Technology Review – Chinese energy giant Hanergy bought Miasole, a Silicon Valley-based thin-film solar company, at less than a tenth the amount venture capitalists had invested in the firm. Thin-film solar panels cannot competing with conventional silicon ones under today’s market conditions. Thin film solar might still have a strong future. The poor market conditions …
This is a phase 2 NASA NIAC funded study. Nextbigfuture had coverage of the phase 1 work The 2 megabyte presentation of the phase 1 printable spacecraft project. Atmospheric confetti. Inchworm crawlers. Blankets of ground penetrating radar. These are some of the unique mission concepts which are enabled by a printable spacecraft. Flexible printed electronics …
In the Diplomat, Minxin Pei (professor of government) tries to raise an alarm about the debt levels at China’s banks and local government. This has been an issue that has been discussed for at least two years. The global “wall” of nonfinancial corporate debt maturities coming due from 2012 to 2016 is not new to …
Another NASA NIAC phase 1 funded study. This one takes advantage of certain places in space having almost no gravitational effects which enables things of very large size to be placed without needing a structure to hold them in place. Our objective is to investigate the conditions to manipulate and maintain the shape of an …
To enable frequent, low-cost opportunities to deliver nanosatellites to destinations beyond Earth orbit, TUI proposes to develop the “Nanosatellite Tethered High-Orbit Release” (NanoTHOR) module. The NanoTHOR module will enable multiple nanosatellites carried as secondary payloads on upper stages launched into GTO to be injected into Earth-escape trajectories by scavenging orbital momentum and propellant from the …
Carnival of space 264 is now up on Tomorrow is Here. Centauri Dreams – SETI normally works with radio or optical signals, but the discipline is changing. Could we detect extraterrestrial technology, even a starship in transit? Centauri Dreams examines the question through the lens of a 1995 paper by Robert Zubrin. Some beautiful new …
More than 9,000 people sought treatment at local hospitals for health problems stemming from the massive fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, California. Dr. Wendel Brunner, the county’s public health director, said residents who were exposed to particulate matter complained of a variety of problems, including irritation to the nose, throat and eyes, as …
Technology Review – Plastic or silk threads covered with temperature sensors and micro-heaters could keep tabs on infections and provide therapy. Researchers have now coated sutures with sensors that could monitor wounds and speed up healing. The electronic sutures, which contain ultrathin silicon sensors integrated on polymer or silk strips, can be threaded through needles, …
Here is the link to all of the presentations and abstracts from papers for the ACS Extraction of Uranium from Seawater conference 1. American Chemical Society Meeting – “Life cycle cost and energy balance of uranium recovered by a braid adsorbent system” paper by Erich Schneider Life cycle discounted cash flow and inventory analysis methods …
MIT researchers produce complex electronic circuits from molybdenum disulfide, a material that could have many more applications than graphene. The discovery of graphene, a material just one atom thick and possessing exceptional strength and other novel properties, started an avalanche of research around its use for everything from electronics to optics to structural materials. But …
BBC News – A report at the 244th meeting of the American Chemical Society described a new technique using uranium-absorbing mats made from discarded shrimp shells. The oceans hold billions of tonnes of uranium at tiny concentrations, but extracting it remains uneconomical. Although these trials proved the principle of uranium extraction from seawater, the cost …