|
science advances?
nano-storage of hydrogen
“To address this problem, Froudakis and colleagues carried out
computer simulations to see how the hydrogen uptake of carbon
nanoscrolls could be affected by adding quantities of different alkali
metals. These impurities cause the atomic distance between the layers
of a scroll to vary.
“Their findings suggest that adding lithium ions should increase the
uptake of hydrogen at atmospheric pressure and room temperature from
0.19% to 3.31%.”
plastic to oil, by microwave
“Key to GRC’s process is a machine that uses 1200 different
frequencies within the microwave range, which act on specific
hydrocarbon materials. As the material is zapped at the appropriate
wavelength, part of the hydrocarbons that make up the plastic and
rubber in the material are broken down into diesel oil and combustible
gas.”
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/lite0703.php#science_advances_270607
|
advertising
disclaimer
advertising
disclaimer
advertising
disclaimer
|
|
‘superbug’ disinfectant?
“The Air Disinfector, launched in London, UK, on 19 June pumps
a continual stream of reactive hydrogen radicals into the atmosphere,
killing microbes within minutes.”
—
“Bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) and Clostridium difficile - two of the most notorious hospital-acquired
superbugs - were undetectable within as little as an hour of the device
being switched on, Macdonald says. "In earlier experiments, in which
we flooded rooms with more than a billion bacteria, levels were effectively
down to zero within an hour," he adds.”
 “Bacillus
subtilis (a surrogate for anthrax) was nebulised into a chamber at a
high concentration. Samples taken from the untreated chamber were cultured
on the plate on the left, showing the growth of the bacillus. Samples
taken from the chamber after an exposure to the hydroxyl radical for
less than 1 minute were cultured onto the plate on the right, showing
an effective complete kill.”
[Quoted from inov8.com]
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/lite0703.php#disinfectant_220607
|
|
desk air conditioner
 “
This freestanding climate control has a fan-speed switch and a 4-hour
timer. It is powered by 110 VAC, has an 11' cord, and an on/off switch.””
- Price: $300.
- “ "In company tests, starting
with a surrounding air temperature of 72 degrees, the C2 raised the
temperature within six inches by 40 degrees, and was able to cool it
by eight degrees,[...]" ”
- “The C2 is 41 percent recyclable, and businesses can count it
toward environmental certification using the points-based LEED system,
Herman Miller spokesman Bruce Buursma said. It also uses 90 percent
less energy than a typical space heater, [...]”
- “The desk conditioner uses Amerigon's patented advanced thermoelectric
(TE) technology developed by its BSST subsidiary. This type of heating
and cooling system was previously used in high-end car seats.”
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/lite0703.php#desk_air_con_190607
|
|
a step to mitigating the problem of flight pollution
 “British low-cost airline easyJet has unveiled its vision of
a shorthaul aircraft that it hopes will generate 50 percent less CO2
than its current planes and can be delivered by 2015.
“The narrow-bodied plane would have two open rotor engines above
a wide tail fin, with a lightweight body constructed of carbon composites.”
[Quoted from planetark.org]
FAQ
on the easyjet Ecojet proposal.
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/lite0703.php#eco_jet_170607
|
|
energy for nothing!! ok then, 1 cent a unit
 Amazing
what these monkeys will do when they’re in a trap.
“Meanwhile, Wubbo Ockels of the Delft University of Technology in the
Netherlands has been developing another approach to airborne wind
generation at lower altitude, with backing from Royal Dutch Shell, an
oil giant, and Nederlandse Gasunie, a natural-gas company. Dr Ockels's
idea is to launch a kite (without rotor blades) from a ground station,
turning a generator as it rises to an altitude of several hundred
metres. When it reaches its maximum altitude the kite alters its shape
to catch less wind, and can thus be reeled back in using much less
energy than it produced when it was being paid out..
“An arrangement of two or more of these kites could act together to
produce a steady supply of power. While one kite was being released,
some of the electricity produced would be used to reel another kite
back in, and vice versa. This system has the advantage that it
requires only simple parts - generators, kites and cables - and should
therefore be much cheaper to build than a conventional wind turbine.”
Almost a perpetual motion machine!
related material
sail-assisted shipping
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/lite0703.php#wind_kites_120607
|
|
pretty cell phone design
Radia cell phone. Image credit: yankodesign.com
It
looks like it is only a concept design as yet. There is not even a guarantee that it will be possible to engineer.
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/lite0703.php#mobile_phone_010507
|
|
flexible solar panels - a claimed advance
The claim is this may be able to push the efficiency of flexible solar cells up from current 5%-plus rates.
“Heating plastic solar cells can alter their structure in a way that
boosts efficiency, new research shows. The US and Korean scientists
behind the discovery say it could ultimately allow flexible,
lightweight plastic cells to replace rigid traditional cells.
“Solar cells are usually made from silicon, which is inflexible and
relatively heavy. [... and expensive.]
“By contrast, plastic solar cells could be more easily supported and
wrapped around surfaces (see Pliable solar cells are on a roll). It
might even be possible to spray light-collecting plastic onto a
surface.”
