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Archive for the ‘solar power’ category: Page 117

Oct 12, 2017

Scientists develop machine-learning method to predict the behavior of molecules

Posted by in categories: information science, robotics/AI, solar power, sustainability

An international, interdisciplinary research team of scientists has come up with a machine-learning method that predicts molecular behavior, a breakthrough that can aid in the development of pharmaceuticals and the design of new molecules that can be used to enhance the performance of emerging battery technologies, solar cells, and digital displays.

The work appears in the journal Nature Communications.

“By identifying patterns in , the learning algorithm or ‘machine’ we created builds a knowledge base about atomic interactions within a molecule and then draws on that information to predict new phenomena,” explains New York University’s Mark Tuckerman, a professor of chemistry and mathematics and one of the paper’s primary authors.

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Oct 11, 2017

A Robot Can Print This $32,000 House in as Little as 8 Hours

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, habitats, robotics/AI, solar power, sustainability

Building a house by hand can be both time-consuming and expensive. Numerous homebuilders have chosen to automate part of the construction (i.e., by printing the home’s parts) instead.

A new Ukrainian homebuilding startup called PassivDom uses a 3D printing robot that can print parts for tiny houses. The machine can print the walls, roof, and floor of PassivDom’s 380-square-foot model in about eight hours. The windows, doors, plumbing, and electrical systems are then added by a human worker.

When complete, the homes are autonomous and mobile, meaning they don’t need to connect to external electrical and plumbing systems. Solar energy is stored in a battery connected to the houses, and water is collected and filtered from humidity in the air (or you can pour water into the system yourself). The houses also feature an independent sewage system.

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Oct 7, 2017

Today, Elon Musk Is Meeting Puerto Rico’s Governor to Fix the Island’s Energy Crisis

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, solar power, sustainability

Elon Musk and Puerto Rico’s governor are in talks to fix the territory’s energy crisis. It could stand as solar-power exemplar to the world.

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Sep 30, 2017

China just switched on the world’s largest floating solar farm

Posted by in categories: computing, solar power, sustainability

Science

Newly developed chip reprograms cells to regenerate damaged tissues.

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Sep 30, 2017

Perovskite solar cells reach record long-term stability, efficiency over 20 percent

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) can offer high light-conversion efficiency with low manufacturing costs. But to be commercially viable, perovskite films must also be durable and not degrade under solar light over time. EPFL scientists have now greatly improved the operational stability of PSCs, retaining more than 95% of their initial efficiencies of over 20 % under full sunlight illumination at 60oC for more than 1000 hours. The breakthrough, which marks the highest stability for perovskite solar cells, is published in Science.

Challenges of stability

Conventional have reached a point of maturation, with efficiencies plateauing around 25% and problems of high-cost manufacturing, heavyweight, and rigidity has remained largely unresolved. On the contrary, a relatively new photovoltaic technology based on solar cells has already achieved more than 22% .

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Sep 24, 2017

Particle Accelerators Could Be the Key to Cheaper Solar Panels

Posted by in categories: particle physics, solar power, sustainability

It may seem counterintuitive, but we can use a particle accelerator to make solar panels. Here’s how.

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Sep 15, 2017

Scientists have invented a way to trigger artificial photosynthesis

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

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Sep 15, 2017

A Tunisian Energy Company Wants to Pipe Electricity from the Sahara to Europe

Posted by in categories: government, solar power, sustainability

The company TuNur aims to produce solar energy cheaply in the Sahara desert and distribute it to Europe. However, there are lingering questions about whether the company behind the project can actually pull it off.

Energy company TuNur is seeking approval from the Tunisian government for a 4.5GW solar park situated in the Sahara desert. If it’s given the green light, the project would distribute electricity to Malta, Italy, and France via submarine cables.

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Sep 5, 2017

Shenzhen: City of the Future. The high-tech life of China’s Silicon Valley

Posted by in categories: government, habitats, robotics/AI, solar power, sustainability

More films about China: https://rtd.rt.com/tags/china/
- Technology and innovation hub, Shenzhen is known as China’s “silicon valley” and “the city of the future”.
- Once a fishing village, in just 50 years it grew into a megacity packed with skyscrapers.
- It hosts international technology exhibitions and forums and attracts creators and investors from around the world, contributing to its population boom.
- Inventors and engineers working here, create helpful robots, hybrid cars and smart car parks.

China has a saying; to see the past, visit Beijing, to see the present, go to Shanghai but for the future, it’s Shenzhen. Shenzhen has transformed itself from a tiny fishing village to a megacity in just 50 years, its population tripling since the 1990s. The city is a magnet for tech-savvy and inventive dreamers from all across China and the world, because of them Shenzhen has become the “silicon valley” of China, a true technology and innovation hub.

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Sep 4, 2017

Breakthrough Molecular 3D Printer Can Print Billions of Possible Compounds

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, biotech/medical, solar power, sustainability

What will 3D printers ultimately evolve into? No one has a functioning crystal ball in front of them I assume, but a good guess would be a machine which can practically build anything its user desire, all on the molecular, and eventually atomic levels. Sure we are likely multiple decades away from widespread molecular manufacturing, but a group of chemists led by medical doctor Martin D. Burke at the University of Illinois may have already taken a major step in that direction.

Burke, who joined the Department of Chemistry at the university in 2005, heads up Burke Laboratories where he studies and synthesizes small molecules with protein-like structures. For those of you who are not chemists, small molecules are organic compounds with very low molecular weight of less than 900 daltons. They usually help regulate biological processes and make up most of the drugs we put into our bodies, along with pesticides used by farmers and electronic components like LEDs and solar cells.

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