Better batteries can make better hybrid cars, better all electric cars, and be used in a variety of space applications like powering a magbeam. From the Energy blog, high energy density (700 Wh/liter) batteries from Electrovaya Inc. (OTC: EFLV.PK) a company in Canada The MN-Series, which is a Lithiated Manganese Oxide based system, differentiates itself …
MIT study (long PDF) on geothermal energy suggest 100GW can be generated by 2050. $300-400 million over 15 years would need to be invested in research and cost reduction for 15 years before geothermal would be cost competitive. The 100GW by 2050 figure assumes $800 million to $1 billion over 15 years in investment in …
Wired discusses advances in silicon photonics In 15 or 20 years out, electrons will nearly exclusively be the stuff that computes, while photons will nearly exclusively be the stuff that communicates. Paniccia’s group at Intel will announce its fabrication of an optical modulator on a silicon chip that can translate electronic signals to light at …
Dwave systems has a current roadmap with well over 1,000 by the end of 2008. There are some quantum algorithms that can’t be run using the current architecture. The technical reason for this is that the devices that couple qubits i and j are of the sigma_z^{i} sigma_z^{j} type. There are some 16-qubit states that …
From Wired.com, An international team of scientists is developing what they say will be the world’s first microrobot — as wide as two human hairs — that can swim through the arteries and digestive system. The scientists are designing the 250-micron device to transmit images and deliver microscopic payloads to parts of the body outside …
Physorg reports, the stretchiness of these 20-nm-long carbon nanotubes enables them to do what straight nanotubes find difficult: namely, transfer tensile forces and possess high ductility, or malleability. Scientists Min Wang, Xinming Qiu, and Xiong Zhang from Tsinghua University in Beijing recently investigated the mechanical properties of super honeycomb structures, which are made of periodically …
A “data cable” made from stretched nerve cells could someday help connect computers to the human nervous system. The modified cells should form better connections with human tissue than the metal electrodes currently used for purposes such as remotely controlling prosthetics Tests have already shown that electrical signals can be transmitted in both directions along …
Nanodots are one of two major approaches being pursued around the world as possible means of boosting the density of magnetic data storage. The other involves using a laser to heat and switch individual bits (Seagates HAMR technology for 50 terabits per inch) . The ultimate solution may be a combination of the two approaches, …
MIT creates spiderman like fabrics that are strong, stretchy and light The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) claims that it has devised a way to produce a material that mimics the stretchy and strong properties of spider silk for use in fuel-cell cells, medical devices, military products and even Spider-Man-like fabrics. The materials, known as …
The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be relatively safe. It also has no patent, meaning it could be manufactured for a fraction of the cost of newly developed drugs. Evangelos Michelakis of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and his …
Dwave Systems has fixed the dates for the demo of their Orion quantum computing system. They are going to hold two events, one at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California on February 13th, and the second at the Telus World of Science in Vancouver, Canada on February 15th. This 16 qubit system is …