This year, the month of June brings hot weather and a hot car to match it: the Kia Optima Hybrid - Kia's first hybrid model. The vehicle present in showrooms next month is not being called "Optima" for nothing...
Right now I'm propped to a tree, writing this article, at the margins of an enchanting forest, with birdies singing everywhere. My laptop's battery is nearing its low percentage, and I'd really need some power source. I'd use Samsung's solar powered laptop, or at least the one they're planning to release in the not-so-distant future.
The impact electric cars will have on humanity and our lifestyles will not only be at an economical level, but it will also change our state of health, a new report by the American Lung Association states. This means that besides saving $6 billion in health and fuel costs, the electric car will make us live longer - and probably better.
Maybe one of the most important studies showing how the melting of icebergs affects global warming and how these icebergs help the algae sequester carbon dioxide has been published by marine biologist Ken Smith. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and published in the electronic issue of Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography.
Although much publicity has been displayed for battery-powered EVs, some important automakers like Honda, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz are set on bringing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in front of the public by 2015. In the meantime, Toyota opens a one-of-a-kind hydrogen-fueling station in Southern California.
Tibet may be the home of a world spiritual leader, but it isn't all about spirituality: the Chinese autonomous region has been using solar energy since the 80's and has a solar potential of about 3,000 hours of solar radiation per year. Its annual input of 9 MW of energy secures 13% of China's total production.
An interesting MIT study reveals that biofuels can in some circumstances generate on average 10 times more carbon dioxide than fossil fuels, depending on how they're produced. The study involved a life-cycle analysis of 14 biofuel sources.
By growing layers of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide on a semiconductor surface, researchers from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have managed to create solar cells that can ultimately extract hydrogen from water under the direct action of sunlight, just like leaves do their natural photosynthesis.
At the same time with the state offering incentives for buying electric vehicles, San Francisco authorities have decided to give yet another boost to the industry by offering free EV charging in public garages until 2013.
Science should be used to benefit people and nowhere is that purpose clearer than in the new project led by a team at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences: mobile phones could now be charged by putting them in contact with microbes living in the soil.
