Yichuan Wang (undergraduate economics and mathematics student at the University of Michigan) makes the case that China’s high speed rail development strategy is working (Quartz article) * Passenger usage intensity of the rail network has increased by 50% from 2001 to 2011 * high-speed rail has allowed more trains to be placed on the same …
The Carnival of Nuclear Energy 167 is up at Yes Vermont Yankee Canadian Energy Issues – NRDC feigns outrage over 1.2 billion tons of carbon from oil sands in Canada; supports 50 times as much carbon from gas-fired generation in America posted by Steve Aplin at Canadian Energy Issues Atomic Insights – Galen Winsor was …
An IAEA presentation from Mar 2013 discusses the countries that have solid plans to adopt nuclear energy. Most of the new nuclear reactors will be built in countries that already have nuclear power. Those countries are primarily China, India, Russia, and South Korea. Below are the countries with new nuclear energy plans and they are …
Here is an IAEA presentation from Mar 2013 on the status of global small modular nuclear reactor projects. Operational Issues for SMRs – Overcoming Constraints: • Licensability of non-LWR technologies in newcomer countries • Control room staffing and human factors • Connection to the grid • Site specific exclusion zones and EPZs Most of the …
Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) program aims to improve air-to-ground fire coordination, but could revolutionize military tech development and deployment as well. To accelerate CAS capabilities well beyond the current technological state of the art, PCAS envisions an all-digital system that incorporates commercial IT products and models such as open interfaces, element modularity and mobile …
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed and tested an all-solid lithium-sulfur battery with approximately four times the energy density of conventional lithium-ion technologies that power today’s electronics. The ORNL battery design, which uses abundant low-cost elemental sulfur, also addresses flammability concerns experienced by other chemistries. Angewandte Chemie International Edition …
Researchers are developing 3D printer with ‘bio-ink’ to create human organs. The long-term goal of this branch is to create functioning human organs some five or 10 years from now. While bioprinters at other institutions use one arm with multiple heads to print multiple materials one after the other, the UI device with multiple arms …
Elon Musk of Spacex has tweeted out some videos and photos of the latest reusable rocket tests. There is a six foot all mannequin dresses as a cowboy on the rocket. If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader …
Though invisibility to the naked eye is an exciting prospect, the ability to cloak objects from other forms of electromagnetic waves, as well as sound waves, has equally important benefits. Military defense is an area in which this engineering accomplishment may prove most useful. Radar is widely used to detect ships, tanks, and other military …
Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) and Nanospectra Biosciences have planned the first clinical trial for lung cancers of a new therapy that uses gold nanoshells, which were invented at Rice University. Nanospectra’s AuroLase Therapy uses a combination of lasers and nanoparticles to destroy cancer tumors with heat. Because the nanoparticles — balls of silica …
ITProPortal – China’s Huawei Ascend Mate smartphone is rumored to have a display of 6.1 inches diagonal which is bigger than the 5.5 inches of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and not far from the 7in diagonal that’s common on most small form factor tablets. The Ascend Mate specs on Chinese website MyDrivers * 10mm …