China's Xi signs Venezuela resource deals on LatAm blitz
Caracas (AFP) July 21, 2014 -
Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a raft of oil and mineral deals with Venezuela Monday, his latest stop on a Latin American tour showcasing China's growing influence in the region.
During his four-country visit to what is often considered America's back yard, Xi has reached out to resource-rich countries such as Venezuela and Argentina at a time when they are often shunned by the United S ...
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Canadian Solar Responds to WTO Ruling Against US Photovoltaic Import Duties
Guelph, Canada (SPX) Jul 22, 2014 -
Canadian Solar has released this statement on behalf of Thomas Koerner, General Manager of the Company's America's division, in response to the World Trade Organizations ("WTO's") ruling against the United States' imposition of import duties against certain photovoltaic products.
"The WTO's ruling is in alignment with the opinion of Canadian Solar as well as other organizations which repre ...
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An anti-glare, anti-reflective display for mobile devices?
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 22, 2014 -
If you've ever tried to watch a video on a tablet on a sunny day, you know you have to tilt it at just the right angle to get rid of glare or invest in a special filter. But now scientists are reporting in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces that they've developed a novel glass surface that reduces both glare and reflection, which continue to plague even the best mobile displays tod ...
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19th Century Math Tactic Tweak Yields Answers 200 Times Faster
Baltimore MD (SPX) Jul 22, 2014 -
A relic from long before the age of supercomputers, the 169-year-old math strategy called the Jacobi iterative method is widely dismissed today as too slow to be useful. But thanks to a curious, numbers-savvy Johns Hopkins engineering student and his professor, it may soon get a new lease on life.
With just a few modern-day tweaks, the researchers say they've made the rarely used Jacobi me ...
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Cheap and easy software provides highly accurate real-time data on traffic
Granada, Spain (SPX) Jul 22, 2014 -
Researchers at the University of Granada have designed new software that provides real time data on traffic. It is a device that provides information on traffic flow between cities. Drivers can use this information to choose the fastest route as they plan to drive to their destinations.
It is a highly reliable, low-cost method, easy and quick to install, which uses bluetooth devices. These ...
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Using LED lighting to reduce streetlight glare
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 22, 2014 -
Long hours of nighttime driving can cause eyestrain because while our vision adapts to the surrounding darkness, the sudden stabs of brightness from streetlamps can be irritating, distracting and even painful. Even as LED technology has transformed the lighting industry, bringing the promise of more energy-efficient road illumination, some fear that the new lights could cause even more troubleso ...
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Construction starts on carbon capture plant in Kentucky
Washington (UPI) Jul 22, 2013 -
The U.S. Department of Energy said construction started on a $19.5 million carbon capture research project at a coal power station in Kentucky.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and state Energy Secretary Len Peters joined Department of Energy officials and other dignitaries for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the construction of the pilot project at Kentucky Utilities' E.W. Brown Generating St ...
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Failed Marx letter sale disappoints Chinese capitalists
Shanghai (AFP) July 22, 2014 -
A letter by the late Karl Marx, the German philosopher who offered an alternative to capitalism, has failed to sell in Communist-ruled China because the auctioneer set too high a price.
The Shanghai-based Hosane auction house set a starting price of 8.0 million yuan ($1.3 million) but failed to find a single bidder on Monday, the Global Times newspaper reported.
The 1869 letter, owned by ...
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Virgin Islands one step closer to renewable energy goal
Carlsbad, Calif. (UPI) Jul 22, 2013 -
U.S. solar developer NRG Energy Inc. said its latest acquisition will help the Virgin Islands meet its renewable energy consumption targets.
The company said it acquired a 4-megawatt solar power facility on St. Croix islands from Japanese company Toshiba for an undisclosed sum. NRG Energy said the solar facility would help the Virgin Islands meet its goal of reducing the amount of ener ...
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Microsoft profit hurt by Nokia, but revenues jump
New York (AFP) July 22, 2014 -
Microsoft said Tuesday profits took a hit from its newly acquired Nokia phone division but that revenues got a strong lift from cloud services.
The US tech giant's new chief executive Satya Nadella said the results suggested that Microsoft's shift to services amid declining personal computer sales was starting to pay off.
Net profit for the three months ending June 30 dipped seven percen ...
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iPhone sales boost profits; as smartwatch patents granted
San Francisco (AFP) July 22, 2014 -
Apple on Tuesday reported that its quarterly profit climbed with strong iPhone demand, but a decline in iPad tablet sales put a damper on its results.
The California-based company posted a profit of $7.7 billion on revenue of $37.4 billion in the three months period to June 28, an increase of 11.6 percent from a year ago.
Apple said it sold 35.2 million iPhones in the quarter, a rise of ...
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China's Xi eyes increased investment in Cuba
Havana (AFP) July 22, 2014 -
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Cuba on Tuesday to expand investment in the fellow communist nation, his last stop on a four-country Latin American charm offensive.
Cuba, the only one-party communist state in the Americas, began opening up its economy in 2008, but has not grown as much as hoped and could desperately use more Chinese investment.
Xi for his part has made a point durin ...
