Church of England to sell dirty fuel over climate change
London (AFP) April 30, 2015 -
One of the world's wealthiest religious institutions, the Church of England is to sell off investments in coal and tar sands to try and help curb climate change, it announced on Thursday.
The divestment from coal burnt for energy and oil from tar sands, among the most polluting fossil fuels, is a victory for campaigners urging institutions to pull out of such investments.
"Climate change ...
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U.S. refinery group opposes exports
Washington (UPI) Apr 30, 2015 -
A coalition of U.S. refineries said repealing a 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports will harm energy security at a time when oil markets in are flux.
A group of refineries united under the banner of the Consumers and Refiners for Domestic Energy, or CRUDE, coalition said the long-standing ban on exporting domestic crude oil is protecting the U.S. energy sector during fluid market condi ...
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ORNL scientists generate landmark DOE hydropower report
Oak Ridge TN (SPX) May 01, 2015 -
For the first time, industry and policymakers have a comprehensive report detailing the U.S. hydropower fleet's 2,198 plants that provide about 7 percent of the nation's electricity.
The 98-page report by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers Rocio Uria-Martinez, Patrick O'Connor and Megan Johnson is a resource that describes key features of the nation's hydr ...
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New model for the thermo-elasto-plasticity deformation of crystals
Beijing, China (SPX) May 01, 2015 -
Researchers have proposed a new thermo-elasto-plasticity constitutive model based on the interatomic potential and solid mechanics for metal crystals. Through this new model, the material behavior at different temperatures could be described accurately and conveniently.
The work, led by Professor Wang TzuChiang, together with collaborators Chen cen and Tang Qiheng at the State Key Laborato ...
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Windows that act like an LCD Screen
Washington DC (SPX) May 01, 2015 -
The secret desire of urban daydreamers staring out their office windows at the sad brick walls of the building opposite them may soon be answered thanks to transparent light shutters developed by a group of researchers at Pusan National University in South Korea.
A novel liquid crystal technology allows displays to flip between transparent and opaque states - hypothetically letting you swi ...
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Caterpillar expands renewables in conjunction with First Solar
Peoria IL (SPX) May 01, 2015 -
Basic human needs - including access to clean water, health care and education - rely on one critical element: energy. However, today, more than 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity and billions more need access to a reliable grid. Caterpillar's Electric Power Division is working to resolve these issues by providing a variety of advanced power solutions.
Caterpillar and First Sola ...
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Tracking exploding lithium-ion batteries in real-time
London UK (SPX) May 01, 2015 -
What happens when lithium-ion batteries overheat and explode has been tracked inside and out for the first time by a UCL-led team using sophisticated 3D imaging. Understanding how Li-ion batteries fail and potentially cause a dangerous chain reaction of events is important for improving their design to make them safer to use and transport, say the scientists behind the study.
Hundreds of m ...
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Game theory elucidates the collective behavior of bosons
Munich, Germany (SPX) May 01, 2015 -
Quantum particles behave in strange ways and are often difficult to study experimentally. Using mathematical methods drawn from game theory, physicists of Ludwig-Maximilias-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have shown how bosons, which like to enter the same state, can form multiple groups.
When scientists explore the mysterious behavior of quantum particles, they soon reach the limits of prese ...
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Chemists strike nano-gold with 4 new atomic structures
Lincoln NE (SPX) May 01, 2015 -
Arranging gold, atomic staples and electron volts, chemists have drafted new nanoscale blueprints for low-energy structure capable of housing pharmaceuticals and oxygen atoms. Led by University of Nebraska-Lincoln chemistry professor Xiao Cheng Zeng, and former UNL visiting professor Yi Gao, new research has revealed four atomic arrangements of a gold nanoparticle cluster.
The arrangements ...
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New technique for exploring structural dynamics of nanoworld
Washington DC (SPX) May 01, 2015 -
A new technique for visualizing the rapidly changing electronic structures of atomic-scale materials as they twist, tumble and traipse across the nanoworld is taking shape at the California Institute of Technology. There, researchers have for the first time successfully combined two existing methods to visualize the structural dynamics of a thin film of graphite.
Described this week in the ...
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Making robots more human
Washington DC (SPX) May 01, 2015 -
Most people are naturally adept at reading facial expressions - from smiling and frowning to brow-furrowing and eye-rolling - to tell what others are feeling. Now scientists have developed ultra-sensitive, wearable sensors that can do the same thing. Their technology, reported in the journal ACS Nano, could help robot developers make their machines more human.
Nae-Eung Lee and colleagues n ...
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Research pinpoints defects in popular perovskites
Seattle WA (SPX) May 01, 2015 -
One of the fastest-growing areas of solar energy research is with materials called perovskites. These promising light harvesters could revolutionize the solar and electronics industries because they show potential to convert sunlight into electricity more efficiently and less expensively than today's silicon-based semiconductors.
These superefficient crystal structures have taken the scien ...
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Telsa unveils battery to 'transform energy infrastructure'
Los Angeles (AFP) May 1, 2015 -
Electric car pioneer Telsa Motors unveiled a "home battery" Thursday which its founder Elon Musk said would help change the "entire energy infrastructure of the world."
The Tesla Powerwall can store power from solar panels, from the electricity grid at night when it is typically cheaper, and provide a secure backup in the case of a power outage.
In theory the device, which typically woul ...
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