http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Driving hydrogen fueled SUVs for 431 miles per fill-up is no longer a California dream. Researchers from NREL and Toyota recently completed a 331 mile round trip drive between Torrance and San Diego in two Toyota Highlander Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles. And, with the fuel remaining, those SUVs easily crossed the 400 mile mark. http://www.physorg.com/news177688856.html Technology Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:33:07 EST news177688856 (PhysOrg.com) -- It's the year 2060, and 75 percent of drivers in the Greater Los Angeles area have hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that emit only water vapor. http://www.physorg.com/news177606050.html Space & Earth Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:01:40 EST news177606050 (PhysOrg.com) -- Ionic liquids are molecular solutions that have a wide range of potential applications, including next-generation solar cells, hydrogen fuel cells and lithium batteries. http://www.physorg.com/news177346176.html Chemistry Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:10:01 EST news177346176 Imagine a car that can be refuelled in minutes but emits only water. Sounds like science fiction? In fact it already exists -- Hollywood star Jamie Lee Curtis has one. So does Honda president Takanobu Ito. http://www.physorg.com/news175693235.html Technology Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:50:03 EST news175693235 (PhysOrg.com) -- For people fed up with their mobile telephone or iPod batteries running out, Japan's Toshiba Corp. announced Thursday the launch of a portable fuel-cell that can power up digital gadgets on the move. http://www.physorg.com/news175412573.html Technology Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:44:51 EST news175412573 Sandia National Laboratories, with help from The Boeing Company, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and others, is leading an effort to develop a commercially viable, fuel cell-powered mobile lighting system. http://www.physorg.com/news175275655.html Technology Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:10:07 EST news175275655 (PhysOrg.com) -- One of the biggest hindrances to the development of fuel cell technology is its cost. In order to work properly, polymer electrolyte fuel cells require a catalyst. So far, though, the most efficient catalyst for use with these fuel cells is platinum. And, as you probably know, platinum is one of the most expensive materials out there. The high cost of platinum is stunting the further development of fuel cells for use on a broader basis. Help may be coming, however, in the form of niobium and titanium. http://www.physorg.com/news175269673.html Chemistry Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:02:21 EST news175269673 Fuel cells are often touted as one method to help decrease society's addiction to fossil fuels. But there is still a lot of work to be done before fuel cells will be ready for mass market to be used in transportation, home heating and portable power for emergencies. http://www.physorg.com/news175092210.html Chemistry Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:44:45 EST news175092210 Fuel cells, devices that can produce electricity from hydrogen or other fuels without burning them, are considered a promising new way of powering everything from homes and cars to portable devices like cellphones and laptop computers. Their big advantage -- the prospect of eliminating emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants -- has been outweighed by their very high cost, and researchers have been trying to find ways to make the devices less expensive. http://www.physorg.com/news174822792.html Nanotechnology Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:54:10 EST news174822792 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of four chemists at the University of Rochester have begun work on a new kind of system to derive usable hydrogen fuel from water using only sunlight. http://www.physorg.com/news174758967.html Chemistry Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:10:54 EST news174758967 (PhysOrg.com) -- Carbon nanotubes hold promise for delivering medicine directly to a tumor; acting as sensors so keen they detect the arrival or departure of a single electron; replacing costly platinum in fuel cells; or as energy-saving transistors and wires, but building them with the right structure has been a challenge. http://www.physorg.com/news174752422.html Nanotechnology Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:50:01 EST news174752422 The Naval Research Laboratory's Ion Tiger, a hydrogen-powered fuel cell unmanned air vehicle (UAV), has flown 23 hours and 17 minutes, setting an unofficial flight endurance record for a fuel-cell powered flight. http://www.physorg.com/news174662741.html Technology Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:27:24 EST news174662741 (PhysOrg.com) -- Hydrogen researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory have reached a milestone on the road to reducing carbon emissions and protecting the nation against the effects of peaking world oil production. http://www.physorg.com/news174291745.html Technology Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:24:44 EST news174291745 Taiwanese researchers said Friday they have developed hydrogen-powered mobile phone chargers, in a development that could boost the island's efforts to become a player in green technologies. http://www.physorg.com/news173683670.html Technology Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:28:22 EST news173683670 Panasonic Corp. has developed a 1.5 kWh battery module from 18650-type (18 mm in diameter x 65 mm in length) lithium-ion battery cells, which are widely used in laptop computers, to provide energy storage solutions for a wide range of environmentally friendly energy technologies. For example, multiple units can be connected in series and/or parallel to store energy generated by home-use photovoltaic (PV) systems and fuel cells, and power electric vehicles (EV). http://www.physorg.com/news173635366.html Technology Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:50:02 EST news173635366 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new ceramic material described in this week's issue of the journal Science could help expand the applications for solid oxide fuel cells - devices that generate electricity directly from a wide range of liquid or gaseous fuels without the need to separate hydrogen. http://www.physorg.com/news173626385.html Physics Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:34:16 EST news173626385 (PhysOrg.com) -- The first demonstration of a