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Technique simplifies the creation of high-tech crystals
Princeton NJ (SPX) Jul 23, 2014 -
Highly purified crystals that split light with uncanny precision are key parts of high-powered lenses, specialized optics and, potentially, computers that manipulate light instead of electricity. But producing these crystals by current techniques, such as etching them with a precise beam of electrons, is often extremely difficult and expensive.
Now, researchers at Princeton and Columbia un ...
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Fires are a major cause of wind farm failure
London, UK (SPX) Jul 23, 2014 -
Fire is the second leading cause of accidents in wind turbines, after blade failure, according to new research. Wind farming is one of the leading industries in the renewable energy sector.
However, the industry faces a number of challenges, such as opposition by wind farm lobbyists. This research suggests that incidents of wind turbines catching fire are a problem that is not currently be ...
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A new multi-bit 'spin' for MRAM storage
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 23, 2014 -
Interest in magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is escalating, thanks to demand for fast, low-cost, nonvolatile, low-consumption, secure memory devices. MRAM, which relies on manipulating the magnetization of materials for data storage rather than electronic charges, boasts all of these advantages as an emerging technology, but so far it hasn't been able to match flash memory in terms of storag ...
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Creating optical cables out of thin air
College Park MD (SPX) Jul 23, 2014 -
Imagine being able to instantaneously run an optical cable or fiber to any point on earth, or even into space. That's what Howard Milchberg, professor of physics and electrical and computer engineering at the University of Maryland, wants to do.
In a paper published in the journal Optica, Milchberg and his lab report using an "air waveguide" to enhance light signals collected from distant ...
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NIST develops prototype meter test for hydrogen refueling stations
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 23, 2014 -
To support the fair sale of gaseous hydrogen as a vehicle fuel, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a prototype field test standard to test the accuracy of hydrogen fuel dispensers. Once the standard is field tested, it will serve as a model for constructing similar devices for state weights and measures inspectors to use.
Three automaker ...
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Low cost technique improves properties of nanomaterials
Singapore (SPX) Jul 23, 2014 -
The challenges faced by researchers in modifying properties of nanomaterials for application in devices may be addressed by a simple technique, thanks to recent innovative studies conducted by scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Through the use of a simple, efficient and low cost technique involving a focused laser beam, two NUS research teams, led by Professor Sow ...
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NIST shows ultrasonically propelled nanorods spin dizzyingly fast
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 23, 2014 -
Vibrate a solution of rod-shaped metal nanoparticles in water with ultrasound and they'll spin around their long axes like tiny drill bits. Why? No one yet knows exactly. But researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have clocked their speed-and it's fast. At up to 150,000 revolutions per minute, these nanomotors rotate 10 times faster than any nanoscale object sub ...
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Self-cooling solar cells boost power, last longer
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 23, 2014 -
Scientists may have overcome one of the major hurdles in developing high-efficiency, long-lasting solar cells-keeping them cool, even in the blistering heat of the noonday Sun. By adding a specially patterned layer of silica glass to the surface of ordinary solar cells, a team of researchers led by Shanhui Fan, an electrical engineering professor at Stanford University in California has found a ...
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'Take your clothes off, be like me!' says wise-cracking robot
Tokyo (AFP) July 16, 2014 -
A wise-cracking humanoid robot called Pepper whose makers claim can read people's emotions was unveiled in Tokyo last month.
Mobile carrier Softbank, which created the robot, says Pepper can understand 70 to 80 percent of spontaneous conversations - although it also answers from a set number of pre-programmed responses.
AFP caught up with the pint-sized chatterbox, who took time out fro ...
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SSERVI: Serving NASA's Mission to the Moon and Beyond, Part 2
Moffet Field CA (NASA) Jul 22, 2014 -
Humanity has plans to expand into space: to the Moon, to Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), and to the moons of Mars. Like any trip to anywhere, we need to know certain things before we go. We need to know about the climate and about the resources we can expect to find when we get there.
We need to know about the places to avoid and the places where it's safe to stay. Who is working on finding t ...
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Japanese androids take us closer to 'Blade Runner' future
Tokyo (AFP) July 16, 2014 -
A future in which it is difficult to tell man and machine apart could soon become reality, scientists say, after recent robotic breakthroughs in Japan.
But as the once-fantastical idea of wise-cracking android sidekicks takes form in laboratories - and the gap between humans and robots narrows - society faces ethical and legal complications as yet undreamed of, they warn.
"Already com ...
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New UAV for background radiation monitoring
Izhevsk, Russia (SPX) Jul 22, 2014 -
UAV systems has developed background radiation monitoring system for Russian meteorology and ecological monitoring corporation Rosgidromet. The base of the system is serially produced scintillational wide-range intellectual x-ray and gamma emission detection module and UAV Supercam S-350 by UAV systems, LLC. Both devices were modified during development.
The new UAV is able to perform the ...
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Researchers crush diamond with biggest laser in world
Livermore, Calif. (UPI) Jul 17, 2013 -
Scientists wanted to better understand what conditions are like deep inside giant, carbon-rich planets. To find out, they blasted a diamond with the world's biggest laser.
"The goal of the shots is to try and create planetary core conditions on Earth," explained Ray Smith, a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. "And by that I mean very high pressure and rel ...
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