Solar tiles are integrated into the roof, making them far less obtrusive than conventional solar panels, which are perched in a frame that sits atop a roof. Sunpower is one of the suppliers of the tiles. Various builders and developers are adding them to new homes. The current economics: Installing one of the roofing systems …
In Dec, 2005, Fujitsu announced that they were able to connect carbon nanotube bumps to the miniature electrode of a high power transistor. Carbon nanotubes have thermal conductivity of 1400W/(m-K) – a level much higher than that of metal(4), and because it is possible to connect carbon nanotube-based bumps very near to the heat-generating miniature …
This seems like a significant development for transitional systems. Researchers from Delft University of Technology’s Kavli Institute of Nanoscience have discovered how to use the motors of biological cells in extremely small channels on a chip. Based on this, they built a transport system that uses electrical charges to direct the molecules individually. To demonstrate …
White blood cells from a unique breed of cancer-resistant mice have cured advanced cancers in normal mice, researchers report. When injected the immune cells sought out and killed existing tumours and also protected the mice against lethal doses of new, highly aggressive cancers. The “resistant-cell therapy” appears to work without toxic side effects, and the …
Construction of China’s Three Gorges Dam is likely to be finished by 20 May, nine months ahead of schedule, according to state media reports. More details on the Three Gorges Dam project Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is …
Floating wind farms placed far offshore could lead to affordable electricity — without cluttering the view. GE has announced a $27 million partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop 5-7 megawatt turbines by 2009, each of which could power well over 1,000 homes. Supplanting the company’s current 3.6 megawatt turbines, these giant energy …
This is technology on the path to David Brin’s transparent society Researchers are working on a system that allows sensors to track information and create up-to-date, searchable online maps The project, which is called SenseWeb, will someday enable people to browse online maps for up-to-the-minute information about local gas prices, traffic flows, restaurant wait times, …
Thin films of carbon nanotubes deposited on transparent plastic can also serve as a surface on which cells can grow. And as researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) and Rice University suggest in a paper published in the May issue of the Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, these nanotube films …
Barriers to commercializing high-quality nanomaterials useful for an array of applications could tumble because of a process invented at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. NanoFermentation represents a fundamentally new approach for producing extremely fine, uniform and highly crystalline powders useful for magnetic media, ferrofluids, xerographic toner, catalysts, pigments, water treatment and coatings. The process works at …
My essay looks at some existing trends in military capability and technology development, and considers the impact of nanofactory-level nanotechnology (NN). The essay is also at kurzweilai.net A nanofactory is a proposed manufacturing system that could be built if molecularly precise manufacturing technology is developed. Current projections indicate that a nanofactory should be able to …