Progress to exaflop computers and specialized supercomputers

Wehner, Oliker, and Shalf estimate that a general-purpose exaflop machine using today’s technology would cost $1 billion to build and 200 megawatts to power—enough for a small city. By comparison, they estimate, a specialized exaflop machine would cost just $75 million and consume just 4 MW. Berkeley Labs and Tensilica are working together on a …

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Nuclear power will be added faster than wind power

Existing Nuclear power can be uprated. Over 2008-10 EdF (France) plans to uprate five of its 900 MWe reactors by 3% [135Mwe, 1.1TWh/yr]. Then in 2007 EdF announced that the twenty 1300 MWe reactors would be uprated some 7% from 2015 [1820MWe], within existing licence limits, and adding about 15 TWh/yr to output. Spain has …

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The Future of Carbon fiber in Cars

Year Carbon Fiber (CF) Market2007 35,000 tons2008 40,000 tons2009 46,000 tons 2010 52,000 tons2011 60,000 tons2012 69,000 tons2015 88,000 tons 70-80% of the CF market is for industrial purposes (10-15% growth in industrial), but the market for aircraft parts is growing the fastest (15-24% growth). The overall market is projected to grow at 10-15% per …

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Progress on India’s Thorium Nuclear Reactor and South Africa’s Pebble Bed

Progress on South Africa’s Pebble Bed ReactorCanada’s SNC Lavalin has gotten a C$253 million contract to help build the second phase of a demonstration Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) for completion by 2014 in Koeberg, South Africa. The small advanced reactor, a South African national project, would produce 165 MWe and could be built in …

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Philip Moriarty discusses Molecular Nanotechnology Validation experiment plans

On the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology blog comments, Philip Moriarty discusses his plans for testing the viability of positionally-controlled atom-by-atom fabrication of diamondoid materials as described in the Freitas-Merkle minimal toolset theory paper. A combination of low temperature tuning fork (Qplus) AFM, STM, and tunnelling spectroscopy (dI/dV and d2I/dV2, i.e. inelastic tunnelling spectroscopy) will be …

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French process to extract uranium from reactor ash

Areva and the University of Idaho have signed an agreement to develop technology for recovering uranium from incinerator ash at Areva’s uranium fuel plant in Richland, Washington state. The process also reduces the amount of ash classified as radioactive waste. Chien Wai, a chemistry professor at the University of Idaho, has developed a process that …

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Stem cell blood supply breakthrough and other stem cell breakthroughs

Human blood have been grown from embryonic stem cells for the first time during research that promises to provide an almost limitless supply suitable for transfusion into any patient. This could lead to trials of the blood within two years, and ultimately to an alternative to donations that would transform medicine. If such blood was …

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IEA oil market report

The August 12th IEA oil market report shows global oil supply increased by 890 Kb/d in July to 87.8 Mb/d. Norway, Canada, Argentina and Brazil underpinned non-OPEC growth of 520 Kb/d, amid a lull in seasonal maintenance elsewhere. Growth in non-OPEC output now averages 455 Kb/d for 2008 and 665 Kb/d for 2009, after 425 …

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Japanese Sake Brewer makes Cellulose Ethanol Breakthrough

Major Japanese sake manufacturer Gekkeikan announced on March 28, 2008, that it has developed a new technology for producing bioethanol, which is attracting keen interest as a replacement for fossil fuels. Using “super yeast” — sake yeast genetically modified with koji mold genes — the innovative technology can directly produce ethanol from inedible plant materials …

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