Energy

SNL, Pitt discover salt’s ability to “stretch” at nano level

By / June 29, 2009

Conventional thinking says that a block of salt can’t stretch, but researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Pittsburgh are saying they aren’t so sure anymore. In an…

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Australians ready to market fire-resistant geopolymer

By / June 27, 2009

Australia’s national science agency says it has developed a new, strong fire-blocking material. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization calls the material HIPS (‘hybrid inorganic polymer system’). According to…

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Miscellaneous industry headlines

By / June 24, 2009

SCI Engineered Materials receives $1 million thin film solar order Thresher Industries selects the Cal Poly’s materials engineering program to set up testing protocol Bekaert introduces one-piece rotatable AZO target…

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VW gearing up to produce world’s most economic car

By / June 23, 2009

Volkswagen is gearing up for a limited production of the VW-1L, named for its ability to travel 100 km on 1 L of gas, or 285 mi. per gallon. A…

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Harnessing jet streams

By / June 23, 2009

Wired Magazine reported last week that 28 years of wind data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the Department of Energy have been analyzed to study geographical distributions,…

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Polymer capacitors to match Li-ion batteries?

By / June 22, 2009

New developments give hope for producing capacitors with the same energy density performance as lithium-ion batteries. Researchers at Eamex Corp. of Osaka, Japan, announced that they have produced a solid…

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Vertical-axis turbines may find a home inside transmission towers

By / June 18, 2009

Wind turbines aren’t exactly a “next generation” idea, but three French designers have introduced an innovative pairing of wind turbines and preexisting electrical-transmission towers. Architects Nicola Delon and Julien Choppin,…

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Philippines launches 10-year nano initiative

By / June 18, 2009

The online version of the Philippines-based Inquirer newspaper reported yesterday that the nation is going to attempt to jump start itself into the nanotechnology business. The publication says that the…

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Video of the week – SLAC’s X-ray laser achieves “first light”

By / June 17, 2009

Materials research got a great new tool in late April when the Linac Coherent Light Source high-energy laser came to life at the SLAC National Accelerator Lab in Menlo Park,…

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Fraunhofer making headway on transparent displays

By / June 11, 2009

A transparent laptop screen? A window as a video display? It’s long been a dream and occasionally an expensive prototype, but Fraunhofer researchers say their light-permeable conductive coatings could soon…

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