http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34280084/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/
In this article, a new form of touchscreen is discussed, which is based on circular 'coffee-stain'-like formations. These formations are caused by droplets of water or solvent with dye in them drying. The outer edge dries faster than the middle, causing currents in the water/solvent to push dye to the edge of the circle, depositing it in a ring. When this is done with silver or copper nanoparticles, the rings can conduct electricity, without them being too close together, which would make the touchscreen opaque. Using this, they can create touchscreens which are 95% transparent, and conduct electricity. The added bonus is that they can also generate a small amount of solar power, allowing the device to charge in the presence of light. It is not a very efficient charging mechanism, but it is certainly not a negative addition to the product. Apparently the touch screen industry is searching for alternatives to the current metal used to make them, so this could be a welcome addition to the lineup. In this article it describes the high electrical conductivity of these silver rings, which means they're definitely an efficient and effective means of creating new electronic touchscreen devices. This may not be a high priority technological breakthrough that will affect millions of people, such as breakthroughs in alternative methods of energy aside from fossil fuels, but it definitely is a good thing to research, because new electronics are always being developed, many of which have touchscreens. I was not able to find any information on whether this material would be any cheaper than the current metals used, but if the researchers are happy about the research, it will probably benefit consumers quite a bit, and any cheaper way to make better technology helps out the researchers and developers as well.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Journal 14 November 29
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=solar-power-costs-50-lower-than-las-2009-11
This article describes how the cost of renewable energy sources is becoming cheaper and cheaper. Solar energy should be about 50% cheaper at the end of this year than it was at the end of last year, and prices are expected to continue going down. Equipment for renewable energy sources keeps getting cheaper, and is expected to keep getting even cheaper, while the financing (which is more expensive at the moment) is also expected to get better. This obviously is great, there isn't a single bad thing about this news. As we run out of non-renewable energy sources, like fossil fuels, we're going to need to turn to renewable energy sources. This will also be better for the planet in general, since we won't be burning fossil fuels once they run out, and polluting everything. Energy sources such as solar energy don't produce hazardous waste, don't pollute, are efficient, and could produce a lot more energy than they do now if significant investments are put into them. The downside would be the space taken up by giant solar panels, windmills, et cetera. There are companies planning to put satellites into space which can harvest solar energy and beam it back to earth, though, such as the one discussed in this article. This would solve the space problem, and basically just be a win-win situation for everybody. There are other ways these renewable energy sources are moving forward, such as government incentives, which is even better, since they obviously realize that we need to move in that direction and are steadily trying to reach this goal. Hopefully with these continually decreasing costs, more power companies will invest in solar and wind energy, and we can move to cleaner, more efficient, renewable energy sources.
This article describes how the cost of renewable energy sources is becoming cheaper and cheaper. Solar energy should be about 50% cheaper at the end of this year than it was at the end of last year, and prices are expected to continue going down. Equipment for renewable energy sources keeps getting cheaper, and is expected to keep getting even cheaper, while the financing (which is more expensive at the moment) is also expected to get better. This obviously is great, there isn't a single bad thing about this news. As we run out of non-renewable energy sources, like fossil fuels, we're going to need to turn to renewable energy sources. This will also be better for the planet in general, since we won't be burning fossil fuels once they run out, and polluting everything. Energy sources such as solar energy don't produce hazardous waste, don't pollute, are efficient, and could produce a lot more energy than they do now if significant investments are put into them. The downside would be the space taken up by giant solar panels, windmills, et cetera. There are companies planning to put satellites into space which can harvest solar energy and beam it back to earth, though, such as the one discussed in this article. This would solve the space problem, and basically just be a win-win situation for everybody. There are other ways these renewable energy sources are moving forward, such as government incentives, which is even better, since they obviously realize that we need to move in that direction and are steadily trying to reach this goal. Hopefully with these continually decreasing costs, more power companies will invest in solar and wind energy, and we can move to cleaner, more efficient, renewable energy sources.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Journal 13 Nov 22
