Breaking up water: Controlling molecular vibrations to produce hydrogen
Lausanne, Switzerland (SPX) May 07, 2014 -
Natural gas (methane) can be converted into hydrogen (H2), which is used in clean energy, synthetic fertilizers, and many other chemicals. The reaction requires water and a nickel catalyst. Methane and water molecules attach on the catalyst's surface, where they dissociate into their atomic components.
These then recombine to form different compounds like H2 and CO. Previous research has f ...
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U.S. regulator issues emergency order on oil transport by rail
Washington (UPI) May 8, 2013 -
Rail companies operating in the United States should avoid using older DOT-111 tank cars to carry Bakken crude oil, the Department of Transportation said.
The department's Federal Railroad Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a safety advisory calling on shippers offering crude oil from the Bakken area of North Dakota to use tank cars desi ...
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970-MW wind farm off the Isle of Wight considered
London (UPI) May 8, 2013 -
British campaign group Friends of the Earth said Thursday a wind farm proposed off the coast of the Isle of Wight was a "huge success" for energy security.
A national infrastructure planning commission said an application for the Navitus Bay Wind farm has been accepted for examination. If built, the wind farm would feature 194 turbines and associated infrastructure and have an installed ...
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Toyota posts record annual profit of $17.9 bn
Tokyo (AFP) May 08, 2014 -
Toyota booked a record $17.9 billion annual net profit Thursday, driven by a recovery in major markets and the weaker yen, but the world's biggest automaker cautioned that earnings growth would stall this year.
Japanese car companies have been big winners over the past year as a sharp drop in the yen inflated their repatriated profits, while sales accelerated in key markets including the US ...
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US House approves major Africa power bid
Washington (AFP) May 08, 2014 -
The US House of Representatives on Thursday approved a plan to bring power to 50 million Africans to boost the continent's development and growth, clearing a key political hurdle.
The Electrify Africa Act - which accompanies a major initiative for Africa unveiled last year by President Barack Obama - aims to install 20,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020 in the continent where power short ...
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Obama sends Vietnam nuclear deal to Congress
Washington (AFP) May 08, 2014 -
The US Congress on Thursday began its review of a nuclear agreement with Vietnam which advocates say would create billions of dollars in trade but has triggered human rights concerns.
President Barack Obama sent to Congress the text of the agreement which would allow the United States to transfer reactors and know-how to Vietnam, which has ambitious plans to build a nuclear network from virt ...
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Nanoscale heat flow predictions
Heidelberg, Germany (SPX) May 09, 2014 -
Physicists are now designing novel materials with physical properties tailored to meet specific energy consumption needs. Before these so-called materials-by-design can be applied, it is essential to understand their characteristics, such as heat flow. Now, a team of Italian physicists has developed a predictive theoretical model for heat flux in these materials, using atom-scale calculations. ...
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Energy device for flexible electronics packs a lot of power
Washington DC (SPX) May 09, 2014 -
While flexible gadgets such as "electronic skin" and roll-up touch screens are moving ever closer to reality, their would-be power sources are either too wimpy or too stiff. But that's changing fast.
Scientists have developed a new device that's far thinner than paper, can flex and bend, and store enough energy to provide critical back-up power for portable electronics. Their report appear ...
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A hydrogel that knows when to go
Houston TX (SPX) May 12, 2014 -
Rice University bioengineers have created a hydrogel that instantly turns from liquid to semisolid at close to body temperature - and then degrades at precisely the right pace.
The gel shows potential as a bioscaffold to support the regrowth of bone and other three-dimensional tissues in a patient's body using the patient's own cells to seed the process.
The hydrogel created in the l ...
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Edgy Look at 2D Molybdenum Disulfide
Berkeley CA (SPX) May 06, 2014 -
The drive to develop ultrasmall and ultrafast electronic devices using a single atomic layer of semiconductors, such as transition metal dichalcogenides, has received a significant boost. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have recorded the first observations of a strong nonlinear optical resonance along the edges of a sing ...
