The Cube, the smallest eco-home in the world
If you think your home is a little cramped, take a look at this one. (Pics)
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Will Electric Cars Be The Next Red/Blue Divide?
Focus-ing on a new perspective.
Ford–which is about to release an all-electric version of the Focus–just put out the above map of the United States with the cities it feels are best suited to electric car ownership. And with a few exceptions, it looks like the flyover states aren’t making preparations for the messianic arrival of the electric car. What do you want to bet that in the next presidential election, we’ll add “electric-car” to the litany of liberal-associative words like arugula, lattes, and sushi.
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Over Half of Energy in the U.S. is Wasted
This flow chart shows the amount of energy (in quads) that is produced by different energy sources and consumed by different sectors.
This flow chart of the estimated US energy use in 2009, assembled by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), paints a pretty sobering picture of our energy situation. To begin with, it shows that more than half (58%) of the total energy produced in the US is wasted due to inefficiencies, such as waste heat from power plants, vehicles, and light bulbs. In other words, the US has an energy efficiency of 42%. And, despite the numerous reports of progress in solar, wind, and geothermal energy, those three energy sources combined provide just 1.2% of our total energy production. The vast majority of our energy still comes from petroleum (37%), natural gas (25%), and coal (21%).
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Self-cooling Effect Observed in Graphene Electronics
AMF measures self-cooling in graphene.
Graphene is a substance that scientists have been highly interested in as an alternative material for faster-charging batteries. We’ve been hearing for several years about its potential to replace silicone in computer chips, but for the first time, we’re hearing that graphene might also be self-cooling, a feature that might be a huge boon for more efficient and energy-saving devices.
‘Blue Petroleum’ Fuel Could Be the Fuel of the Future
Scientists in Spain hope they have found the fuel of tomorrow: bio-oil produced with algae mixed with carbon dioxide from a factory.
In a forest of tubes eight metres high in eastern Spain scientists hope they have found the fuel of tomorrow: bio-oil produced with algae mixed with carbon dioxide from a factory.
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Are Smart Meters a Dumb Idea?
Are smart meters spies?
Coast to coast, from Maine to Marin County, Calif., the number of homes being outfitted with smart meters that keep a close eye on homeowner electricity use is on the rise. And so is the number of folks who think smart meters are a dumb idea.
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Scientists Invent World’s First Anti-Laser
Anti-lasing
The laser — a 50-year-old invention now used in everything from CDs to laser pointers — has met its match in the “antilaser,” the first device capable of trapping and canceling out laser beams.
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Amazing Discovery – Glass Melts When it Gets Ultracold
Quantum fluctuations may melt glass when it gets too cold.
Anyone who’s seen enough old Sesame Street episodes or been to enough Renaissance Fairs knows that when glass gets hot enough, it turns to liquid. Applied heat pumps energy into the solid pieces of glass, getting their molecules jiggling. As the heat dissipates, the glass becomes cool and solidifies again.
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Coconut Oil Shown to Reverse the Effects of Alzheimer’s
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOrDIixbGMs[/youtube]
Dr. Mary Newport discusses ketone bodies, and alternative fuel for the brain, that the body makes in digesting coconut and the effective work on memory loss and Alzheimer’s with coconut oil.
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How Central Heating is Making You Fat
Drinking tea in front of a roaring fire may be enjoyable but it could be encouraging your body to pile on weight.
Sitting in your cosy home stops you from burning calories. It already adds unwanted pounds to your winter fuel bills.
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BYU Chemists Turn Gold to Purple, on Purpose
Chemists developed a method of artificial photosynthesis, and proved it by turning gold atoms into purple-colored nanoparticles.
Professor Richard Watt and his chemistry students suspected that a common protein could potentially react with sunlight and harvest its energy – similar to what chlorophyll does during photosynthesis.
Scientists in Italy Claim to Have Demonstrated Cold Fusion
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-Ru1eAymvE&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Few areas of science are more controversial than cold fusion, the hypothetical near-room-temperature reaction in which two smaller nuclei join together to form a single larger nucleus while releasing large amounts of energy. In the 1980s, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleishmann claimed to have demonstrated cold fusion – which could potentially provide the world with a cheap, clean energy source – but their experiment could not be reproduced. Since then, all other claims of cold fusion have been illegitimate, and studies have shown that cold fusion is theoretically implausible, causing mainstream science to become highly speculative of the field in general.
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