Why a hydrogen economy doesn't make sense
Dec 11, 2006 |
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In a recent study, fuel cell expert Ulf Bossel explains that a hydrogen economy is a wasteful economy. The large amount of energy required to isolate hydrogen from natural compounds (water, natural gas, biomass), ...
Using a Superfluid for Dark-State Atomic Cooling
Dec 11, 2006 |
4.1 / 5 (15) |
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“We are reviving key ideas used 15 years ago in the context of laser cooling and quantum optics and putting them in a completely new context,” Peter Zoller tells PhysOrg.com. Zoller, a professor at the University of Innsbr ...
Butterfly Wings Are Templates for Photonic Structures
Dec 11, 2006 |
3.9 / 5 (33) |
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By replicating the complex micron- and nanometer-scale photonic structures that help give butterfly wings their color, researchers have demonstrated a new technique that uses biotemplates for fabricating nanoscale ...
World's fastest transistor approaches goal of terahertz device
Dec 11, 2006 |
4.5 / 5 (49) |
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Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have again broken their own speed record for the world’s fastest transistor. With a frequency of 845 gigahertz, their latest device is approximately ...
Queen bee promiscuity boosts hive health
Biology /
Dec 11, 2006 |
3.2 / 5 (9) |
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Though promiscuity may be risky behavior for humans, it's healthy for honeybees: Queen honeybees who indulge in sexual surfeits with multiple drones produce more disease-resistant colonies than monogamous monarchs. ...
Abrupt ice retreat could produce ice-free arctic summers by 2040
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 11, 2006 |
4.2 / 5 (32) |
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The recent retreat of Arctic sea ice is likely to accelerate so rapidly that the Arctic Ocean could become nearly devoid of ice during summertime as early as 2040, according to new research published in the ...
Midges send undeniable message -- Planet is warming
Dec 11, 2006 |
3.9 / 5 (9) |
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Small insects that inhabit some of the most remote parts of the United States are sending a strong message about climate change. New research suggests that changes in midge communities in some of these areas ...
Regional nuclear war could devastate global climate
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 11, 2006 |
4.3 / 5 (28) |
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Even a small-scale, regional nuclear war could produce as many direct fatalities as all of World War II and disrupt the global climate for a decade or more, with environmental effects that could be devastating ...
Mileage from megawatts: Study finds enough electric capacity to 'fill up' plug-in vehicles across much of the nation
Dec 11, 2006 |
4.8 / 5 (40) |
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If all the cars and light trucks in the nation switched from oil to electrons, idle capacity in the existing electric power system could generate most of the electricity consumed by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. A new ...
New Technique Studies How Plastic Solar Cells Turn Sunlight into Electricity
Dec 11, 2006 |
4 / 5 (23) |
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A new analytical technique that uses infrared spectroscopy to study light-sensitive organic materials could lead to the development of cheaper, more efficient solar cells. Using infrared (IR) spectroscopy to ...
Volcanic Blast Likely Killed and Preserved Juvenile Fossil Plesiosaur Found in Antarctica
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Dec 11, 2006 |
4.1 / 5 (19) |
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Amid 70-mile-an-hour winds and freezing Antarctic conditions, an American-Argentine research team has recovered the well-preserved fossil skeleton of a juvenile plesiosaur--a marine reptile that swam the waters ...
3-D X-Ray Images of Nanoparticles
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 11, 2006 |
3.8 / 5 (6) |
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Using a new x-ray microscope that can look at nanomaterials in three dimensions, an international research team has produced the first detailed atomic structure of a core-shell nanoparticle.
Glaciers Adding More To Global Sea Rise Than Ice Sheets, Study Says
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 11, 2006 |
3.8 / 5 (19) |
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Despite growing public alarm over the shrinking Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, it is small glaciers and ice caps that have been contributing the most to rising sea levels in recent years, according to ...
Radar reveals view of land beneath polar ice
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 11, 2006 |
3.6 / 5 (9) |
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In the first test of a new radar instrument, scientists have seen through more than a mile of Greenland ice to reveal an image of land that has been hidden for millions of years.
Star on a Hubble diet
Dec 11, 2006 |
4.1 / 5 (16) |
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How heavy can a star be? This conundrum has haunted astronomers for decades. Theory indicates that there should be an upper stellar mass limit somewhere between 120 and 300 solar masses. Even though heavy stars ...
