Sunrun Brings Affordable Home Solar Service to Nevada
San Francisco CA (SPX) Aug 19, 2014 -
Sunrun has announced the availability of its home solar service in Nevada. Through its service, Nevada residents can now get a solar system installed on their home with no money down and begin saving on their electricity bills immediately.
Sunrun will design, install, finance, insure, monitor and maintain the system, while homeowners just pay for the clean power it generates at a lower rat ...
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Renewables Provides All New US Electrical Generating Capacity In July
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
According to the latest "Energy Infrastructure Update" report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Office of Energy Projects, all new U.S. electrical generating capacity put into service in July came from renewable energy sources: 379 megawatts (MW) of wind, 21 MW of solar, and 5 MW of hydropower.
For the first seven months of 2014, renewables have accounted for more than half ( ...
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Fukushima's legacy
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
Following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown, biological samples were obtained only after extensive delays, limiting the information that could be gained about the impacts of that historic disaster.
Determined not to repeat the shortcomings of the Chernobyl studies, scientists began gathering biological information only a few months after the disastrous meltdown of the Fukushi ...
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'Cavity protection effect' helps to conserve quantum information
Vienna, Austria (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
Coupling atomic spins in diamonds to microwave resonators could lead to new quantum technologies. Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) have now managed to dramatically prolong the time these systems can store information
The electronics we use for our computers only knows two different states: zero or one. Quantum systems on the other hand can be in different states ...
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Asian inventions dominate energy storage systems
Munich, Germany (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
In recent years, the number of patent applications for electrochemical energy storage technologies has soared. According to a study by the Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM), the largest volume of applications by far is submitted by developers of lithium batteries.
The study offers a first differentiated analysis of which energy storage technologies will be viable in the exit from fossil ...
more
How fast you drive might reveal where you are going
New Brunswick NJ (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
In our constantly connected, information-rich society, some drivers are jumping at the chance to let auto insurance companies monitor their driving habits in return for a handsome discount on their premiums. What these drivers may not know is that they could be revealing where they are driving, a privacy boundary that many would not consent to cross.
A team of Rutgers University computer e ...
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Electrical engineers take major step toward photonic circuits
Edmonton, Canada (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
The invention of fibre optics revolutionized the way we share information, allowing us to transmit data at volumes and speeds we'd only previously dreamed of.
Now, electrical engineering researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada are breaking another barrier, designing nano-optical cables small enough to replace the copper wiring on computer chips.
This cou ...
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Researchers prove stability of wonder material silicene
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
An international team of researchers has taken a significant step towards understanding the fundamental properties of the two-dimensional material silicene by showing that it can remain stable in the presence of oxygen.
In a study published in IOP Publishing's journal 2D Materials, the researchers have shown that thick, multilayers of silicene can be isolated from its parent material silic ...
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Disney tops and yo-yos with stable spins despite asymmetric shapes
Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
Tops and yo-yos are among the oldest types of playthings but researchers at Disney Research Zurich and ETH Zurich have given them a new spin with an algorithm that makes it easier to design these toys so that they have asymmetric shapes.
The algorithm can take a 3D model of an object and, within less than a minute, calculate how mass can be distributed within the object to enable a stable ...
more
First Indirect Evidence of So-Far Undetected Strange Baryons
Upton NY (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
New supercomputing calculations provide the first evidence that particles predicted by the theory of quark-gluon interactions but never before observed are being produced in heavy-ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a facility that is dedicated to studying nuclear physics.
These heavy strange baryons, containing at least one strange quark, still cannot be observed ...
more
'Cavity protection effect' helps to conserve quantum information
Vienna, Austria (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
Coupling atomic spins in diamonds to microwave resonators could lead to new quantum technologies. Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) have now managed to dramatically prolong the time these systems can store information
The electronics we use for our computers only knows two different states: zero or one. Quantum systems on the other hand can be in different states ...
more
Asian inventions dominate energy storage systems
Munich, Germany (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
In recent years, the number of patent applications for electrochemical energy storage technologies has soared. According to a study by the Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM), the largest volume of applications by far is submitted by developers of lithium batteries.
The study offers a first differentiated analysis of which energy storage technologies will be viable in the exit from fossil ...
more
Electrical engineers take major step toward photonic circuits
Edmonton, Canada (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
The invention of fibre optics revolutionized the way we share information, allowing us to transmit data at volumes and speeds we'd only previously dreamed of.
Now, electrical engineering researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada are breaking another barrier, designing nano-optical cables small enough to replace the copper wiring on computer chips.
This cou ...
more
Researchers prove stability of wonder material silicene
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
An international team of researchers has taken a significant step towards understanding the fundamental properties of the two-dimensional material silicene by showing that it can remain stable in the presence of oxygen.
