General science advances thread

[ScienceRocks]

Inexpensive Solar Cell Coating May Lead To Big Increases In Solar Cell Efficiency, 1 Photon Knocks Loose 2 Electrons

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/04/19...lows-one-photon-to-knock-loose-two-electrons/
A potentially very important development has just been announced in the field of solar cell technology. Researchers at MIT have successfully demonstrated a technique that allows a photon to knock two electrons loose, rather than only the usual one electron. The demonstration opens the door to solar cells with efficiencies higher than 30% in the near future, and potentially far higher than the 34% Shockley-Queisser efficiency “limit.”

 

[Mr. H.]

I read about that ^. Neater than shit.

What I'd like to see is a material that is actually reflective that can be applied (painted?) to a surface such as a rooftop. The reflective properties keep the roof cool, while the material is engineered in such a fashion as to absorb those electrons (times a bazillion) and feed the electricity to the house.

 

[Mr. H.]

Calling Old Rocks...

 

[ScienceRocks]

Experimental Air Force aircraft goes hypersonic
The Associated PressAssociated Press
Posted: 05/03/2013 1222 PM PDT
May 3, 2013 9:21 PM GMTUpdated: 05/03/2013 0234 PM PDT

Experimental Air Force aircraft goes hypersonic - San Jose Mercury News

LOS ANGELES—An experimental, unmanned aircraft developed for the U.S. Air Force went hypersonic during a test off the Southern California coast, traveling at more than 3,000 mph, the Air Force said Friday.
The X-51A WaveRider flew for more than three minutes under power from its exotic scramjet engine and hit a speed of Mach 5.1, or more than five times the speed of sound.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Scientists Seek To Take The Measure of Antimatter Scientists Seek To Take The Measure of Antimatter | WBAA

 

[ScienceRocks]

Graphene paint could power homes of the future
Houses could be painted with a new super-material that generates electricity from sunlight and can even change colour on request, following new research.

Richard Gray By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent
7:00AM BST 03 May 2013

Scientists at the University of Manchester used wafers of graphene, the discovery of which won researchers a Nobel Prize, with thin layers of other materials to produce solar powered surfaces.

The resulting surfaces, which were paper thin and flexible, were able to absorb sunlight to produce electricity at a level that would rival existing solar panels.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...ne-paint-could-power-homes-of-the-future.html

 

[ScienceRocks]

Terrafugia to develop vertical takeoff flying car

The TF-X will build on the company's Transition flying car and will allow drivers to takeoff and land vertically.
Frustrated commuters may soon get some good news from Terrafugia, the maker of the Transition flying car.

The company on Sunday said it has begun feasibility studies of a four-seat, vertical takeoff and landing plug-in hybrid-electric flying car, the TF-X. The vehicle will "further increase the safety, simplicity, and convenience of personal aviation" by using state-of-the-art intelligent systems and other technology, Terrafugia said.

Terrafugia to develop vertical takeoff flying car | Cutting Edge - CNET News

 

[Mr. H.]

This is a good'n...

Cheap Nanotech Filter Clears Hazardous Microbes and Chemicals from Drinking Water

Thalappil Pradeep and his colleagues at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras developed a nanoparticle water filtration system that promises potable water for even the poorest communities in India and, in the future, for those in other countries sharing the same plight.

 

[ScienceRocks]

New advance in biofuel production: Researchers develop enzyme-free ionic liquid pre-treatment
New advance in biofuel production: Researchers develop enzyme-free ionic liquid pre-treatment
9 minutes ago by Lynn Yarris

liquid fuels synthesized from the sugars in cellulosic biomass – offer a clean, green and renewable alternative to gasoline, diesel and jet fuels. Bringing the costs of producing these advanced biofuels down to competitive levels with petrofuels, however, is a major challenge. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), a bioenergy research center led by Berkeley Lab, have taken another step towards meeting this challenge with the development of a new technique for pre-treating cellulosic biomass with ionic liquids - salts that are liquids rather than crystals at room temperature. This new technique requires none of the expensive enzymes used in previous ionic liquid pretreatments, and makes

New advance in biofuel production: Researchers develop enzyme-free ionic liquid pre-treatment

 

[ScienceRocks]

Morocco on Friday officially launched the construction of a 160-megawatt solar power plant near the desert city of Ouarzazate, the first in a series of vast solar projects planned in the country.

