary technology that could transform everything from telecommunications, medical imaging, advanced manufacturing to national defense. NASA’s first-ever integrated-photonics modem will be tested aboard the International Space Station beginning in 2020 as part of NASA’s multi-year …
Spacex has some new posters promoting Mars colonization and exploration. They use a retrofuture style. Adventure awaits! Explore Mars’ ultimate vacation destinations http://t.co/KpluQw4cow pic.twitter.com/kptj27x1LD— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 15, 2015 Tired of the same old travel destinations? Discover the wonder of Mars http://t.co/KpluQw4cow pic.twitter.com/vD9oLSuY5r— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 15, 2015 Max acceleration was 6X gravity, altitude 1187m, …
The Eagleworks team obtained EMDrive experimental force measurements in the torsional pendulum in a hard vacuum (~5.0×10^-6 Torr). Paul March included their last null-thrust test that ran the RF amp at 10.0Adc while its RF power was being dissipated in a 100W, 50 ohm dummy load positioned in place of the test article on the …
China will be leveraging its $4 trillion in reserves to provide low interest financing for high speed rail, export of Chinese nuclear reactors, factories and property development. China is offering to fill the worlds infrastructure gap. This will enable all of the developing world to follow the China economic development plan. In a few decades, …
1. China and Argentina have agreed to cooperate on the construction of a Chinese-designed Hualong One reactor in the South American country. The agreement aims for the signing of a framework contract for the project between CNNC and NASA by the end of 2015; for a commercial contract to be signed by the end of …
The Reaction Engines team are expanding in staff and activities to complete the SABRE demonstrator programme, with delivery on track for 2019. The company has relocated to larger premises on Culham Science Centre; consolidated its two manufacturing subsidiaries to a single new location in Didcot; and is recruiting across the company, ready for the design, …