According to Michael Kruse, consultant on nuclear systems for Arthur D. Little, the Chinese are ready to spend $511 billion to build up to 245 reactors. Money is not an issue, which is different from the rest of the world. The Chinese have the capacity to deliver and they are deadly serious about achieving it,” …
Stephen Chu (energy secretary) sounded an alarm with Is the Energy Race our new “Sputnik” Moment? (30 page presentation) For over a century, America has led the world in innovation. Today, that leadership is at risk. In the last 15 years, Chu said, China has gone from 15th place to 5th in international patents and …
NASA engineers now developing a blacker-than pitch material that will help scientists gather hard-to-obtain scientific measurements or observe currently unseen astronomical objects, like Earth-sized planets in orbit around other stars. “This is a technology that offers a lot of payback,” said engineer Leroy Sparr, who is assessing its effectiveness on the Ocean Radiometer for Carbon …
Blacklight Power announced three replications of their work and claims regarding hydrinos. Blacklight Power still is not generating any commercial electricity and has not widely distributed any test systems for more open verification of extraordinary claims. Greentechmedia – the latest extraordinary claim of Blacklight Power BlackLight Power is back, and it says it can generate …
1. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched a $65M program to develop a four person flyable and roadable vehicle. Terrafugia, Inc., developer of the Transition® Roadable Aircraft, or “Flying Car”, is the largest subcontractor to one of two winning teams, led by AAI Corporation and comprised of other Textron companies. The vehicle …
1. ACS Nano -Direct Writing of Sub-5 nm Hafnium Diboride Metallic Nanostructures Sub-5 nm metallic hafnium diboride (HfB2) nanostructures were directly written onto Si(100)-2 × 1:H surfaces using ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscope (UHV-STM) electron beam induced deposition (EBID) of a carbon-free precursor molecule, tetrakis(tetrahydroborato)hafnium, Hf(BH4)4. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy data confirm the metallic nature of …
Metabolic engineering – the practice of altering genes and metabolic pathways within a cell or microorganism – could one day be used to mass-produce biofuels, pharmaceuticals and other chemical products from inexpensive and renewable starting materials. (Image by Flavio Robles, Berkeley Lab Public Affairs) In a paper published in the journal Science titled “Manufacturing molecules …
Sprint, Clearwire (the brand name of the service provided by Clear) and Time Warner Cable will roll out versions of the Clear service Wimax under their own branding by the end of the year Clear Wimax si in New York as of November 1, Los Angeles on December 1 and will be in San Francisco …
Gixmag – Dorin Stefan’s ‘Floating Observatories’ tower; construction begins in 2012 in Taechung, Taiwan Dorin Stefans website Floating Observatories” is Stefan Dorin’s (from Romania) winning entry in the recent Taiwan Tower Conceptual International Competition – and in return for his US$130,000 first prize, now he has to actually build the thing. The new tower, standing …
Dan Yurman discusses China’s ambitious nuclear energy program Dan discusses the issues around scaling the workforce, supply chain and uranium. I will review the scale of the build and the scaling up of world Uranium supply. The increase in nuclear construction is mostly not happening in Europe or the United States. Europe and the US …
Bacteria made from Arsenic. (H/T the Speculist) NASA scientist Felisa Wolfe Simon will announce that they have found a bacteria whose DNA is completely alien to what we know today. Instead of using phosphorus, the bacteria uses arsenic. All life on Earth is made of six components: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur. Every …