First Solar, Inc. set a record for cadmium-telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) research cell conversion efficiency, achieving 22.1 percent efficiency certified at the Newport Corporation’s Technology and Applications Center (TAC) PV Lab. The achievement confirms that First Solar is on pace with its established research cell roadmap, and validates CdTe’s growing competitive advantage over multi-crystalline silicon …
Demis Hassabis gave a talk about his Google Deep Mind project In January 2014 DeepMind was acquired by Google for a reported £400 million (approximately $625 million), where Hassabis is now Vice President of Engineering leading their general AI projects. AI researcher Ben Goertzel gave his review. It’s a well-delivered, clear and concise talk, but …
This article is part of the 2015 ‘Think Further’ series, sponsored by Fred Alger Management, Inc. For more ‘Think Further’ content and videos, visit thinkfurtheralger.com A Huge Leap Forward is possible for the bottom 2 billion people within 5 to 10 years. Two thirds of the rural population in developing countries are without electricity. This …
Super accurate chip scale atomic clocks are a critical part of going beyond the Global Positioning System This is for superior chip size atomic clocks. The U.S. has superior in lab and large atomic and laser clocks. They are shrinking them down and making them cheaper. Hundreds of bucks instead of millions. They have an …
The Carnival of Nuclear Energy 242 is up Atomic Power Review Forbes – 2014 – The Year In Energy Energy soared in 2014, but the place to watch was China. China has embarked on the biggest energy expansion in world history and 2014 was the year when it all came together. China is diversifying its …
I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We have another open thread. We are also in the season on Festivus so you can air grievances but please still be polite and try to be amusing and interesting Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per …
1. Nicaragua’s 6 million people are among the poorest, with as many as a quarter living on less than two dollars a day, which makes subsistence farming all the more important. President Ortega has described the canal, which would dwarf the old Panama Canal and the new one under construction as well, as “phase two” …
A Rice University wireless antenna rig, known as Argos, represents the largest such array yet built and will serve as a test bed for a concept known as “Massive MIMO.” MIMO, or “multiple-input, multiple-output,” is a wireless networking technique aimed at transferring data more efficiently by having several antennas work together to exploit a natural …
The Carnival of Nuclear Energy 176 is up at Hiroshima Syndrome. Yes Vermont Yankee – The Safety of Nuclear versus Gas: A guest post by N Nadir Who remembers the Piper Alpha? Who remembers all the accidents and disasters caused by fossil fuels. “Nuclear energy need not be perfect; it need not be risk free …
As a pilotless F-16 roared into the sky last week at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., members of Boeing’s QF-16 team and the U.S. Air Force celebrated. Two U.S. Air Force test pilots in a ground control station at Tydall remotely flew the QF-16, which is a retired F-16 jet modified to be an aerial …
Digital movies in movie theaters project at 2K (2048×1080 or 2.2 megapixels) or 4K (4096×2160 or 8.8 megapixels). DCI-compliant DLP projectors were available in 2K only, but from early 2012, when TI’s 4K DLP chip went into full production, DLP projectors have been available in both 2K and 4K versions. The initial costs for converting …