renewable method for hydrogen production from wastewater using a microbial electrolysis system is underway at the Napa Wine Company in Oakville. The refrigerator-sized hydrogen generator will take winery wastewater, and using bacteria and a small amount of electrical energy, convert the organic material into hydrogen, according to a Penn State environmental engineer. http://www.physorg.com/news173451507.html Technology Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:10:01 EST news173451507 A spoonful of herbicide helps the sugar break down in a most delightful way. http://www.physorg.com/news173441084.html Technology Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:05:20 EST news173441084 Nanoscopic tubes made of a lattice of carbon just a single atom deep hold promise for delivering medicines directly to a tumor, sensors so keen they detect the arrival or departure of a single electron, a replacement for costly platinum in fuel cells or as energy‐saving transistors and wires. http://www.physorg.com/news172672100.html Nanotechnology Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:29:00 EST news172672100 (PhysOrg.com) -- Imagine a car that runs on hydrogen from solar power and produces water instead of carbon emissions. While vehicles like this won't be on the market anytime soon, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are making incremental but important strides in the fuel cell technology that could make clean cars a reality. http://www.physorg.com/news172417030.html Chemistry Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:38:30 EST news172417030 While our standard of life increases, so does the worldwide energy demand. In this vein, the application of technologies based on fuel cells is put forward as an alternative to the massive consumption of fossil fuels. One of the fuel cells of greatest current interest is the solid oxide one. http://www.physorg.com/news172402780.html Technology Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:40:23 EST news172402780 A consortium brought together by low carbon experts at the University of East Anglia (UEA) is today launching the first bus in the UK to run on clean, biomethane gas. http://www.physorg.com/news171657631.html Technology Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:41:02 EST news171657631 Bacteria that generate significant amounts of electricity could be used in microbial fuel cells to provide power in remote environments or to convert waste to electricity. Professor Derek Lovley from the University of Massachusetts, USA isolated bacteria with large numbers of tiny projections called pili which were more efficient at transferring electrons to generate power in fuel cells than bacteria with a smooth surface. The team's findings were reported at the Society for General Microbiology's meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, today (7 September). http://www.physorg.com/news171518983.html Biology Mon, 07 Sep 2009 05:10:13 EST news171518983 (PhysOrg.com) -- As a possible energy source for fuel cells or a substitute for gasoline, methanol is increasingly drawing attention beyond its importance as a feedstock for chemical industry. It can be stored much more efficiently and cheaply than hydrogen and could be distributed by way of the existing network of fuelling stations. The disadvantage is the truly complex synthesis of methanol from natural gas via a detour through synthesis gas. One interesting alternative that was pursued and then abandoned is known as the direct low-temperature oxidation of methane to methanol. http://www.physorg.com/news170052907.html Chemistry Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:58:15 EST news170052907 (PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Queensland researcher has successfully completed a lab-scale test on a new technology which has the potential to revolutionise the way the world views and uses coal. http://www.physorg.com/news169750717.html Technology Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:10:02 EST news169750717 (PhysOrg.com) -- The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has completed a successful flight test of the fuel cell powered XFC (eXperimental Fuel Cell) unmanned aerial system (UAS). During the June 2 flight test, the XFC UAS was airborne for more than six hours. NRL's Chemistry and Tactical Electronic Warfare Divisions are developing the XFC UAS as an expendable, long endurance platform for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR). http://www.physorg.com/news168792716.html Technology Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:57:48 EST news168792716 A process that cleans wastewater and generates electricity can also remove 90 percent of salt from brackish water or seawater, according to an international team of researchers from China and the U.S. http://www.physorg.com/news168778403.html Space & Earth Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:53:59 EST news168778403 (PhysOrg.com) -- With products that range from carpets to kites, you`d think Rice University chemist Bob Hauge was running a department store. What he's really running is a revolution in the world of carbon nanotechnology. http://www.physorg.com/news168095529.html Nanotechnology Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:12:57 EST news168095529 (PhysOrg.com) -- In their most recent experiments with Geobacter, the sediment-loving microbe whose hairlike filaments help it to produce electric current from mud and wastewater, Derek Lovley and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst supervised the evolution of a new strain that dramatically increases power output per cell and overall bulk power. It also works with a thinner biofilm than earlier strains, cutting the time to reach electricity-producing concentrations on the electrode. http://www.physorg.com/news168019852.html Chemistry Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:20:03 EST news168019852 Concerns about dwindling fossil fuel resources, current levels of petroleum consumption, and growing pressure to shift to more sustainable energy sources are among the many factors prompting the transition from our current energy infrastructure to one that uses less carbon and requires the efficient conversion of energy. This necessitates collecting energy from ambient sources including wind, solar, and geothermal power, and converting it into appropriate forms for distributing electricity. While it is possible for this electric power to be distributed efficiently, conversion is necessary for use in automobiles and large-scale storage is problematic. http://www.physorg.com/news167659860.html Other Sciences Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:30:01 EST news167659860