MIT study (long PDF) on geothermal energy suggest 100GW can be generated by 2050. $300-400 million over 15 years would need to be invested in research and cost reduction for 15 years before geothermal would be cost competitive. The 100GW by 2050 figure assumes $800 million to $1 billion over 15 years in investment in …
Physorg reports, the stretchiness of these 20-nm-long carbon nanotubes enables them to do what straight nanotubes find difficult: namely, transfer tensile forces and possess high ductility, or malleability. Scientists Min Wang, Xinming Qiu, and Xiong Zhang from Tsinghua University in Beijing recently investigated the mechanical properties of super honeycomb structures, which are made of periodically …
The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be relatively safe. It also has no patent, meaning it could be manufactured for a fraction of the cost of newly developed drugs. Evangelos Michelakis of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and his …
Better uses for the conservative estimate of the Iraq War 1.2 trillion Currently the war is not buying much. A shift should be made to a lower cost approach. Just engage enough to prevent safe havens for terrorists. Redeploy to borders. Occasional sweeps through different cities. Reduce the objectives. Shore up allies Kuwait, Israel, Turkey, …
Chris Phoenix has several very good comments about the UK Ideas factory projects. Here is one on the matter compiler Level 1: Reaction trajectories, potential energy surfaces.2: Covalent structures: ball-and-stick diagrams.3: Surface and volume structures. (Overlaps with 2 and 4.)4: Lowest functional parts: gears, levers, wires…5: Gearboxes, logic gates6: Machines, circuits7: Machine systems (e.g. assembly …
ANSOM — apertureless near-field scanning optical microscope is able to resolve less than 10 nm. Prior versions could only get to about 20nm. The Stephen Quake group, California Institute of Technology, developed a new phase filtering method. The fluorescence near-field microscope can distinguish single molecules. The microscope’s phase filtering method can also be applied to …
Organic containing metals have tuneable properties, and now they work above room temperature 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 …
An 8 megajoule railgun is working This could lead to higher velocity and longer range weapons. Key to practicality is power generation and storage like superconducting engines or nuclear power. A powerful pulse generator is used for this railgun. The prototype fired at Dahlgren is only an 8-megajoule electromagnetic device, but the one to be …
There is a need for a high level instruction language and a computer compiler that translates commands in this language into instructions for the ‘nano-assembler’. Translate build instructions to specific pick and place actions for a SPM or other accurate pick and place tool. An ambition to assemble molecules and materials under atomically precise control …
A WHO discussion of skewed risk perceptions Positive or negative framing? Striking changes in preference can result from framing the risk in either positive or negative terms, such as lives saved or lives lost, rates of survival or mortality, improving good health or reducing risks of disease Relative or absolute risks? Although relative risks are …
The World Health Organization (WHO) says 3 million people are killed worldwide by outdoor air pollution annually from vehicles and industrial emissions, and 1.6 million indoors through using solid fuel. Most are in poor countries. One study says 7-20% of cancers are attributable to poor air and pollution in homes and workplaces. Wikipedia discusses air …
