The nano-cables developed by Takanori Fukushita of Tokyo Japan are 16 nanometres in diameter and several micrometres long. They resemble the light-harvesting antennae used by some bacteria and transform light into electricity in a similar way to the semiconductors in solar panels, albeit on a much smaller scale. “This is the first example of a …
If all the cars and light trucks in the nation switched from oil to electrons, idle capacity in the existing electric power system could generate most of the electricity consumed by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. A new study for the Department of Energy finds that “off-peak” electricity production and transmission capacity could fuel 84 percent …
Centauri dreams has a couple of interesting articles about near term solar sails. Gregory Benford (University of California at Irvine) and his brother James (Microwave Sciences) have solar sail with a painted polymer layer that desorp from the sail as extra propulsion The solar sail could be deployed in low Earth orbit by conventional rocket. …
New light physics with plasmons that could bridge light, matter and electronics. Plasmon computers could operate at 100 Terahertz – 1000 terahertz or 20,000 to 200,000 times faster than mainstream computer chips. Part of what I think is the growing trend of greater control of all information, light, energy, matter and magnetism. (ILEMM) Two-dimensional light, …
Coal is projected to increase 50% in the AEO2007 reference case, particularly for electricity generation. Coal consumption is projected to increase from 22.9 quadrillion Btu (1,128 million short tons) in 2005 to more than 34 quadrillion Btu (1,772 million short tons) in 2030, with significant additions of new coal-fired generation capacity over the last decade …
Spintronic memory advance: New research suggests a new route for developing high density magnetic memory chips which will not lose information when the power is switched off. For the first time data will be written and read very fast using only electrical currents. Physicist at the Universities of Bath, Bristol and Leeds have discovered a …
An article from the New York Times about the UN report on global wealth distribution A lot of focus has been on how much is owned by the top tier. (40% by the top 1% and 50% by the top 2%, 85% from the top 10%) I think it is more important to note how …
The New Scientist, examines the efforts to reduce ship drag using tiny bubbles, slippery polymers and trapped sheets of air. As a ship moves through water it encounters three types of drag: wave drag, pressure drag and frictional drag. Wave resistance is mainly a problem at high speed, and can be minimised with a carefully …
In 1968 DBI initiated research on the packaging of thorium in order to produce hydrogen as an energy carrier, and thus create a new commodity in thorium as an energy source. DBI has continued advancing its thorium program, beginning its ongoing concentrations on nuclear vessels and biomass to produce a commodity for the replacement of …
Swarmanoids are a follow up to swarmbots Will initially have eye-bots, hand-bots and foot-bots Swarm robotics is inspired by the social insect metaphor, and emphasises aspects such as decentralisation of control, limited communication abilities among robots, use of local information, emergence of global behaviour, and robustness. Most current studies in swarm robotic systems have focused …
In conjunction with First Nano (FN), a division of CVD Equipment Corporation, University of Cincinatti has grown an array on FN’s EasyTube Carbon Nanotube system that is longer than 7 mm. “The harmonious combination of substrate, alloy catalyst and process conditions was found to consistently produce nanotube arrays more than 7 mm long” says Professor …