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18183-icy-moons-lakes-brim-with-hearty-soup-for-life.html
This is an article about the possibility of life developing on other masses in space, specifically Titan, a moon orbiting Saturn. There is no life currently there, but there are many liquid hydrocarbon lakes on Titan that contain a lot of acetylene, which could react with hydrogen in these lakes for added energy, and be food for cold-resistant organisms that could life in these lakes. It is -180 degrees Celsius on Titan, but life could evolve there regardless. It would definitely be interesting to witness evolution in action from our perspective, since life would start out with microorganisms. It would take millions of years for evolution to create any complex organisms, but if any type of life formed on another planet/moon and we found it, it would be an astonishingly huge discovery. So many people contemplate life in space and connecting with other forms of life that we haven't found yet, and an actual discovery of life would be huge. It would be very interesting to see how these life forms would live in such a vastly different environment, especially with temperatures being as low as they are. That would essentially change every part of an organism's physical structure, and the nutrients available to it in this environment. There probably isn't much else on Titan, since it is so cold there, but everything on Titan has to be made of some kind of elements/chemicals, all of which will interact in different ways than the stuff we're made out of does, so no one really can know how life would turn out on such a planet. The point is, though, that life could potentially develop there, and so there is direction for further space exploration in this field.
This is an article about the possibility of life developing on other masses in space, specifically Titan, a moon orbiting Saturn. There is no life currently there, but there are many liquid hydrocarbon lakes on Titan that contain a lot of acetylene, which could react with hydrogen in these lakes for added energy, and be food for cold-resistant organisms that could life in these lakes. It is -180 degrees Celsius on Titan, but life could evolve there regardless. It would definitely be interesting to witness evolution in action from our perspective, since life would start out with microorganisms. It would take millions of years for evolution to create any complex organisms, but if any type of life formed on another planet/moon and we found it, it would be an astonishingly huge discovery. So many people contemplate life in space and connecting with other forms of life that we haven't found yet, and an actual discovery of life would be huge. It would be very interesting to see how these life forms would live in such a vastly different environment, especially with temperatures being as low as they are. That would essentially change every part of an organism's physical structure, and the nutrients available to it in this environment. There probably isn't much else on Titan, since it is so cold there, but everything on Titan has to be made of some kind of elements/chemicals, all of which will interact in different ways than the stuff we're made out of does, so no one really can know how life would turn out on such a planet. The point is, though, that life could potentially develop there, and so there is direction for further space exploration in this field.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Journal 12 November 15
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33918160/ns/technology_and_science-space/
Water was found on the moon at the lunar south pole in the form of ice. Not a whole lot, the article says there was the equivalent of 12 2 gallon buckets of ice, but there is probably more, since it is obviously possible for water to form on the moon. This is very important to space exploration. If we can actually colonize the moon, there will not only be drinking water, but the water could be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen and used in rocket fuel. If we can get rocket fuel on the moon, ships would not have to carry fuel for the return trip if they're going to and from the moon, or they could refuel on the moon if they are going further than the moon. Apparently the Obama Administration is deciding whether to continue with NASA's program to put men back on the moon by 2020, and this could be a big deciding factor. There would be a lot more work to do involved with colonizing the moon, obviously. So this whole thing would take many years to progress and implement, but it could legitimately happen. A few months ago, the signature of water was found all over the moon, as described in this article. The find was very surprising to everyone involved, but it was simply the signature of light reflected by water found in the ground on the moon. The soil would be like sand from a desert, very dry but there's still actually some water in it. Scientists were convinced as soon as they found that signature, though, that they need to go back and investigate and see what they could find, and they did and were amazed. Space exploration could become a lot more advanced within our lifetimes, and beyond that timeframe I'm sure we will continue to push further and further to explore what we've never been able to.
