Solar flares set the Sun quaking
Data from the ESA/NASA spacecraft SOHO shows clearly that powerful starquakes ripple around the Sun in the wake of mighty solar flares that explode above its surface. The observations give solar physicists new insight into a long-running solar mystery and may even provide a way of studying other stars. view more (2008-04-21)
Despite Britain's weather, the sun always shines on PV
Contrary to popular opinion, Britain's weather is suited to solar power, say researchers at the University of Oxford. In an independent test of the leading types of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, they are finding out which types of solar panels work best in Britain's often dull and varied climate. Solar photovoltaic (PVs) are one of the most... view more... (2001-05-24)
Ancient diatoms lead to new technology for solar energy
Engineers at Oregon State University have discovered a way to use an ancient life form to create one of the newest technologies for solar energy, in systems that may be surprisingly simple to build compared to existing silicon-based solar cells. view more (2009-04-09)
Discovery of a satellite around the transneptunian object 1998 WW31
Alain Doressoundiram (Observatoire de Paris) and Christian Veillet (CFH Institute) have just discovered that the transneptunian object 1998 WW31 is in fact a double object. It is during their multi-color photometry and recovery of transneptunian objects program that they made this discovery. This program is carried out on the Canada-France-Hawaii... view more... (2001-05-03)
Voyager 2 Proves the Solar System is Squashed
NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft has followed its twin Voyager 1 into the solar system's final frontier, a vast region at the edge of our solar system where the solar wind runs up against the thin gas between the stars. view more (2007-12-11)
UCLA engineers pioneer affordable alternative energy-solar energy cells made of everyday plastic
Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science hope to meet the growing demand with a new and more affordable way to harness the sun's rays: using solar cell panels made out of everyday plastics. view more (2005-10-10)
New comet discovered in Canada
Rob Cardinal was looking for an asteroid, but ended up finding a comet. It is the first time a comet has been discovered at the University of Calgary's Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, which is located about 35 kilometres southwest of Calgary, and only the second Canadian discovery of a comet using a Canadian telescope in nearly a decade. view more (2008-10-15)
Looking deeply into polymer solar cells
Researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of Ulm have made the first high-resolution 3D images of the inside of a polymer solar cell. view more (2009-09-14)
Flexible Solar Strips Light Up Campus Bus Shelter
There won't be anymore waiting in the dark at this campus bus shelter. New flexible solar cell technology developed by a group of engineering researchers at McMaster University has been installed to power lighting for night-time transit users. view more (2009-06-15)
Solar-B
Solar flares are tremendous explosions on the surface of our Sun, releasing as much energy as a billion megatons of TNT in the form of radiation, high energy particles and magnetic fields. view more (2006-09-12)
NASA Calls on APL to Send a Probe to the Sun
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is sending a spacecraft closer to the sun than any probe has ever gone - and what it finds could revolutionize what we know about our star and the solar wind that influences everything in our solar system. view more (2008-05-05)
Airbag to keep windsurfer safe on 8000 km voyage
ESA PR 47-2003. Extreme sports adventurer Rapha'Ğla Le Gouvello is about to windsurf 8000 km across the Pacific Ocean - from Peru to Tahiti in 80 days. Her board incorporates a new 'anti-capsize' airbag system, the first result of an ESA technology transfer initiative to improve safety for small boats at sea. The concept is to produce a small,... view more... (2003-08-06)
Space Man Joins BBC Voyage Around The Solar System
A Kingston University space expert has been reaching out to the stars after lending his specialist knowledge to a major TV drama-documentary. Director of the University's Aerospace Research Centre Dr Chris Welch has been working with the makers of BBC One series, Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets, which hits our screens next month. The... view more... (2004-10-20)
ESA scientist discovers a way to shortlist stars that might have planets
Markus Landgraf of the European Space Agency and colleagues (*) have found the first direct evidence that a bright disc of dust surrounds our Solar System, starting beyond the orbit of Saturn. Remarkably, their discovery gives astronomers a way to determine which other stars in the Galaxy are most likely to harbour planets and allows mission... view more... (2002-02-15)
UW astronomer hits cosmic paydirt with Stardust
Scientists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston were excited and awed Tuesday by what they saw when the sample-return canister from the Stardust spacecraft was opened. view more (2006-01-19)
Tiny avalanche photodiodes target bioterrorism agents
After the anthrax attacks in the United States in 2001 the threat of a larger and more deadly bioterrorism attack - perhaps from smallpox, plague or tularemia - became very real. But the ability to detect such biological agents and rapidly contain an attack is still being developed. view more (2005-09-14)
Cosmic connections: Imperial scientist locates the origin of cosmic dust
The research, published in the journal Geology, shows that some of the cosmic dust falling to Earth comes from an ancient asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. This research improves our knowledge of the solar system, and could provide a new and inexpensive method for understanding space. view more (2008-09-03)
Jupiter: A cloudy mirror for the Sun?
Astronomers using the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton telescope have discovered that observing the giant planet Jupiter may actually give them an insight in to solar activity on the far side of the Sun! In research reported in the most recent edition of Geophysical Research Letters, they discovered that Jupiter's x-ray glow is due to x-rays... view more... (2005-03-07)
New efficiency benchmark for dye-sensitized solar cells
In a paper published online June 29 in the journal Nature Materials, EPFL professor Michael Graetzel, Shaik Zakeeruddin and colleagues from the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have achieved a record light conversion efficiency of 8.2% in solvent-free dye-sensitized solar cells. view more (2008-06-30)
'Ultra-primitive' particles found in comet dust
Dust samples collected by high-flying aircraft in the upper atmosphere have yielded an unexpectedly rich trove of relicts from the ancient cosmos, report scientists from the Carnegie Institution. view more (2009-11-03)
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