The largest of its kind in the world, according to Mustapha Bakkoury, the head of Morocco's solar energy agency MASEN, the thermo-solar plant will cost 7 billion dirhams (630 million euros) and is slated for completion in 2015, the official MAP news agency reported.

The ambitious project "reinforces the will... to optimise the exploitation of Morocco's natural resources, to preserve its environment... and sustain its development," Bakkoury said at the ceremony which was attended by King Mohammed VI.

Morocco launches solar mega-project at Ouarzazate

 

[ScienceRocks]

New magnetic graphene may revolutionise electronics

9 hours ago

Researchers from IMDEA-Nanociencia Institute and from Autonoma and Complutense Universities of Madrid (Spain) have managed to give graphene magnetic properties. The breakthrough, published in the journal Nature Physics, opens the door to the development of graphene-based spintronic devices, that is, devices based on the spin or rotation of the electron, and could transform the electronics industry.

Read more at: New magnetic graphene may revolutionise electronics

 

[ScienceRocks]

Researchers develop metamaterials able to control spread of light
Researchers develop metamaterials able to control spread of light

(Phys.org) —A team of researchers at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has developed a new class of metamaterials that allow for control of the spread of light in communications devices. As the team explains in their paper published in the journal Science, the new materials are able to alter the standard characteristics of light waves.

Read more at: Researchers develop metamaterials able to control spread of light

 

[ScienceRocks]

Nano-Breakthrough: Solving the Case of the Herringbone Crystal

Nano-breakthrough: Solving the case of the herringbone crystal

May 12, 2013 — Leading nanoscientists created beautiful, tiled patterns with flat nanocrystals, but they were left with a mystery: Why did some sets of crystals arrange themselves in an alternating, herringbone style? To find out, they turned to experts in computer simulation at the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Earliest Archaeological Evidence of Human Ancestors Hunting and Scavenging
Earliest archaeological evidence of human ancestors hunting and scavenging

May 10, 2013 — A recent Baylor University research study has shed new light on the diet and food acquisition strategies of some the earliest human ancestors in Africa.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Plague Helped Bring Down Roman Empire
Plague Helped Bring Down Roman Empire : Discovery News

New evidence suggests the Black Death bacterium caused the Justinianic Plague of the sixth to eighth centuries. The pandemic, named after the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (shown here), killed more than 100 million people.

Plague may have helped finish off the Roman Empire, researchers now reveal.

Plague is a fatal disease so infamous that it has become synonymous with any dangerous, widespread contagion. It was linked to one of the first known examples of biological warfare, when Mongols catapulted plague victims into cities.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Oldest water on Earth found deep underground

A pocket of water some 2.6 billion years old the most ancient pocket of water known by far, older even than the dawn of multicellular life has now been discovered in a mine 2 miles below the Earth's surface.

Read more: Oldest water on Earth found deep underground | Fox News

 

[ScienceRocks]

Autonomous X-47B Jet Fighter Makes Historic First Launch From An Aircraft Carrier

Autonomous X-47B Jet Fighter Makes Historic First Launch From An Aircraft Carrier | Popular Science

Technology, Clay Dillow, aviation, military, ucas, unmanned aerial systems, x-47bThe X-47B is also the first tail-less aircraft to operate from a carrier deck, which also makes it the first jet, manned or unmanned, with a low observable “stealth” profile to operate from a carrier. It’s the first self-piloting, autonomous unmanned jet to fly in any branch of the military. In this writer’s experience, it’s the first unmanned aircraft that’s this ridiculously cool.

Which explains the enthusiasm of the Navy/Northrop Grumman program crew that finally launched their Unmanned Combat Aerial System (UCAS) after years of development (though “combat” is part of the title, the two existing X-47Bs are only technology demonstrator meant to prove technological capability; Navy brass emphasize that it is not intended for active service, nor for weaponization). The team has been hard at work for the past year at Naval Air Station Patuxent River putting its X-47Bs through their paces on a terrestrial carrier simulator.

