Home 2010
Yearly Archives: 2010
Advances in Highly-Competitional Washer/Dryer Motor Industry May Benefit Electric Vehicles
Competition (even if at times or war) has always been the mother of technical advance. Just like those who invented variable-valve timing engine designs to reduce fuel consumption, electric appliances companies are now competing against each other to make more and more efficient and powerful electric motors for hair dryers/washers. All these could benefit the auto industry, eventually.
Japanese Researchers Extend Range and Efficiency of Wireless Power Transmission
Since researchers from the MIT first announced that they had a working prototype of a wireless power supply in 2007, Japanese companies (and not only) sought to replicate and even surpass MIT's results.
Among Many Uses Gold Nanoparticles Could Help Dye Sensitized Solar Cells
Gold nanoparticles could be used to make better Graetzel solar cells, among others, as a Queensland University of Technology scientist claims to have discovered.
Paper-Printed Solar Cells Invented in MIT's New Solar Research Center
For the first time in history, scientists at the MIT have coated paper with a solar cell at the newly opened Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Research Center. The coating technique is similar to that of an inkjet printer - the big difference is that the coating is this time a semiconductor, not ink.
Too Much CO2 Causes Plants Not to Cool The Earth As They Should, Says...
Trees and green plants, generally, are used by the planet as a way to keep itself cool. A regular tree can evaporate as much as ten gallons of water a day, acting as a natural air conditioner for its surroundings. So trees are important for their CO2-sequestration capabilities and keeping things cool(er).
Purple Bacteria Natural Self-Arrangement Process Can Make Solar Cells Become More Efficient
The purple bacteria are very flexible when it comes to the intensity of light, arranging themselves in different patterns. "Our study develops a mathematical model to describe the designs it adopts and why, which could help direct design of future photoelectric devices," says Johnson, who collaborated on his study with colleagues from the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia.
Hydrophobic Coating Inspired by Water Ferns Could Make Ships Consume 10 Percent Less
Water ferns have tiny hairs that are superhydrophobic. Their properties, if applied in real life conditions to a sail boat, for example, could lead to a reduction of up to 10 percent of the boat's fuel consumption by reducing friction.
Bladeless Wind Turbine Built by Solar Aero, Inspired by Nikola Tesla's Invention
Remember that Tesla turbine we wrote about two years ago? Or the Tesla turbine made out of a hard drive? Nikola Tesla patented these turbines back in 1913, but he wasn't able to build them properly because the metals he could use at that time didn't have the right thickness and quality.
Volkswagen Test Drives Golf Blue E-Motion Electric Car on The Streets of Berlin
Not wanting to stay behind their competition (such as Renault-Nissan), Volkswagen is beginning to develop pure electric cars. Their new Golf Blue e-motion has been presented by Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, member of VW's development board, and the German minister of transportation.
Photoprotein Found in Marine Bacteria Could Improve Solar Cells
The open-access journal PLos Biology presented a novel finding by a team of researchers from the Univeristy of Linnaeus, in Sweden, and colleagues from Spain, explaining how oceanic bacteria harvests light energy from sunlight by using a unique photoprotein.
