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Mar 18, 2021
New perovskite fabrication method for solar cells paves way to large-scale production
Posted by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz in categories: nanotechnology, solar power, sustainability
A new, simpler solution process for fabricating stable perovskite solar cells overcomes the key bottleneck to large-scale production and commercialization of this promising renewable-energy technology, which has remained tantalizingly out of reach for more than a decade.
“Our work paves the way for low-cost, high-throughput commercial-scale production of large-scale solar modules in the near future,” said Wanyi Nie, a research scientist fellow in the Center of Integrated Nanotechnologies at Los Alamos National Laboratory and corresponding author of the paper, which was published today in the journal Joule. “We were able to demonstrate the approach through two mini-modules that reached champion levels of converting sunlight to power with greatly extended operational lifetimes. Since this process is facile and low cost, we believe it can be easily adapted to scalable fabrication in industrial settings.”
The team invented a one-step spin coating method using sulfolane, a liquid solvent. The new process allowed the team, a collaboration among Los Alamos and researchers from National Taiwan University (NTU), to produce high-yield, large-area photovoltaic devices that are highly efficient in creating power from sunlight. These perovskite solar cells also have a long operational lifetime.
“We’re going to try to catch the Super Heavy booster with the launch tower arm, using the grid fins to take the load,” Musk said via Twitter on Dec. 30. SpaceX will try a different approach to landing its future reusable rocket boosters. There are some benefits with this landing method: first, by omitting landing legs from the rocket design altogether, SpaceX can save weight and cost, because unlike Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy first stages Super Heavy won’t need landing legs. In a second place, it could allow SpaceX to essentially recycle the Super Heavy booster immediately because the rocket would be “ready to refly in under an hour”.
~Video credits: @tijnm_02 Text credits: www.space.com www.techcrunch.com.
Mar 18, 2021
Starting a Mega-Project, such as Space Elevator
Posted by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz in category: space
7 Feb 2021
ISEC has great hopes for this new year. We have two studies coming to their conclusions, a Baseline Architecture, our conference is scheduled (25÷6 May), and we intend to participate in several others. Our current plans include working with potential sponsors as we present an aggressive program to the space community saying we are here and ready to help your vision. So, I thought I would give you a quick philosophical look at where I think we are and where we need to go. (background body of knowledge at www.isec.org)
Pete’s View of the Space Elevator Adventure: I have been in three mega-projects in space…I was in at the beginning of each; as such, here are my thoughts on success in Mega-Projects.
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Mar 18, 2021
Researchers demonstrate practical metal nanostructures
Posted by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz in categories: energy, nanotechnology
Researchers at the University of Ottawa have debunked the decade-old myth of metals being useless in photonics—the science and technology of light—with their findings, recently published in Nature Communications, expected to lead to many applications in the field of nanophotonics.
“We broke the record for the resonance quality factor (Q-factor) of a periodic array of metal nanoparticles by one order of magnitude compared to previous reports,” said senior author Dr. Ksenia Dolgaleva, Canada Research Chair in Integrated Photonics (Tier 2) and Associate Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at the University of Ottawa.
“It is a well-known fact that metals are very lossy when they interact with light, which means they cause the dissipation of electrical energy. The high losses compromise their use in optics and photonics. We demonstrated ultra-high-Q resonances in a metasurface (an artificially structured surface) comprised of an array of metal nanoparticles embedded inside a flat glass substrate. These resonances can be used for efficient light manipulating and enhanced light-matter interaction, showing metals are useful in photonics.”
Mar 18, 2021
Creator who sold NFT house for $500,000: We’ll be ‘living in an augmented reality lifestyle’ soon
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: augmented reality, habitats, space
“NFTs can go into an augmented reality, 3D asset space,” contemporary artist Krista Kim told CNBC.
Mar 18, 2021
Five ways artificial intelligence can help space exploration
Posted by Eamon Everall in categories: robotics/AI, space travel
Do humans really have to go into space?
Artificial intelligence has been making waves in recent years, enabling us to solve problems faster than traditional computing could ever allow. Recently, for example, Google’s artificial intelligence subsidiary DeepMind developed AlphaFold2, a program which solved the protein-folding problem. This is a problem which has had baffled scientists for 50 years.
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Mar 18, 2021
What’s Really Holding Back Flying Cars
Posted by Gerard Bain in categories: engineering, transportation
We were all promised the future would be like the Jetsons, with push-button flying cars. What happened? Well, multiple firms are developing flying cars right now, but the inhibiting factor for widespread adoption may not be in the hardware or software: but due to an unlikely source: insurance. These vehicles are expected to be radically different from either helicopters or fixed wing aircraft, and as such insurance industry has little baseline data on which to assess risk. The obvious implications of vehicle falling a crowded downtown street make this a serious issue. What can be done? Jim has a definite opinion on the subject.
Manufacturing veteran James Anderton expresses his compelling and unique opinions about the state of the manufacturing sector. He shares his thoughts and insights to help engineering and manufacturing professionals navigate through the challenges of world events, the blending old with new technologies, evolving processes, gaps in skilled labour, in an effort to help maximize productivity of their daily operations.
Mar 18, 2021
GALIX CONGRESS SESSION 1 The Future of Off-World Settlements. March 18th 2021
Posted by Adriano Autino in categories: economics, government, space
# **A $3.5 Trillions Space Economy in 2040**
The first session of the GALIX Cyber-conference, that took place today, and I was in the panel, together with Michelle Hanlon (ForAllMoonkind), Madhu Thangavelu (Moon Village Association), Alicia Woodly (AXIOM). The panel was excellently chaired by Jean-Jacques Tortora (ESPI).
Mar 18, 2021
SLS Core Stage Firing Test 2 Green Run Hot Fire
Posted by Greg Allison in categories: habitats, space
Success! The SLS Core Stage had a successful eight minute hot fire test at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on 18 March 2021. See the run down to and the full duration eight minute firing of the Core Stage of the Artemis 1 Space Launch System. Now on to KSC and launch!
Engines fire at timestamp 44:09
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