15Mar
Scientists use Visible Light to Break Down Carbon Dioxide
We all are familiar with the effects of carbon dioxide on our environment. Carbon dioxide is responsible for causing the greenhouse effect. If scientists can breakdown this gas into other form it would lead us to reduce the concentration of this gas into environment substantially. It would mean dealing with the root cause of the problem. Now scientists are trying out to get hold of an organism which could help in the breakdown of carbon dioxide. 1 Comment
Environment, Inventions
Wave energy is among the impressive list of renewable energy resources that is being developed in the United States. New Jersey-based developer, Ocean Power Technologies has launched a project that features the nation’s first commercial wave power farm off the coast of Reedsport, Oregon. Once the project is completed, wave energy will generate power for several hundred homes in Oregon. The wave power farm operates on the wave energy that is created when a float on a buoy flows with the natural up and down movement of the waves. 
Nanoscience is quite fascinated with the process of photosynthesis. They want to duplicate this process exhibited by green plants and utilize the solar power for energy use. Till now power generating solar panels are not in a position to replace the fossil fuels. They produce little amount of energy and quite expensive also. Generation of solar energy also depends on geographical locations. Deserts are more suitable locations for solar power than areas experiencing temperate climate. But we can have a new source of solar power that also delivered a power packed performance for us when it is on our dinner/lunch plate i.e. pea power. 
Sunpods Inc. is California-based manufacturing company. They produce modular, fully integrated and tested solar power generation systems. Recently they have come out with an idea of the first solar power-assist system for buses. They should be applauded for developing it in a mere six weeks. Their partner is Bauer Intelligent Transportation. The system developed by Sunpods will help Bauer to meet strict anti-pollution standards laid down by the State of California. California state law since 2008 has disallowed diesel vehicles to remain idle for more than five minutes. Now more than 25 states across the United States have anti-idling laws. 
Google's Bill Weihl expresses his opinion, "We see a chance to make a difference in the field of renewable energy and energy information that can help bring the world to a lower carbon and more efficient economy." Google is known for its Internet search engine. Now they want to make inroads into green technology too. They declared in 2007 that they want to invest in clean and green technology and want to do research of their own in the field of alternative energy. Now Google's engineers are putting their effort and energy into solar technology. We all know that solar power is clean and green fuel. But the cost of solar panels prevents us from utilizing solar energy extensively. Now Google Inc. is trying to come up with its own solar panel with a reduced cost of 25%. 
It should come as no great surprise that walking with a prosthetic limb is difficult. According to a newly published paper on prosthesis, walking with a prosthetic foot requires 23 percent more energy than walking naturally. This is because a natural gait returns and recycles energy in an efficient way, but a prosthetic limb wastes energy with each step. Scientists Art Kuo and Steve Collins have created an artificial foot that significantly reduces the amount of energy spent used with each step. 
PlanetSolar enjoys the distinction of being the largest solar-powered boat in the world, and it's ready to take on the world. This beauty’s vital stats are: weight: 60-ton, a 470-square-meter are covered by 38,000 solar cells to generate 103.4 kW of energy. 18 million euro ($24.4 million) was spent to adorn this beauty in environmentally friendly way. SunPower Corporation has provided the all vital 38,000 black photovoltaic cells to generate power for this catamaran. These solar panels have a pretty decent conversion rate of 22%. This solar powered ship will be launched this month to get the real taste of water from the Knierim Yacht Club in Kiel, Germany. 
Yi Cui, an engineer at Stanford University, leads a team that may take nanotechnology to the next level by creating paper batteries and fabrics that can conduct energy. At a recent demonstration, Cui took pieces of fabric and regular paper and soaked them in an ink that contains nanoparticles. The infusion of these particles into every day porous items is the key to opening possibilities for cheap batteries made of paper as well as lighter super capacitors. 
As fossil fuels continue to diminish and climate change poses an ever-increasing threat, scientists around the world are searching for new and more efficient methods of generating energy. Wind energy is one of the more promising alternative energy sources and Norwegian scientists are currently in the development stages of what promises to be the world’s largest wind turbine. As if creating the biggest wind turbine in the world was not enough, it also floats. Current plans for the world’s largest wind turbine have the machine standing 533 feet tall. 
