Iron and arsenic compounds are a new family of high temperature superconductor

Another family of superconducting materials has been found by researchers in Japan and China. The iron-and-arsenic compounds are being hailed as a great advance. Some researchers hope the new materials will help solve the mystery of cuprate high temperature superconductors (discovered in 1986) “It’s possible that these materials will provide a cleaner system to work …

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Carnival of Space Week 50

carnival of space week 50 is up at KYSat. My contribution was on thin film city domes for nuclear weapon protection and many commercial uses. Out of the cradle has the second part of a series of articles on gardening on the moon Colony Worlds explains how Neptunes moon Triton could eventually be worth trillions …

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Updates on Uranium hydride reactor and Bussard fusion

Hyperion power generation has a new frequently asked question page. I had detailed coverage of the Hyperion Power generation uranium hydride reactor from their patent submission. I also had considered applying the device for space power. Power output of the device: Approximately 70 megawatts (MW) of heat (thermal energy) and 25 megawatts (MW) of electrical …

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Brazil may have new Sugar loaf oil field may have 33 billion barrels of oil

Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency President Haroldo Lima is talking about a 33 billion barrel offshore oil find (not Tupi another find) deep-water exploration area off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. This find is also called the Cariaco field According to the ANP director, the field, temporarily named “Sugar Loaf,” in reference to Rio’s landmark, …

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USGS Bakken oil study released, 3.65 billion barrels of oil

Assessment of Undiscovered Oil Resources in the Devonian-Mississippian Bakken Formation, Williston Basin Province, Montana and North Dakota, 2008 Click on the pictures for larger view. Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered volumes of 3.65 billion barrels of oil, 1.85 trillion cubic feet of associated/dissolved natural gas, and 148 million …

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Intel forecasts Moore’s law to continue until 2029

Pat Gelsinger, head of the Digital Enterprise Division at Intel, says that Moore’s Law will continue until 2029 with zettaflop supercomputers at that time. [link is to his Intel Developers Forum keynote address, 80 pages, From Petaflops to Milliwatts] Pat expects by 2017 it will be possible to create a complete genetic simulation of a …

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More details on the Coskata process for converting garbage into fuel (Cellullostic ethanol)

Costaka‘s process combines both biological (i.e., microbes) and thermochemical (heat and chemicals) processing. This could potential convert existing biomass sources in the United States to provide 35% of current fuel usage. Coskata can use a wide variety of feedstocks for making fuel: wood chips, weeds and non-food crops like miscanthus, human waste, and carbon-heavy garbage …

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The big energy picture

This is how much energy the United States was using from 2002 to 2006. Notice that solar is 0.1%. Nuclear increase from 2002 to 2006 was equal to the total amount of all solar power. (even though that was just operating efficiency and some small nuclear uprates). Oil and fossil fuel usage was increasing. Petroleum …

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Direct conversion of radiation into electricity using carbon nanotubes and a separate new approach to thermoelectrics

Liviu Popa-Simil, former Los Alamos National Laboratory nuclear engineer and founder of private research and development company LAVM and Claudiu Muntele, of Alabama A&M University, US, say transforming the energy of radioactive particles into electricity is twenty times more effective (up to power density of 1 kw/cm^3) than thermoelectric materials. It will be big impact …

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Thermoelectric 40% improvement in a cheap material

Researchers at Boston College and MIT have used nanotechnology to achieve a major increase in thermoelectric efficiency, a milestone that paves the way for a new generation of products – from semiconductors and air conditioners to car exhaust systems and solar power technology – that run cleaner. UPDATE:Info from the Technology Review on how this …

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