Archive for the ‘sustainability’ category: Page 572
May 19, 2016
ORNL demonstrates large-scale technique to produce quantum dots
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: electronics, quantum physics, solar power, sustainability
Q-Dots ORNL style.
VIDEO: A method to produce significant amounts of semiconducting nanoparticles for light-emitting displays, sensors, solar panels and biomedical applications has gained momentum with a demonstration by researchers at Oak Ridge National… view more
Continue reading “ORNL demonstrates large-scale technique to produce quantum dots” »
May 18, 2016
Antarctic Ice Melt May Be Worse Than Scientists Thought
Posted by Sean Brazell in category: sustainability
The study, published in the journal Nature, relies on data on past ice levels of the Totten Glacier in East Antarctica to evaluate the rate of melting. Without intense efforts to stem man-made global warming, the glacier’s melting process could cross the point of no return within the next 100 years, according to report. The result would add more than 6.6 feet (2 meters) of sea level rise over the coming several centuries, in addition to several feet of rise from other sources.
“The evidence coming together is painting a picture of East Antarctica being much more vulnerable to a warming environment than we thought,” said study author Martin Siegert, an Imperial College London researcher, in a press release. “This is something we should worry about.”
Read More: See How Your City May Be Affected by Rising Sea Levels.
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May 18, 2016
Airbus Defence and Space Enters Solar Cell Production Contract with MicroLink Devices for Next Generation Zephyr HAPS
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: solar power, space, sustainability, transportation
Nice.
NILES, Ill., May 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — MicroLink Devices is proud to announce that Airbus Defence and Space has issued a production contract for MicroLink’s epitaxial liftoff (ELO)-based multijunction solar sheets for use on the new Zephyr S platform.
May 18, 2016
Engineers just smashed the world record for solar power
Posted by Jeremy Lichtman in categories: solar power, sustainability
May 18, 2016
Space exploration will spur transhumanism and mitigate existential risk
Posted by Zoltan Istvan in categories: alien life, cyborgs, existential risks, geopolitics, policy, robotics/AI, solar power, space travel, sustainability, transhumanism
Friends have been asking me to write something on space exploration and my campaign policy on it, so here it is just out on TechCrunch:
When people think about rocket ships and space exploration, they often imagine traveling across the Milky Way, landing on mysterious planets and even meeting alien life forms.
In reality, humans’ drive to get off Planet Earth has led to tremendous technological advances in our mundane daily lives — ones we use right here at home on terra firma.
Continue reading “Space exploration will spur transhumanism and mitigate existential risk” »
May 13, 2016
This ‘nanocavity’ may improve ultrathin solar panels, video cameras and more
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: solar power, sustainability
The future of movies and manufacturing may be in 3D, but electronics and photonics are going 2-D; specifically, two-dimensional semiconducting materials.
One of the latest advancements in these fields centers on molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), a two-dimensional semiconductor that, while commonly used in lubricants and steel alloys, is still being explored in optoelectronics.
Recently, engineers placed a single layer of MoS2 molecules on top of a photonic structure called an optical nanocavity made of aluminum oxide and aluminum. (A nanocavity is an arrangement of mirrors that allows beams of light to circulate in closed paths. These cavities help us build things like lasers and optical fibers used for communications.)
Continue reading “This ‘nanocavity’ may improve ultrathin solar panels, video cameras and more” »
May 13, 2016
Germany Produced So Much Green Energy That Customers Actually Made Money
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: economics, energy, sustainability
May 13, 2016
The World’s Largest Coal Company is Going Solar
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: energy, sustainability
China’s state-owned Shenhua Group Corp. has just signed a memorandum of understanding with Santa Monica based SolarReserve, partnering to bring 1,000 MW of clean energy into China.
Green is going global. More and more countries are getting in on the green energy bandwagon, shifting their energy dependencies from fossil fuel burning to renewable energy. And the biggest recipient of this? Solar.
Countries are increasingly depending on the Sun to provide for their energy needs. And this means the building of bigger and better solar farms.
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May 11, 2016
GM Executive Credits Silicon Valley for Accelerating Development of Self-Driving Cars
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: robotics/AI, sustainability, transportation
These automaker knuckleheads were planning to try and hide self driving cars into the 2030’s:
Head of GM’s foresight and trends unit says timetable for autonomous vehicles likely moved from 2035 to 2020, if not sooner.
A General Motors Co. executive credited Silicon Valley companies, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google car division and Tesla Motors Inc., for accelerating the development of autonomous vehicle technology and shortening the timetable for when safer self-driving cars hit the road.
