Solar dots: Each of these 16 dots is a solar cell made up of nanoscopic particles called quantum dots. Credit: Ted Sargent Technology Review – A research team at the University of Toronto has created the first two-layer solar cell made up of light-absorbing nanoparticles called quantum dots. Quantum dots, which can be tuned to …
PANEL — “The Scientific Challenges of Truly Transformative Nanotech” Andrew Bleloch, (Halcyon), Matt Francis (UC-Berkeley), Sir J Fraser Stoddart (Northwestern), William Goddard (CalTech), Chris Schafmeister (Temple) Tough to characterize and see what you are working on. Takes a long time Interface control is tough Molecules have to be put together with the other materials to …
NY Times – If ongoing negotiations with a foreign sponsor are successfully completed then Terrapower, Traveling Wave Reactor will be developed overseas says Roger Reynolds, TerraPower’s technical adviser. China, Russia, India and France have talked to TerraPower. TerraPower design employs a high-temperature, liquid metal core cooling technology suited to a breeder reactor with “fast” neutron …
The Union of Concerned Scientists position on Nuclear Power and Global warming has the following problems To address global warming, we need a profound transformation of the ways in which we generate and consume energy. The urgency of this situation demands that we be willing to consider all possible options for coping with climate change. …
Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology. Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a …
1. With development of large-scale reactors in the United States slowed by constrained debt capital markets, the absence of climate legislation, low gas prices and flagging power demand, talk in the nuclear industry has shifted to next-generation reactors that are smaller, less capital-intensive and therefore more flexible. These small and modular reactors (SMRs), generally 300 …
UK Guardian – Egyptian president’s regime orchestrates bloody battles in Tahrir Square against protesters seeking his removal from power. Using clubs, bats, knives and even homemade spears, pro-Mubarak demonstrators charged the square at just before 2pm. They had been gathering for several hours 800 metres from the square on the Nile Corniche, outside the state …
IBM and ARM are jointly developing technology which will provide a suite of optimized physical and processor IP by ARM tuned to IBM’s advance manufacturing process down to 14 nanometers (nm); providing streamlined development and earlier introduction of advanced consumer electronics into the marketplace. EETimes – Japan’s Toppan Printing Co. Ltd. has extended a joint …
Around 25,000 new passenger planes will be needed over the next 20 years, aircraft company Airbus has forecast. These planes will have a value of around £1,880 billion, with 10,000 of the new planes replacing older and “less-green” aircraft. The other 15,000 will be to accommodate passenger growth, said Airbus whose planes’ wings are built …
Gixmag – Dorin Stefan’s ‘Floating Observatories’ tower; construction begins in 2012 in Taechung, Taiwan Dorin Stefans website Floating Observatories” is Stefan Dorin’s (from Romania) winning entry in the recent Taiwan Tower Conceptual International Competition – and in return for his US$130,000 first prize, now he has to actually build the thing. The new tower, standing …
The study, by researchers from Imperial College London, involves a new class of materials called metamaterials, which can be artificially engineered to distort light or sound waves. With conventional materials, light typically travels along a straight line, but with metamaterials, scientists can exploit a wealth of additional flexibility to create undetectable blind spots. By deflecting …