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Scientists find solution to two long-standing mysteries of cuprate superconductivity
Upton NY (SPX) May 09, 2014 -
Scientists seeking to understand the intricacies of high-temperature superconductivity-the ability of certain materials to carry electrical current with no energy loss-have been particularly puzzled by a mysterious phase that emerges as charge carriers are added that appears to compete with superconductivity.
It's also been a mystery why, within this "pseudogap" phase, the movement of supe ...
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Fueling aviation with hardwoods
Syracuse NY (SPX) May 09, 2014 -
A key challenge in the biofuels landscape is to get more advanced biofuels-fuels other than corn ethanol and vegetable oil-based biodiesel-into the transportation pool. Utilization of advanced biofuels is stipulated by the Energy Independence and Security Act; however, current production levels lag behind proposed targets.
Additionally, certain transportation sectors, such as aviation, are ...
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ACCESS II Alternative Jet Fuel Flight Tests Begin May 7, 2014
Washington DC (SPX) May 12, 2014 -
NASA took to the skies today - along with international partners the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and National Research Council of Canada (NRC) - to begin a series of flight tests to gather critical data that may aid in the development of cleaner aircraft fuels.
The flight tests over Palmdale, California, called Alternative Fuel Effects on Contrails and Cruise Emissions II (ACCESS II), ...
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Berkeley Develops Nanoscope To Probe Molecular Scale Chemistry
Berkeley CA (SPX) May 12, 2014 -
For years, scientists have had an itch they couldn't scratch. Even with the best microscopes and spectrometers, it's been difficult to study and identify molecules at the so-called mesoscale, a region of matter that ranges from 10 to 1000 nanometers in size. Now, with the help of broadband infrared light from the Advanced Light Source (ALS) synchrotron at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence ...
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Regenerating plastic grows back after damage
Champaign IL (SPX) May 12, 2014 -
Looking at a smooth sheet of plastic in one University of Illinois laboratory, no one would guess that an impact had recently blasted a hole through it.
Illinois researchers have developed materials that not only heal, but regenerate. Until now, self-repairing materials could only bond tiny microscopic cracks. The new regenerating materials fill in large cracks and holes by regrowing material. ...
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Airborne measurements confirm leaks from oil and gas operations
Boulder CO (SPX) May 12, 2014 -
During two days of intensive airborne measurements, oil and gas operations in Colorado's Front Range leaked nearly three times as much methane, a greenhouse gas, as predicted based on inventory estimates, and seven times as much benzene, a regulated air toxic.
Emissions of other chemicals that contribute to summertime ozone pollution were about twice as high as estimates, according to the ...
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Exoskeleton to remote-control robot
Darmstadt, Germany (SPX) May 09, 2014 -
Visionary 'rocket scientists' will share their ideas at the TEDx RocketMinds event at ESA's operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany.
Andre Schiele, leading ESA's telerobotics lab, will attempt a very special demonstration of remote robotic operations. Donning an exoskeleton that weighs just 10 kg, he will control a robot at ESA's technical heart in Noordwijk, the Netherlands - over 400 km ...
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Discovery offers new possibilities for clean energy research
Houston TX (SPX) May 09, 2014 -
University of Houston physicists have discovered a new thermoelectric material offering high performance at temperatures ranging from room temperature up to 300 degrees Celsius, or about 573 degrees Fahrenheit.
"This new material is better than the traditional material, Bismuth telluride, and can be used for waste heat conversion into electricity much more efficiently," said Zhifeng Ren, M ...
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A Lab in Your Pocket
Houghton MI (SPX) May 12, 2014 -
When you get sick, your physician may take a sample of your blood, send it to the lab and wait for results. In the near future, however, doctors may be able to run those tests almost instantly on a piece of plastic about the size of credit card.
These labs-on-a-chip would not only be quick-results are available in minutes-but also inexpensive and portable. They could be used miles from the ...
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Exploring the magnetism of a single atom
Lausanne, Switzerland (SPX) May 12, 2014 -
Magnetic devices like hard drives, magnetic random access memories (MRAMs), molecular magnets, and quantum computers depend on the manipulation of magnetic properties. In an atom, magnetism arises from the spin and orbital momentum of its electrons. 'Magnetic anisotropy' describes how an atom's magnetic properties depend on the orientation of the electrons' orbits relative to the structure of a ...
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