MCNBC is covering the online space solar power study. I have provided several comments to the space solar power study. The MSNBC article has boosted traffic by several times at the study site. Space-Based Solar Power study article at space.com Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 …
A consortium has been created to oversee the building of a $100 million 25-meter submillimeter telescope on a high elevation in Chile Because submillimeter-wavelength astronomy is especially effective for imaging phenomena that do not emit much visible light, the Atacama telescope will allow observations of stars and planets forming from swirling disks of gas and …
Technology Review reports on graphene paper which could be mixed with polymers or metals to make materials for use in aircraft fuselages, cars, and buildings. In theory, graphene sheets could be superior to all other materials, Ruoff says, “with the possible exception of diamond”. Researchers at Northwestern University have reassembled one-atom-thick graphene sheets that make …
Researchers at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research studied rats with crushed spinal cords. The scientists found treatment soon after injury, combining radiation therapy to destroy harmful cells and microsurgery to drain excess fluids, significantly helped the body repair the injured cord. The scientists, led by Nurit Kalderon, said their findings demonstrate conventional clinical procedures …
Al Fin points out that Boeing has been awarded a High-Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator project to put a battlefield laser onto a truck Has a summary of more military laser projects The 100 kW JHPSSL lasers won’t be ready to deliver to the battlefield. The program aims to demonstrate technology that the armed services can …
Intel has fabricated the first modulator made from silicon that can encode data onto a beam of light at a rate of 40 billion bits per second, or gigabits. Modulators are key components in using lasers to send data down fiber-optic cable. Such speeds — roughly 40 times faster than the most sophisticated corporate data …
The NY Times reports that Toyota has started testing Plug in Hybrid versions of the Prius The Mercury news has extra information on its blog and in the main SJ Mercury newspaper * Susan Shaheen, a UC-Berkeley researcher, said she’s still figuring out the methodology for the studies into how people react to PHEVs, but …
Epigenetics refers to heritable traits (over rounds of cell division and sometimes transgenerationally) that do not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence Epigenetics was featured on Nova Science Now Epigenetics is proving we have some responsibility for the integrity of our genome,” Jirtle says. “Before, genes predetermined outcomes. Now everything we do—everything we eat …
Physicists at the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology have induced thousands of atoms trapped by laser beams to swap “spins” with partners simultaneously. This “quantum square dance” may be useful in quantum computing with neutral atoms. Atoms are loaded into individual sites of a 3D grid of light made with laser beams. …
Researchers at Northwestern University have fabricated graphene oxide paper which is remarkably stiff and strong yet lightweight material and should find use in a wide variety of applications. “The mechanical, thermal, optical and electrical properties of graphene are exceptional,” says Ruoff. “For example, the stiffness and strength of these graphene-like sheets should be superior to …
the LA times has an editorial in support of coal and natural gas power and against nuclear power A Musing Environment points out that California has legislation that prevents the use of new coal power for electricity Information on California’s energy usage The coal that California uses is generated out of state. About 40% of …