Water was found on the moon at the lunar south pole in the form of ice. Not a whole lot, the article says there was the equivalent of 12 2 gallon buckets of ice, but there is probably more, since it is obviously possible for water to form on the moon. This is very important to space exploration. If we can actually colonize the moon, there will not only be drinking water, but the water could be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen and used in rocket fuel. If we can get rocket fuel on the moon, ships would not have to carry fuel for the return trip if they're going to and from the moon, or they could refuel on the moon if they are going further than the moon. Apparently the Obama Administration is deciding whether to continue with NASA's program to put men back on the moon by 2020, and this could be a big deciding factor. There would be a lot more work to do involved with colonizing the moon, obviously. So this whole thing would take many years to progress and implement, but it could legitimately happen. A few months ago, the signature of water was found all over the moon, as described in this article. The find was very surprising to everyone involved, but it was simply the signature of light reflected by water found in the ground on the moon. The soil would be like sand from a desert, very dry but there's still actually some water in it. Scientists were convinced as soon as they found that signature, though, that they need to go back and investigate and see what they could find, and they did and were amazed. Space exploration could become a lot more advanced within our lifetimes, and beyond that timeframe I'm sure we will continue to push further and further to explore what we've never been able to.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Journal 11, November 8
http://www.physorg.com/news176879161.html
This article discusses the possibility that Japan will launch a space station consisting of solar energy panels to harvest energy directly from the sun, in space, where the solar energy is more powerful, and beam it down to Earth with laser beams or microwaves. It sounds like a ridiculously difficult idea to make come to life, especially the part where they actually transport materials into space and construct this multiple square kilometer solar panel. Apparently Japan has been researching this since 1998, and recently selected many technological giants to participate in the project, so hopefully research is moving along nicely in Japan. This could be a plausible solution to energy difficulties, since solar energy isn't going to run out, and if it did, we wouldn't need the energy anyway because there wouldn't be a sun. Regardless, the solar energy is more powerful in space than it is within the atmosphere, so as long as they can figure out an effective method to transport the energy from the space station back to Earth and actually make use of it, then this seems like a great idea for energy. This article describes more about the idea, and goes in depth on cost and use of the energy. The $21 billion price tag of the project is pretty high up there, but over the course of this semester I've read about a lot of other projects that cost a lot of money and are much less useful. This space station could power 294,000 homes. The Japanese plan to test a small satellite with this technology by 2015, so this could also be done in a reasonable time frame, at least for this size of project.
This article discusses the possibility that Japan will launch a space station consisting of solar energy panels to harvest energy directly from the sun, in space, where the solar energy is more powerful, and beam it down to Earth with laser beams or microwaves. It sounds like a ridiculously difficult idea to make come to life, especially the part where they actually transport materials into space and construct this multiple square kilometer solar panel. Apparently Japan has been researching this since 1998, and recently selected many technological giants to participate in the project, so hopefully research is moving along nicely in Japan. This could be a plausible solution to energy difficulties, since solar energy isn't going to run out, and if it did, we wouldn't need the energy anyway because there wouldn't be a sun. Regardless, the solar energy is more powerful in space than it is within the atmosphere, so as long as they can figure out an effective method to transport the energy from the space station back to Earth and actually make use of it, then this seems like a great idea for energy. This article describes more about the idea, and goes in depth on cost and use of the energy. The $21 billion price tag of the project is pretty high up there, but over the course of this semester I've read about a lot of other projects that cost a lot of money and are much less useful. This space station could power 294,000 homes. The Japanese plan to test a small satellite with this technology by 2015, so this could also be done in a reasonable time frame, at least for this size of project.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Journal 10 November 1
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Space/wireStory?id=8944861
I haven't heard much about Russia's space program, but they did get a head start over us, so they do have experience with space exploration. This idea could be a major landmark in space exploration, since it could potentially put a man on Mars or other places in space farther out than the moon. It is nuclear powered, though, which could be very dangerous, and is very expensive. The article mentioned that the government was urged to find the money, not just spend it, so they probably don't even have the money to fit this into their budget. Lack of funding could delay the research and development and building of the ship, but maybe they will find a way to afford it. If they could put a man on Mars, we could learn all kinds of things about space and other planets. To make it to Mars, however, the fuel and power would not be the only issues that would need to be addressed. The astronauts would need food and water for however long that journey would take, which would probably be a long time. They would also need enough food and water for the journey back to Earth, and enough power to go both ways, which is a lot of energy. The research, development, and ship itself will already be very expensive, about 17 billion rubles ($600 million), and the cost to power the ship, feed the astronauts, and provide the gear to explore space and the planets they can land on would make that number even larger. If the Russians can manage a nuclear powered ship that can land a man on Mars, then it will definitely be a huge tool for space exploration. On the other hand, it does not appear to be an idea that would be affordable.