—
“By carefully heating finished cells to around 150ºC, Carroll and
colleagues made the fullerene molecules form whiskers of crystal.
These trigger crystallisation in the surrounding polymer as well. The
fullerene-and-polymer crystal creates a network across the cell,
allowing charge to move easily and preventing space charge blockages.”
related material
charge your batteries anywhere there is sunlight
photovoltaics (solar cells)
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/lite0703.php#flexible_solar_panels_240407
|
|
more filthy fossil fuels availability claimed by oil giants
“Initially, engineers expected to recover only 10 percent of the
field's oil. Now, thanks to decades of trial and error, Chevron
believes it will be able to recover up to 80 percent of the oil from
the field, nearly twice the industry's average recovery rate, which is
typically around 35 percent. Each well produces about 10 barrels a day
at a cost of $16 each. That compares with production costs of only $1
or $2 per barrel in the Persian Gulf, home to some of the world's
lowest-cost producers.”
—
“Oil companies have been perfecting so-called secondary and tertiary
recovery methods - injecting all sorts of exotic gases and liquids
into oil fields, including water and soap, natural gas, carbon dioxide
and even hydrogen sulfide, a foul-smelling and poisonous gas.
“Discoveries are not the only way that our resource base grows [...]”
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/lite0703.php#filthy_oil_giants_150307
|
|
new in science
measurement of change of spin in asteroids by light pressure
“By combining four years of optical information with radar to work out
the size and shape of the object, the team was able to measure the
increasing spin of the asteroid and therefore the size of the Yorp
effect acting on PH5.
“ "It currently rotates every 12 minutes and we detected a change of one
millisecond per year," said Dr Lowry. "It's a tiny, tiny effect but
it's acting over millions of years."
“The team predicts that over the next 15 million to 40 million years
the asteroid will gradually speed up until it is turning over every 20
seconds. ”
has the higgs boson appeared?
“On 9 December last year, as John Conway looked at the results of his
experiment, a chill ran down his neck. For 20 years he has been
searching for one of the most elusive things in the universe, the
Higgs boson - aka the God particle - which gives everything in the
cosmos its mass. And here, buried in the debris generated by the
world's largest particle smasher, were a few tantalising hints of its
existence. ”
control of halocarbons
“The 2007 assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
estimates that stratospheric ozone has a cooling effect of 0.05 Watts
per square metre and that the halocarbons currently in the atmosphere
have a warming effect of 0.34 W/m2.
“Velders and his colleagues used computer models to simulate how the
planet would have warmed had it not been for the Montreal Protocol.
They conclude the warming caused by halocarbons would be nearly twice
that currently seen, i.e. between 0.60 and 0.65 W/m2.”
—
“Velders says that removing existing equipment that emit CFCs from
circulation and replacing "intermediate substitutes" with chemicals
that neither deplete the ozone nor warm the planet, would remove the
equivalent of a further 1.2 gigatonnes of CO2 per year. That would be
more than half the impact of Kyoto.”
atomic force microscopy can distinguish different atom types
![Atomic force microscopy can distinguish between atoms of tin [Sn], silicon [Si] and lead [Pb]. Image credit: Oscar Custance](//images/4news7/afm300_tcm18-79416.jpg "Atomic force microscopy can distinguish between atoms of tin [Sn], silicon [Si] and lead [Pb]. Image credit: Oscar Custance") “Researchers
have demonstrated for the first time that atomic force microscopy can
be used to reveal the chemical identity of individual atoms on a surface
at room temperature. The finding could pave the way for the technique
to be used routinely as a tool of chemical identification at the atomic
scale, as it can pick out specific atoms from a complex mixture of elements.”
—
“They did it at room temperature, which is unique, and they looked
at a complicated system of an alloy of three species that was disordered.
This is an extremely important aspect of the work and is something that
is difficult to achieve.
“The next step, said Shluger, would be to attempt to show that
the principle is applicable more widely, beyond the three elements used
by the Osaka team. If it could also be applied to electrically-insulating
surfaces, the system could eventually evolve into an analytical tool to
routinely identify individual surface atoms.”
Above: atomic force microscopy can distinguish between
atoms of tin [Sn], silicon [Si] and lead [Pb].
Image credit: Oscar Custance
A useful news page for global warming.
the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/lite0703.php#solar_system_080307
|
|
|
![Atomic force microscopy can distinguish between atoms of tin [Sn], silicon [Si] and lead [Pb]. Image credit: Oscar Custance](http://images/4news7/afm300_tcm18-79416.jpg "Atomic force microscopy can distinguish between atoms of tin [Sn], silicon [Si] and lead [Pb]. Image credit: Oscar Custance")
“Researchers
have demonstrated for the first time that atomic force microscopy can
be used to reveal the chemical identity of individual atoms on a surface
at room temperature. The finding could pave the way for the technique
to be used routinely as a tool of chemical identification at the atomic
scale, as it can pick out specific atoms from a complex mixture of elements.”