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), ...
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 ...
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 insights into the origin of life on Earth
Dec 11, 2006 |
4.3 / 5 (40) |
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In an advance toward understanding the origin of life on Earth, scientists have shown that parts of the Krebs cycle can run in reverse, producing biomolecules that could jump-start life with only sunlight and a mineral present ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Sustainable nuclear energy moves a step closer
Dec 11, 2006 |
4.5 / 5 (18) |
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In future a new generation of nuclear reactors will create energy, while producing virtually no long-lasting nuclear waste, according to research conducted by Wilfred van Rooijen, who will receive his Delft University of ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Teaching Biology Means Teaching Evolution
Dec 11, 2006 |
3.8 / 5 (13) |
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Evolution is a complex topic for any science teacher, given the misconceptions that some students bring to the classroom and the gaps that can occur in teacher preparation. In Investigating Evolutionary Biology in the La ...
New find suggests whales can love
Biology /
Dec 11, 2006 |
4.1 / 5 (11) |
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Researchers in New York have found that various types of whales possess the same emotion-producing brain cells as humans.