Science continues to amaze and one of the latest discoveries may literally change the world as we know it. This tiny solar-powered sensor can fit on the face of a penny and barely cover up the date. How this little wonder, developed at the University of Michigan, is able to create the power of something 1,000x its size is amazing, and because of this, the applications are quite numerous. When devices like this come to light, one of the first things that anyone thinks of is the effect that they will have on the medical community. Many implants require some type of power source and if a solar-powered sensor can be used to power then, it changes everything that we currently rely on or know in regards to this implants. 
Remember when Kia first hit the market and other car manufacturers were laughing at them? Well, they haven’t been laughing in quite some time as Kia continues to put out attractive looking vehicles for far less money than anyone else. They have now unleashed their latest entry into the hybrid market at the new Kia hybrid car would appear to be something special. Before we get into anything else, let’s just talk about the design for a second. While the new BMW is hot, Kia is doing a pretty nice job for a lot less money. While it may not have the go power of the BMW, it has a look that will surely turn some heads. This is just a flat out sharp looking ride and it is not hard at all to see this car catching on rather quickly with the younger generation. 
Honda finally unveiled their new solar hydrogen solar station and all signs point to a dramatic success. The station is smaller than previous models and enables an electric car owner to refill their fuel cell overnight. The unit should easily fit into a homeowners’ garage taking up significantly less space than previous models. The older model required a compressor and electrolyzer for it to be operational. One of the reasons the units were so big was because of the compressor that was required to run the unit. Not only that, the compressor was also the reason that the units were so expensive to produce and purchase. 
While new energy solutions are being discovered, refined and brought further and further into the public light, something that does not get a lot of headlines is waste to energy. How something like this continues to not be used in the United States is incredible as countries like Japan have been using it for quite some time and dramatically improving their waste disposal problems in highly populated areas. 
The materials in lasers can be expensive and difficult to work with. A discovery at MIT may be changing all of that much sooner than we think as germanium laser technology is here and it is very real. The beauty of this latest technology is that there isn’t even a large call to change manufacturing specs as they exist because germanium can easily be incorporated into designs that are already in place. 
The brain of any electronic device is the circuitry that operated the machine. Without the circuitry, the device is not even worth the cost of the plastic that it is made of. Any electronics device requires some kind of battery or it is nothing more than a paperweight. Recently, some new technology was created by scientists from the University of Pennsylvania that will no longer require a device to use a battery as the power can come from light-powered circuitry. 
The advancements that are being made in battery technology are pretty mind boggling. We are seeing devices that are drawing power from just about every source that is imaginable, and now there is battery technology from researchers at Imperial College London that may actually have devices that create their own power. From cell phones to cars and everything in between, there may eventually be nothing more needed that to actually use the device. 
That may be a little aggressive, but Princeton University engineers have developed a device that may change the way that we power many of our smaller gadgets and devices. By using out natural body movement, they have created a small chip that will actually capture and harness that natural energy to create enough energy to power up things such as a cell phone, pacemaker and many other small devices that are electronic. 
We all know that sooner or later all automobiles are going to be either hybrid, electric or hydrogen powered. The one drawback that many of us look at is the overall appeal of the cars. Very few models that are being put out are really all that attractive. For those of us that like to put the pedal down every now and again, there are very few options to consider. That is about to change in a big way. BMW has recently hit the board with their prototype that is just flat out sexy. 
Parents everywhere probably just sat up in their chairs reading that. Regardless of whether they are buying rechargeable batteries or getting Duracell batteries when they go on sale at Staples, batteries of any kind put a hurting on the wallet and to landfills. This is especially true around Christmas when toys demand that they load up. This could all change if the Ene Pocket meets with success. The Ene Pocket is a prototype toy car by Takara Tomy that runs on something kids absolutely love, sugar! 
The one knock on wind energy is that it is not portable. Until recently, there were few if any portable devices that were available to literally take wind power on the go. That is changing quick as there are several “back-pack” style devices that are on the market. The Rose Wind Turbine is the latest invention to be introduced to this ever growing energy niche. The Rose Wind Turbine is a small portable device that is small enough to fit into the trunk of the car and barely be noticed. However, once this portable wind turbine comes out, it is sure to turn heads. 