In a study published in IOP Publishing's journal 2D Materials, the researchers have shown that thick, multilayers of silicene can be isolated from its parent material silic ...
more
New delay for launch of Europe navigation satellites
Paris (AFP) Aug 21, 2014 -
Bad weather delayed the liftoff Thursday of a rocket with two new satellites for Europe's rival to GPS, launch firm Arianespace said as it announced 12 orbiters will join the constellation from next year.
The liftoff of the fifth and sixth Galileo satellites, already delayed by more than a year, had been scheduled for 1231 GMT from the European space centre at Kourou in French Guiana on a Ru ...
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Disney tops and yo-yos with stable spins despite asymmetric shapes
Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
Tops and yo-yos are among the oldest types of playthings but researchers at Disney Research Zurich and ETH Zurich have given them a new spin with an algorithm that makes it easier to design these toys so that they have asymmetric shapes.
The algorithm can take a 3D model of an object and, within less than a minute, calculate how mass can be distributed within the object to enable a stable ...
more
First Indirect Evidence of So-Far Undetected Strange Baryons
Upton NY (SPX) Aug 21, 2014 -
New supercomputing calculations provide the first evidence that particles predicted by the theory of quark-gluon interactions but never before observed are being produced in heavy-ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a facility that is dedicated to studying nuclear physics.
These heavy strange baryons, containing at least one strange quark, still cannot be observed ...
more
Long-term spaceflights challenged as harm to astronauts' health revealed
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Aug 22, 2014 -
NASA is looking into whether astronauts can survive long-term spaceflight, with the latest study identifying possible health risks including asymptomatic infections, increased allergies and persistent rashes.
The new study points out that long duration flights may temporarily confuse astronauts' immune systems by altering cell functions.
It was revealed that some cells begin to funct ...
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NASA and Commercial Partners Review Summer of Advancements
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 22, 2014 -
NASA's spaceflight experts in the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) met throughout July with aerospace partners to review increasingly advanced designs, elements and systems of the spacecraft and launch vehicles under development as part of the space agency's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) and Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) initiatives.
Blue Origin, The Boeing Co. ...
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Scientists Detect Evidence of 'Oceans Worth' of Water in Earth's Mantle
Moffet Field CA (NASA) Aug 22, 2014 -
Researchers have found evidence of a potential "ocean's worth" of water deep beneath the United States. Although not present in a familiar form, the building blocks of water are bound up in rock located deep in the Earth's mantle, and in quantities large enough to represent the largest water reservoir on the planet, according to the research.
For many years, scientists have attempted to es ...
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ESA and CNES experts ready for Galileo's first orbits
Paris (ESA) Aug 22, 2014 -
Lift-off for Galileo satellites 5 and 6 is set for Thursday, 21 August, at 12:31 GMT (14:31 CEST) on a Soyuz rocket from the Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana. Just 9 minutes and 23 seconds later, the Fregat upper stage carrying the payload will separate from the Soyuz third stage, and conduct a pair of engine burns separated by an approximately three-hour ballistic coast phase.
Three hou ...
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Arianespace serves the Galileo constellation
Kourou, French Guiana (SPX) Aug 22, 2014 -
Arianespace and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a contract for three launch services with Ariane 5 ES in order to step up the deployment of the European navigation system Galileo, the European Union's flagship program.
With this new launch contract and thanks to the performance of Ariane 5 ES, a total of 12 Galileo FOC (Full Operational Capability) satellites will be launched u ...
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Has sea plankton been discovered on the ISS outer hull
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Aug 22, 2014 -
Russian scientists say they made a "unique" discovery while analyzing samples from the exterior of the International Space Station - traces of tiny sea creatures on the station's windows and walls. It remains unclear how marine plankton ended up in space.
The results of the recent experiments prove that that some organisms are capable of living on the outer surface of the International Spa ...
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First LOFAR observations of the "Whirlpool Galaxy"
Southampton, UK (SPX) Aug 22, 2014 -
Using a radio telescope with frequencies just above those of commercial FM radio stations, a European team of astronomers has obtained the most sensitive image of a galaxy below 1 GHz. The team viewed the "Whirlpool Galaxy" Messier 51 (M51), about 30 million light years away, with the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope in the frequency range 115-175 MHz, just above the normal commercial ...
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Electric Sparks May Alter Evolution of Lunar Soil
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 22, 2014 -
The moon appears to be a tranquil place, but modeling done by University of New Hampshire (UNH) and NASA scientists suggests that, over the eons, periodic storms of solar energetic particles may have significantly altered the properties of the soil in the moon's coldest craters through the process of sparking-a finding that could change our understanding of the evolution of planetary surfaces in ...
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