This study confirms what I and many others have been saying. Coal pollution is the top energy problem. It is killing a lot of people now and we need to use every other cleaner energy source including nuclear power to reduce the use of coal for power generation. Various scientific sources and regular news sources …
There are two developing technologies. The millimeter radiation system for Active denial. The pain beam. It works out to 500+ meters. They are talking deployment in 2010. They are already in various field trials. I wrote about theHPM (High Power Microwave) pulses–powerful enough to destroy enemy electronics–can be produced without the need for explosives or …
Chemicals are used to turn the bacteria on and off. They push their bead forward at speeds of around 15 microns per second. Sitti and Behkam began by sticking several S. marcescens – the kind of bacteria that cause pink stains on shower curtains – onto polystyrene beads 10 microns in diameter. These tiny “robots” …
A contest to build a robot that can operate autonomously in urban warfare conditions, moving in and out of buildings to search and destroy targets like a human soldier, was launched in Singapore on Tuesday. Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) is offering one million Singapore dollars ($652,000) to whoever develops a robot that completes …
Fuel cells have been made efficient for small machines like lawnmowers. Many standard fuel cell designs use electronics to control power output, but such designs require complex systems to manage humidity and fuel recovery and recycling systems to achieve acceptable efficiency. The new process controls the hydrogen feed to match the required power output, just …
An article that discusses various research and possibilities for extending maximum lifespan Optimal amounts of the amino acid methionine seems to be an important part of low calorie diets. A recent Spanish study found that methionine restriction definitely decreases oxidative damage to crucial mitochondrial DNA and proteins. Has any animal exploited the immortality of its …
Wimax will have about 20% of the next generation wireless communication market, Long Term Evolution (LTE), a follow-on to cellular’s GSM standard, will command the lion’s share of fourth-generation cellular systems. MacLeod said carriers Sprint Nextel, startup Clearwire and Russia’s Sistema have committed to WiMax, while Cingular and Vodafone are backing LTE. AT&T, BT and …
Researchers at the Centre for Material Development and Structural Studies in Toulouse (CEMES-CNRS) and their colleagues at the Free University of Berlin have, for the first time, managed to control the rotation of a wheel in a molecule. This nano-mechanical experiment concerned an 0.7 nm diameter wheel attached to a 0.6 nm-long axle. This success …
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 …