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Yearly Archives: 2008
Revolting: 114 mpg Avion Sports Car Rejected for Fuel Being "Too Cheap"
There was a sports car built in 1984 by Craig Henderson and Bill Green from Bellingham, Washington, and at that time it was able to set a record of 103.7 mpg for Guinness Book(in European terms, that's 2.27 liters/100km). Now they're reviving it with the help of the X-Prize Competition.
Friction Heater Gets Almost Free Energy From Wood – Iron Friction
If this truly works (and I don't see why it shouldn't), it is the greatest home-produced energy discovery since the wheel has been founded. Lloyd Tanner uses an incredibly simple assembly of two 4x4 inch wood pieces, and an iron wheel spinning in between.
Organic Battery Design Mimicking Eel – 28% More Efficient
Yale University researchers created a blueprint for artificial eel-like power cells. Their design is even more efficient and powerful than the natural one they're mimicking, and could one day be used in powering small medical implants.
The Spin Seebeck Effect to Offer Low-Loss Thermoelectric Effect
Eiji Saitoh experimented with a heated magnetized metal (nickel-iron), and found out that the electrons with up spins (aligned with the rod's magnetic field) created an agglomeration on the hot side, while the ones with down spins (unaligned to the rod's magnetic field), created an agglomeration on the cooler side.
Harvard`s Black Silicon: 100 to 500 Times More Powerful Than Old Solar Cells
Kept in secret until yesterday, a newly appeared company, named SiOnyx, unveils an invention of some Harvard researchers, that is going to revolutionize the whole industry. Harvard has been studying their "black silicon" for almost ten years, but nothing has come out of their lab, due to internal policies regarding the output of their discoveries to commercial companies.
Solyndra Cylindrical Solar Panels: Cheaper and Powerful
Solyndra, a company situated in Fremont, CA, has invented a new type of cylindrical solar panel, cheaper to install and more powerful compared to the conventional panels, which are made of flat solar cells.
Sewage Could Be a New Way For Cheap Hydrogen
In the field of hydrogen fuel cell production, Oregon State University researchers have discovered that sewage can produce cheap hydrogen. In comparison with traditional electrolysis technology, sewage can produce hydrogen at a lower cost.
Trametes Versicolor Fungi Could Make Fuel Cells Cheaper
Fungi grown on rotten wood could one day be harvested and genetically engineered for providing future fuel cells with an alternative to the platinum that they nowadays have inside, playing the role of a catalyst.
Nicole Kuepper`s Inkjet-Printed Solar Cells: The World's Cheapest
Nicole Kuepper, a 23 year-old Australian scientist has invented a method of making cheap solar cells out of simple materials, that any DIY-er could find in his home.
The Ultimate Hydrogen Storage – Made of Corncobs!
One thing is to be noted here: one gram of carbon made from corncobs has its molecular internal surface equal to a football field, plus it has been proved that boron doping will further increase this capacity in great amounts.
