Theorists propose that for certain types of superconductors, contact with a metal layer could greatly increase the transition temperatures of these materials—in some cases by as much as an order of magnitude. This relates to recent research which suggests that superconductors do not achieve their best performance because of quantum traffic jams with electrons The …
China could apply a 370 billion yuan (US$54 billion) stimulus package to its domestic economy. China appears to want to keep GDP growth at 9-10% per year. Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. …
Researchers have now discovered a method that produces the bucky ball configuration of carbon with nearly 100% conversion efficiency from precursor materials. Getting high efficiencies means that you don’t have to sift through the reaction product and separate what you wanted—not a small challenge when you’re sorting billions of particles with nanometer dimensions. The relatively …
The World Bank estimates that the global middle class is likely to grow from 430 million in 2000 to 1.15 billion in 2030. The bank defines the middle class as earners making between $10 and $20 a day — adjusted for local prices — which is roughly the range of average incomes between Brazil ($10) …
This is a small prediction on a trivial topic. Dark Knight will earn more than the non-inflation adjusted total of Titanic. This Mondays numbers were 45% over the Dead Man’s chest numbers, which could be an indication of longer legs than Dead Man’s chest. An extra $4 million this week if the pattern holds throughout …
Superconductors.org reports the critical transition temperature (Tc) of the industrial superconductor YBCO (YBa2Cu3O7) has been successfuly increased from 92K to near 105K by reformulating to Y3Ba5Cu8Ox. No new elements were added. Y-358 – dubbed “Ultra YBCO” – is a novel intergrowth incorporating two different types of planar weight disparity (PWD) and a larger unit cell …
IEA (International Energy Agency) weekly oil report was issued June 10. Global oil product demand is expected to average 86.8 mb/d in 2008, 80 kb/d below last month’s estimate, following the reduction of price subsidies in several non-OECD countries. Global growth is cut even more steeply by 230 kb/d to +0.9% or +800 kb/d when …
Bloomberg news has an excellent article about the people and companies involved in developing the Bakken oilfield AFS Trinity’s 150 mpg SUV hybrid car is generating a new round of press coverage AFS trinity appears to be looking to sell the 150 mpg SUV’s to operators of car fleets In Europe there is already a …
Sirtris’ resveratrol formulation is now in Phase II clinical trials for diabetes. When it hits the market in four or five hears, David Sinclair [co-founder of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, discovered the molecule resveratrol. Sirtis Pharmaceuticals was bought by GlaxoSmithKline for $720 million] said, “It’ll be on the market as a diabetes drug. It’ll have to sell …
About two years ago, I was speculating about the never ending but rapidly progressing process of humanity gaining control (mastery) of information, light, energy, magnetism, and matter. (ILEMM control) I would also add another L for life referring to synthetic life, genomic, protenomics, epigenomics and control of stem cells and other cells. So ILLEMM control. …
China (including Hong Kong and Macau) has a larger GDP than Germany based on current exchange rates. The Euro has traded down to 10.77 to the Chinese Yuan The Euro/Yuan exchange rate will likely continue to fluctuate. The European countries (France, Spain, Italy) have been saying that the Euro has been too strong. The US …