No brake cables, to gear cables, nothing at all, except for some 2.4 GHz emitters and receivers, a gadgetized front wheel and regenerative braking. You all know what that is, I presume... it's recharging the batteries when you brake, by switching the DC motor's function to reverse.
Belonging to the family of the world's lightest solids, a new material invented by two researchers from the University of Central Florida, Assoc. Prof. Lei Zhai and postdoctoral associate Jianhua Zou could constitute the world's best energy storage material for supercapacitors and lithium batteries.
Israel-based Solaris Synergy and French EDF Group are planning to develop a new system of floating solar panels, called AQUASUN, that has the possibility of being installed on the surface of existing bodies of water.
After in late 2010 the petrol capital of Houston has been announced the recipient of a $10 million investment in electric car recharging networks, it's not Chicago's turn, as utility Exelon, along with the city led by newly appointed Mayor Rahm Emanuel want to build 280 charging stations... by the end of 2011.
It's no secret anymore that Solyndra makes cylinders covered with flexible, thin solar cells. But I guess few know that Solyndra's tube solar panels can also be used in agriculture as shades in greenhouses.
German car maker BMW has recently announced that it plans to sell around 30,000 units of its i3 electric car in order to serve the growing market. BMW's newest two models, i3 and i8, will be launched by the end of 2013.
Currently, microprocessors waste a lot of energy by not shutting down parts of themselves that aren't in use at the moment. Wonyoung Kim, a graduate student at the University of Harvard has designed a power saving mechanism that puts the various parts of the microprocessor to sleep right away after they aren't used.
Vestas, one of the global leaders in wind technology, has recently announced that it will collaborate with WindPlus (a joint venture led by EDP Group) to deploy a unique offshore wind turbine, which is so special because uses a first-of-its-kind floating platform technology.
I laughed my a** off this one: a Fremond-based company, GlassPoint Solar, is actually helping the oil industry prosper by selling them solar panels for oil extraction purposes! Now this is the hottest news I've ever read since the dawn of the Green Optimistic.
A study led by Tim Nawrot from the Hasselt University in Belgium reached a stunning conclusion: chances are people can suffer a heart attack because of air pollution than because of marijuana, coffee, sex or anger.
