Efficiency boost makes solar cells more affordable Solar energy could become more affordable following a breakthrough by UNSW scientists, who have boosted the efficiency of solar cell technology. view more (2007-05-03)
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)
New Study Sheds Light on the Growing U.S. Wind Power Market For the fourth consecutive year, the U.S. was home to the fastest-growing wind power market in the world in 2008, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Energy and prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). view more (2009-07-20)
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)
Meteorite grains divulge Earth's cosmic roots The interstellar stuff that became incorporated into the planets and life on Earth has younger cosmic roots than theories predict. view more (2009-06-16)
Mathematics, Physics And Engineering: Philosophical Transactions A Triennial Issue Four highlighted papers from this issue (full contents listed below): Solar Sailing: mission applications and engineering challenges by Dr CR McInnes Solar sailing is emerging as promising form of advanced spacecraft propulsion that can enable exciting new space science mission concepts. Solar sails exploit the momentum transported by solar... view more... (2003-10-30)
Solar loops spring into view Huge loops of very hot gas rising above the Sun`s surface vibrate with enormous energy at times of solar storms. This is the latest surprise from ESA`s flotilla of spacecraft - SOHO, Ulysses and the four Cluster satellites - with which scientists are trying to make sense of how disturbances on the Sun affect the Earth. As reported today at a... view more... (2002-06-13)
How Special Is The Solar System? On the evidence to date, our solar system could be fundamentally different from the majority of planetary systems around stars because it formed in a different way. If that is the case, Earth-like planets will be very rare. After examining the properties of the 100 or so known extrasolar planetary systems and assessing two ways in which planets... view more... (2004-08-03)
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)
NJIT professor says certain home shapes and roofs hold up best in hurricane Certain home shapes and roof types can better resist high winds and hurricanes, according to a researcher at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). view more (2007-06-20)
A Colorful Approach to Solar Energy Revisiting a once-abandoned technique, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have successfully created a sophisticated, yet affordable, method to turn ordinary glass into a high-tech solar concentrator. view more (2008-07-11)
Solar energy: Charged for the future Once regarded as costly and impractical, solar technology is now poised to play a larger role in the future, thanks to new developments that could result in lower costs and improved efficiency. view more (2006-09-11)
ESA develops a smarter way to travel through space As scientists demand more from space missions travelling to other worlds and beyond, traditional rocket technologies are beginning to show shortcomings. In response, ESA are helping to develop a new type of rocket engine, known as solar-electric propulsion, or more commonly, an ion engine, that can mark a whole new era of space exploration.... view more... (2002-06-11)
Stable silicon layer makes flat-panel display cheaper In a joint project between the Technology Foundation STW and the energy agency Novem at Utrecht University, researchers have developed new silicon layers which are more stable and cheaper than the present amorphous silicon layers. The electronic properties of the present layers in laptop screens and solar cells deteriorate if the material is under... view more... (2002-03-18)
Dust-enshrouded star looks similar to our sun Astronomers report tremendous quantities of warm dusty debris surrounding a star with luminosity and mass similar to the sun's, but located 300 light-years from Earth. view more (2005-07-21)
Extreme Winds Rule Exoplanet's Weather Supersonic winds more than six times faster than those on Jupiter are blasting through the atmosphere of a Jupiter-sized planet 60 light years away, say scientists who've analyzed results from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. view more (2007-05-10)
Vision of European children on sustainability The world's fastest solar car Nuna 2 will travel through Europe from May 29th untill June 11th: 6500 kilometres from Greece to Portugal, through Western Europe. Never before has a car driven this distance without using a single drop of fuel. Nuna 2 was designed and built by Dutch students and it features the newest in technology to make it as... view more... (2004-05-11)
Caltech scientists discover mechanism for wind detection in fruit flies Tiny, lightweight fruit flies need to know when it's windy out so they can steady themselves and avoid being knocked off their feet or blown off course. But how do they figure out that it's time to hunker down? view more (2009-03-13)
Trade-offs reveal no clear favorites in alternative energy market The nuclear power industry is riding the green wave back into public favor with its promise of a low-carbon solution to our growing energy needs. But even as the industry struggles to dictate what role nuclear can realistically play, it is bound by a global energy landscape-from solar to carbon sequestration-that is still predominantly shaped by... view more... (2007-09-12)
Has SOHO ended a 30-year quest for solar ripples? The ESA-NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) may have glimpsed long-sought oscillations on the Sun's surface. The data will reveal details about the very core of our central star and it contains clues as to how the Sun formed, 4.6 billion years ago. view more (2007-05-04)
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