Archive for the 'Energy' Category
Efficient Solar ‘Antenna’ to Tune in to the Sun
March 8th, 2013Via: Solar Power Today: If it’s up to Brian Willis, we will soon quite literally be tuning in to the sun. The University of Connecticut professor has patented a technique to manufacture nanosized antenna arrays that have the capability to efficiently convert sunlight into usable electric power. In theory, these very small antenna arrays can […]
China: Concept for Cairn-Shaped Farmscrapers
March 6th, 2013While I definitely wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for any of these to be built, my guess is that you would be hard pressed to find a better gallery of sci-fi cityscapes to look at while you waste time at work. Via: Vincent Callebaut Architectures: Related: Secret Organic Gardens for China’s Elite China Acknowledges ‘Cancer […]
3-D Printed Car
February 27th, 2013Via: Wired: Picture an assembly line not that isn’t made up of robotic arms spewing sparks to weld heavy steel, but a warehouse of plastic-spraying printers producing light, cheap and highly efficient automobiles. If Jim Kor’s dream is realized, that’s exactly how the next generation of urban runabouts will be produced. His creation is called […]
USC: New Lithium Ion Battery Design
February 14th, 2013Via: USC: Researchers at USC have developed a new lithium-ion battery design that uses porous silicon nanoparticles in place of the traditional graphite anodes to provide superior performance. The new batteries — which could be used in anything from cellphones to hybrid cars — hold three times as much energy as comparable graphite-based designs and […]
Gasoline at Highest Price Ever for This Time of Year
February 2nd, 2013Via: CNBC: U.S. drivers are now paying more to fill up their gas tanks than they ever have at this time of year. The national average price of retail gasoline posted its biggest one-day increase in 23 months on Friday, rising four cents to $3.46 a gallon, according to AAA. The average price has risen […]
V3Solar Spin Cell = 8 Cents/kWh?
January 28th, 2013At a minimum, it’s a neat looking design. Whether or not it will amount to anything more, who knows… Via: Clean Technica: “V3Solar has invented, and is now in the process of commercializing, the first major change to flat panel PV technology in over 50 years – the V3 Spin Cell. For too long, the […]
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone: ‘The Continent’s Biggest Animal Sanctuary’
January 26th, 2013Via: Independent: Sergei Gaschak’s photography offers an unparalleled glimpse at animal life inside “the zone”, the area of Ukraine and Belarus that has been officially closed off to human habitation since the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe of 1986. Using camera traps to take photographs mechanically, as well as taking photographs personally, Gaschak has captured what few […]
A Mysterious Patch Of Light Shows Up In The North Dakota Dark
January 17th, 2013Via: NPR: What we have here is an immense and startlingly new oil and gas field — nighttime evidence of an oil boom created by a technology called fracking. Those lights are rigs, hundreds of them, lit at night, or fiery flares of natural gas. One hundred fifty oil companies, big ones, little ones, wildcatters, […]
Inspection Team Headed to Pa. Nuclear Plant
January 16th, 2013UPDATE: MALICIOUS VIRUS SHUTTERED U.S. POWER PLANT Via: Reuters: A computer virus attacked a turbine control system at a U.S. power company last fall when a technician unknowingly inserted an infected USB computer drive into the network, keeping a plant off line for three weeks, according to a report posted on a U.S. government website. […]
Low Power Thermoelectric Generator Runs on Body Heat
January 16th, 2013Via: Fast Company: It’s no science-fiction fantasy. With wearable gadgets like Google’s Project Glass on the horizon, all that’s missing is an ultraportable power source that never needs recharging–like, say, your own body heat. A startup in Corvallis, Oregon, has developed a small chip that can turn body heat into electric energy, using the same […]