I haven't heard much about Russia's space program, but they did get a head start over us, so they do have experience with space exploration. This idea could be a major landmark in space exploration, since it could potentially put a man on Mars or other places in space farther out than the moon. It is nuclear powered, though, which could be very dangerous, and is very expensive. The article mentioned that the government was urged to find the money, not just spend it, so they probably don't even have the money to fit this into their budget. Lack of funding could delay the research and development and building of the ship, but maybe they will find a way to afford it. If they could put a man on Mars, we could learn all kinds of things about space and other planets. To make it to Mars, however, the fuel and power would not be the only issues that would need to be addressed. The astronauts would need food and water for however long that journey would take, which would probably be a long time. They would also need enough food and water for the journey back to Earth, and enough power to go both ways, which is a lot of energy. The research, development, and ship itself will already be very expensive, about 17 billion rubles ($600 million), and the cost to power the ship, feed the astronauts, and provide the gear to explore space and the planets they can land on would make that number even larger. If the Russians can manage a nuclear powered ship that can land a man on Mars, then it will definitely be a huge tool for space exploration. On the other hand, it does not appear to be an idea that would be affordable.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Journal 9, October 25
http://www.physorg.com/news175692544.html
This article is about gene therapy, and how it has been used to help children and adults who were classified as legally blind to see. Half of the patients improved enough to no longer be considered legally blind, some with exceptional results. A child who could only see light and shadows since he was born was able to see the color of his fathers eyes, and was able to play soccer with his father. This is a great advancement in the medical field, and is important for gene therapy as well. If diseases related to the retina and eyes can be fixed with gene therapy, other diseases could be improved or cured as well, with slightly different methods. Senses are something that most people take for granted, but not everyone is able to enjoy being able to see the world around them. Being able to improve the sight of children who were born legally blind is definitely something to be celebrated. It doesn't only help children, though, adults and teenagers participated in the research as well and showed good results. The best results were in the children, but some as old as 44 participated and still showed some results. This particular disease is age-dependent, though, and if action is to be taken it is best to do so before the damage to the retina progresses beyond the point of repair. If eyes can be fixed with gene therapy, then other things can, as well, and I think this is a great use of medicine and will benefit a lot of people.
This article is about gene therapy, and how it has been used to help children and adults who were classified as legally blind to see. Half of the patients improved enough to no longer be considered legally blind, some with exceptional results. A child who could only see light and shadows since he was born was able to see the color of his fathers eyes, and was able to play soccer with his father. This is a great advancement in the medical field, and is important for gene therapy as well. If diseases related to the retina and eyes can be fixed with gene therapy, other diseases could be improved or cured as well, with slightly different methods. Senses are something that most people take for granted, but not everyone is able to enjoy being able to see the world around them. Being able to improve the sight of children who were born legally blind is definitely something to be celebrated. It doesn't only help children, though, adults and teenagers participated in the research as well and showed good results. The best results were in the children, but some as old as 44 participated and still showed some results. This particular disease is age-dependent, though, and if action is to be taken it is best to do so before the damage to the retina progresses beyond the point of repair. If eyes can be fixed with gene therapy, then other things can, as well, and I think this is a great use of medicine and will benefit a lot of people.
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