News tagged with solar pressure


A Brief History of Solar Sails

A Brief History of Solar Sails

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Aug 01, 2008 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (23) | comments 1

sō’lar sāil, n. - A gossamer material that, when unfurled in the vacuum of space, feels the pressure of sunlight and propelled by said pressure may carry a ship among the stars.





Search results for solar pressure


Miracle light: Can lasers solve the energy crisis?

Technology / Energy

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (12) | comments 3

Next year will mark the 50th birthday of the laser, one of the most productive and widely used mega-inventions of the last century. Scientists hope that 2010 also will see the launch of laser technology's greatest challenge: ...


Developing countries end boycott at climate talks (AP)

Developing countries end boycott at climate talks

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (2) | comments 4

(AP) -- Poor countries ended a boycott of U.N. climate talks Monday after getting assurances that rich nations were not conspiring to soften their commitments to cutting greenhouse gases, European officials ...


Kansas scientists probe mysterious possible comet strikes on Earth

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (12) | comments 8

It's the stuff of a Hollywood disaster epic: A comet plunges from outer space into the Earth's atmosphere, splitting the sky with a devastating shock wave that flattens forests and shakes the countryside.


Researchers engineer bacteria to turn carbon dioxide into liquid fuel

Researchers engineer bacteria to turn carbon dioxide into liquid fuel

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (43) | comments 25

(PhysOrg.com) -- The genetically modified cyanobacterium consumes carbon dioxide and produces the liquid fuel isobutanol by using energy from sunlight.


A Superbright Supernova That’s the First of Its Kind

A Superbright Supernova That’s the First of Its Kind

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (24) | comments 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- An extraordinarily bright, extraordinarily long-lasting supernova named SN 2007bi, snagged in a search by a robotic telescope, turns out to be the first example of the kind of stars that first ...


Workers at the Statkraft Osmotic power plant prototype in Tofte

Harnessing the power of salt, Norway tries osmotic power

Technology / Energy

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (6) | comments 4

After wind, sun, currents and tides, a company is preparing to make clean electricity by harnessing another natural phenomenon, the energy-unleashing encounter of freshwater and seawater.


Cassini's Big Sky: The View from the Center of Our Solar System

Cassini's Big Sky: The View from the Center of Our Solar System

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 20, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (15) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- When NASA's Cassini spacecraft began orbiting Saturn five years ago, a dozen highly-tuned science instruments set to work surveying, sniffing, analyzing and scrutinizing the Saturnian system.


Eco-Friendly SUV Gets a Hydrogen Mileage Boost

Eco-Friendly SUV Gets a Hydrogen Mileage Boost (w/ Video)

Technology / Energy

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 2

(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 ...


Fighting climate change by turning CO2 to stone

Fighting climate change by turning CO2 to stone

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (13) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- While politicians debate the best ways to cut global carbon dioxide emissions, researchers at Idaho National Laboratory's Center for Advanced Energy Studies are charging ahead on a strategy ...


A Tale of Planetary Woe

A Tale of Planetary Woe (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (11) | comments 5

Once upon a time — roughly four billion years ago — Mars was warm and wet, much like Earth. Liquid water flowed on the Martian surface in long rivers that emptied into shallow seas. A thick atmosphere blanketed ...



List of search results for solar pressure