Nanoscale meadows of grass and flowers could hold the key to increasing the amount of energy that can be stored in ultracapacitors, devices tipped to replace batteries in high-demand applications like electric cars.
Batteries are slow to recharge because they store energy chemically. By contrast, capacitors, which are common in electronics, are short-term stores of electrical energy that charge almost instantaneously but hold little energy.
Breakthrough In Energy Storage: New Carbon Material can store large quantities electricity. Engineers and scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have achieved a breakthrough in the use of a one-atom thick structure called "graphene" as a new carbon-based material for storing electrical charge in ultracapacitor devices, perhaps paving the way for the massive installation of renewable energies such as wind and solar power.
Researchers in Norway report that injecting a special type of seawater called "smart water" into certain low-yield oil wells may help boost oil extraction by as much as 60 percent. The study could help meet rising energy demands and provide consumers with some financial relief at the gas pump in the future, the scientists suggest.
Genetically engineered bacteria could make cellulosic ethanol cheaper to manufacture, researchers report. The finding could unlock more energy from the waste products of farming and forestry.
Ethanol from cellulose, the kind of sugar in cornstalks and sawdust, is being promoted as an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels, with the advantage that it does not use food crops such as corn as raw materials.
Raon Digital's latest design Everun Note has been priced and resellers are reporting delivery dates now.
Conics.Net reports price @ approx $889 USD.
(they ship the Raon to all countries)
Japanese Site, Sarutek.Com put their price at 99,800 yen.
Both sites are reporting delivery to be 19th Sept 2008
Stay tuned :-)
A new "green" technology developed cooperatively by scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and North Carolina State University (NC State) could lead to production of hydrogen from nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
The AF7500 holds up to 432 SATA Hard Disks, has 16 port FibreChannel and up to 1.5Gbytes / sec through-put.
Researchers here have found a way to convert ethanol and other biofuels into hydrogen very efficiently. A new catalyst makes hydrogen from ethanol with 90 percent yield, at a workable temperature, and using inexpensive ingredients.
Yet another tablet displayed at the IDF conference in San Francisco. This one is from Panasonic and is part of their Toughbook series. It is designed primarily for the medical and health care field so has a large curved handle so it can be carried like a brief case as well. No specifications were give but we can assume it will also be Vista capable and should be built to take abuse. As an R5 owner I can tell you Panasonic Toughbooks are the strongest and most practical notebooks made. Amen…
Intel has just started showing off its UrbanMax. concept UMPC at the IDF conference in San Francisco. Intel has not revealed much about the specs or power except that it has a slide and tilt keyboard, has a resisitive touchscreen and the demo was running Vista so it must have some processing horse power. The slate styled convertible laptop is really too big to be classified as a UMPC but does make a great sub note with a very usable keyboard. Also from the pictures it looks to have the same type of mouse as the Raon Everun uses but god knows where the right and left mouse buttons are.
Scientists studying many different parts of the planet's ecosystems are warning that Earth may be on the verge of a sixth major mass extinction event. In a series of papers published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers examining biodiversity around the globe paint a gloomy picture for the planet's species. Warning signs include recent mass die-offs of amphibians and declining fisheries.
An international team of researchers led by Monash University has used chemicals found in plants to replicate a key process in photosynthesis paving the way to a new approach that uses sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The breakthrough could revolutionize the renewable energy industry by making hydrogen – touted as the clean, green fuel of the future – cheaper and easier to produce on a commercial scale. (didn't MIT announce something similar last week?)