Noticeably absent from today’s demonstration, however, was an arrested landing aboard the carrier. After launching from the USS Bush the air vehicle designated “Salty Dog 502” for the purposes of this demonstration flight made two approaches to the carrier, one at roughly 1,000 feet altitude and another just 50 feet above the flight deck. Both were simulated “wave-offs,” where the Landing Signal Officer on deck or the aircraft decides that a landing is not safe and the aircraft aborts touchdown. Instead of eventually landing, Salty Dog 502 turned west and made a 65-minute flight back to Pax River in Maryland, where it landed on a terrestrial runway.

 

[ScienceRocks]

TF-X, a new flying car to avoid traffic jams

Saturday, May 18, 2013

A Massachusetts-based company called Terrafugia has developed the TF-X flying car, a four-passenger plug-in hybrid with retractable wings. In flight mode, it will have a non-stop range of more than 805 kilometres.

According to the video, all you have to do is to enter a destination; the TF-X will automatically take off and fly at up to 322 km/h before landing on its own exactly where you wanted.

“We are passionate about continuing to lead the creation of a flying car industry and are dedicating resources to lay the foundations for our vision of personal transportation.” announced Terrafugia CEO/CTO Carl Dietrich.

Of course, the production and manufacture of flying cars face significant obstacles, but the company says preliminary discussions with the Federal Aviation Administration in the U.S. have been positive. In fact, the FAA is reportedly ready to consider regulatory changes needed to enable buyers to make use of such vehicles.

Bottom line: Flying cars are not that far-fetched. After all, didn't we see Marty McFly pilot Doc Brown's DeLorean in the year 2015?

http://www.auto123.com/en/news/tf-x-a-new-flying-car-to-avoid-traffic-jams?artid=155832

 

[ScienceRocks]

Weather Service to Add Major Might to Computing Power
Published: May 17th, 2013 , Last Updated: May 17th, 2013
Weather Service to Add Major Might to Computing Power | Climate Central

Andrew Freedman By Andrew Freedman

After coming under fire for falling behind the capabilities of other nations, the National Weather Service (NWS) is setting out to make an unprecedented increase in its computing power over the next several years, the agency announced this week. The computing boost will triple a key measure of the agency's main weather model, and could yield major improvements to its weather forecasting and warnings capabilities.

The ECMWF model consistently forecast that Hurricane Sandy would make landfall in the Mid-Atlantic region, starting a week in advance.
Credit: Weatherbell.com.

The program is made possible by recent funding from Congress contained in the Hurricane Sandy relief legislation, which was signed into law in January. The NWS plans to use $25 million of the $48 million provided to it in the Sandy supplemental bill, along with funds that are called for in President Obama’s fiscal year 2014 budget proposal, to bring about "unprecedented" computing upgrades — going from an operational computing capacity of 213 peak teraflops at the end of the current fiscal year, to 1,950 peak teraflops by the end of fiscal year 2015, according to NWS Director Louis Uccellini. A teraflop is a measure of how many calculations a computer can make per second, and indicates that a computer can make one trillion “floating point calculations” in just one second. In other words, the agency doesn’t run weather models on your typical personal computer.

About fucking time!

 

[ScienceRocks]

SheerWind claims its INVELOX wind turbine produces 600% more power

May 13, 2013 by Bob Yirka report
SheerWind claims its INVELOX wind turbine produces 600% more power

SheerWind claims its INVELOX wind turbine produces 600% more power

(Phys.org) —SheerWind Inc. of Chaska, Minnesota is claiming in a press release that its newly developed funnel-based wind turbine system is capable of producing 600 percent more power than conventional wind turbines. The new design uses funnels to channel wind to a ground-based turbine.

The idea behind the INVELOX system is to capture wind using wide mouthed funnels and channel it via ducts to a turbine sitting at ground level. The wind picks up speed as it is concentrated through a series of nozzle and pipes before it is delivered to a turbine, which produces electricity. SheerWind claims in its announcement that the system is capable of producing electricity with wind speeds as low as 1mph.

As an example, they say that tests have demonstrated that the system operating in natural wind speeds of 10mph is able to increase that speed to 40mph before it enters the turbine. After passing through the turbine, the wind is exhausted back into the environment, in this case, at 15mph.

Read more at: SheerWind claims its INVELOX wind turbine produces 600% more power