Menu

Blog

Archive for the ‘energy’ category: Page 108

Dec 5, 2022

Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft suffered power blip hours before its close lunar flyby

Posted by in category: energy

The Orion spacecraft had a brief power issue on Sunday (Dec. 4) but did complete its planned engine burn to return home as planned today (Dec. 5).

Dec 5, 2022

Green energy revolution: The Morocco-UK Power Project to power 7 million homes in the UK by 2030

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability

Adamkaz/iStock.

A desert at Guelmim Oued Noun in central Morocco will primarily play host to the Morocco-UK Power Project, which aims to develop 10.5GW of renewable energy from solar and wind power, of which 3.6GW would be supplied to the UK, for an average of 20+ hours a day.

Dec 5, 2022

Putin has destroyed Russia’s most important oil market — and what’s next for crude prices depends on him and Xi Jinping, energy expert Daniel Yergin says

Posted by in category: energy

Europe just set a $60 price cap on Moscow’s oil — so the Russian president has “basically destroyed his most important market,” Dan Yergin said.

Dec 4, 2022

Scientists find an ancient source of life-supporting oxygen

Posted by in category: energy

Although oxygen is now the most abundant element in our oceans and our atmosphere, comprising about 88.8 percent and 23.1 percent of the mass of the two, respectively, this wasn’t always the case. In actuality, the abundance of oxygen on Earth arose only 2.4 billion years ago thanks to the advent of photosynthesis, the process through which some of the first life-forms transformed sunlight into energy. It was only coincidence, scientists say, that one of the products of this process was oxygen. But it also would go on to completely transform the planet, creating the conditions for increasingly complex forms of life.

For all the importance of this so-called “Great Oxidation Event,” scientists have always wondered about the presence of oxygen on the planet prior to the emergence of photosynthesis.

Dec 4, 2022

De Tomaso unveils ‘world’s first’ carbon neutral synthetic-fuel-driven hypercar

Posted by in categories: energy, transportation

The vehicle has a 900kg dry weight and 900hp (662kW) output.

Italian performance brand De Tomaso has released the P900, a track-only V12-powered hypercar with a 900kg dry weight and 900hp (662kW) output, according to a report.

The carmaker will produce only 18 units globally of these bad boys and price them at a whopping US $3 million each which will ensure their drivers know they have a truly unique car. Each car will be further customized to the customer’s choices.

Continue reading “De Tomaso unveils ‘world’s first’ carbon neutral synthetic-fuel-driven hypercar” »

Dec 3, 2022

Microwave thruster makes for clean-burning jet

Posted by in categories: energy, physics, space

Year 2020 face_with_colon_three Propellant free thruster.


I usually approach papers on the subject of alternative thrusters with a certain degree of cynicism. But we’ve finally been given a study on microwave thrusters that doesn’t rely on impossible physics. Instead, it used a plain old plasma thruster.

Plasma thrusters have generally been thought of as a means of propulsion in space, but now one has been designed to operate under atmospheric conditions. According to the researchers involved, it’s an air plasma thruster that has the potential to produce the same thrust as a commercial jet engine.

Continue reading “Microwave thruster makes for clean-burning jet” »

Dec 3, 2022

Electronic nanogenerator tattoos as human-machine interfaces

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, energy, health, internet, nanotechnology, wearables

The field of epidermal electronics, or e-tattoos, covers a wide range of flexible and stretchable monitoring gadgets that are wearable directly on the skin. We have covered this area in multiple Nanowerk Spotlights, for instance stick-on epidermal electronics tattoo to measure UV exposure or tattoo-type biosensors based on graphene; and we also have posted a primer on electronic skin.

Taking the concept of e-tattoos a step further, integrating them with triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), for instance for health monitoring, could lead to next generation wearable nanogenerators and Internet-of-things devices worn directly on and powered by the skin.

In work reported in Advanced Functional Materials (“Triboelectric Nanogenerator Tattoos Enabled by Epidermal Electronic Technologies”), researchers report a tattoo-like TENG (TL-TENG) design with a thickness of tens of micrometers, that can interface with skin without additional adhesive layers, and be used for energy harvesting from daily activities.

Dec 1, 2022

Fusion power is ‘approaching’ reality thanks to a magnetic field breakthrough

Posted by in categories: energy, innovation

Fusion power may be a more realistic prospect than you think. As Motherboard reports, researchers at the Energy Department’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have discovered that a new magnetic field setup more than tripled the energy output of the fusion reaction hotspot in experiments, “approaching” the level required for self-sustaining ignition in plasmas. The field was particularly effective at trapping heat within the hotspot, boosting the energy yield.

The hotspot’s creation involved blasting 200 lasers at a fusion fuel pellet made from hydrogen isotopes like deuterium and tritium. The resulting X-rays made the pellet implode and thus produce the extremely high pressures and heat needed for fusion. The team achieved their feat by wrapping a coil around a pellet made using special metals.

The notion of using magnets to heat the fuel isn’t new. University of Rochester scientists found they could use magnetism to their advantage in 2012. The Lawrence Livermore study was far more effective, however, producing 40 percent heat and more than three times the energy.

Nov 28, 2022

Rolls-Royce successfully tests hydrogen-powered jet engine

Posted by in categories: energy, transportation

LONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) — Britain’s Rolls-Royce (RR.L) said it has successfully run an aircraft engine on hydrogen, a world aviation first that marks a major step towards proving the gas could be key to decarbonising air travel.

The ground test, using a converted Rolls-Royce AE 2100-A regional aircraft engine, used green hydrogen created by wind and tidal power, the British company said on Monday.

Rolls and its testing programme partner easyJet (EZJ.L) are seeking to prove that hydrogen can safely and efficiently deliver power for civil aero engines.

Nov 28, 2022

Fuel Ignition and Bottle Bubbles Snag Video Prize

Posted by in categories: energy, supercomputing

An annual APS video prize went to supercomputer simulations, control of chaotic Faraday waves, and studies of a large bubble in a bottle.