'Sailing spacecraft' may be used to keep watch on Earth's polar regionsSeptember 10th, 2009 LONDON - If engineers have their way, Earth's polar regions would soon have watchmen, in the form of 'sailing' spacecrafts poised above the planet, relaying vital data on polar climate change or solar storms. "Solar sailing" has long been a dream for space engineers, who have envisaged craft exploring the depths of the solar system, propelled only by light.
Nanoflares cause Sun's atmosphere to heat up by millions of degreesAugust 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Solar physicists at NASA have confirmed that small, sudden bursts of heat and energy, called nanoflares, cause temperatures in the thin, translucent gas of the sun's atmosphere to reach millions of degrees. The findings were presented by James Klimchuk, an astrophysicist at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland on August 6th at the International Astronomical Union General Assembly meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Scientists create multipurpose Swiss Army knife for nanomedicineJuly 28th, 2009 LONDON - By combining two nanoparticles in one tiny package, University of Washington researchers have created a Swiss Army knife of sorts for medical imaging and therapy. The multipurpose nanotechnology tool could perform wide range of medical uses - imaging tumours, carrying drugs, delivering pulses of heat.
Delhi company sells 50,000 solar goggles in two daysJuly 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The excitement of the century's longest total solar eclipse was quite evident from the sales of Gnomon Astrotech, a Delhi based firm that sold a record 50,000 solar goggles across India in just two days. The company imported a large number of solar goggles, solar filter films and telescopes from a US-based firm to meet the huge demand during the celestial spectacle.
Watching the solar eclipse through ribs and skullsJuly 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Unable to buy a solar goggle but keen on watching the century's longest solar eclipse, 25-year-old Anurag Gupta caught hold of an old x-ray scan of his chest and went to the Nehru Planetarium to have a glimpse of the celestial spectacle. Gupta was not the only one armed with an x-ray.
Asteroid-sized balls of magma may have formed Earth and its rocky siblingsJuly 21st, 2009 LONDON - A new research says that asteroid-sized balls of magma hurtled through our infant solar system, and spray from their many collisions provided much of the raw material that formed Earth and its rocky siblings. According to a report in New Scientist, this is according to a new take on an old theory that challenges the notion that the solar system started out as a placid sea of dust motes which simply clumped together to form planets.
Now, cheap, efficient, flexible solar cells made from nanopillarsJuly 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have found a new way to make cheap, efficient, and flexible solar cells by using nanopillars made of low-cost and flexible materials. The design by researchers at the U.S.
Breakthrough opens way to developing tiny bio-fuel cellsJuly 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A breakthrough in making miniscule brushes potentially opens the way to bio-fuel cells that can power pace-makers, cochlear implants and prosthetic limbs. University of Georgia (UGA) chemist Jason Locklin and graduate students Nicholas Marshall and Kyle Sontag grew polymer brushes, made up of chains of aromatic molecules sometimes used as solvents, attached to metal surfaces as ultra-thin films.
'Electronic glue' promises less expensive semiconductorsJune 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists at the University of Chicago and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed an "electronic glue" that promises development of less expensive semiconductors. The electronic glue could accelerate advances in semiconductor-based technologies, including solar cells and thermoelectric devices that convert sun light and waste heat, respectively, into useful electrical energy.
Thinnest superconducting metal layer created by physicistsJune 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Physicists at the University of Texas at Austin, US, have created a superconducting sheet of lead only two atoms thick, the thinnest superconducting metal layer ever created. Superconductors are unique because they can maintain an electrical current indefinitely with no power source.
US physicists create thinnest superconducting metalJune 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A superconducting metal sheet with just two atoms thick has been developed by physicists at the University of Texas in Austin. The university said in a statement Monday that it was the thinnest superconducting metal layer ever created.
Large-area graphene on copper may lead to faster computers, electronicsMay 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The development of large-area graphene using copper may pave the way for faster computers and electronics, according to scientists and engineers at The University of Texas at Austin. Graphene, an atom-thick layer of carbon atoms bonded to one another in a "chickenwire" arrangement of hexagons, holds great potential for nanoelectronics, including memory, logic, analog, opto-electronic devices and potentially many others.
Atmospheric engineering scheme to fight global warming could diminish solar powerApril 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has determined that a widely discussed "atmospheric engineering" scheme intended to combat global warming could have unanticipated consequences in reducing the effectiveness of certain kinds of solar power around the Earth. In the study, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Daniel M.
Indian scientists develop solar water heating system that pays for itself five times overMarch 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Indian scientists have developed a solar water heating system that will effectively pay for itself five times over, with an estimated working life of about twenty years. The solar hot water system used in the study is installed at the Jijau hostel, part of the Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Agricultural University campus, in Akola, Maharashtra state, India.
New approach helps solar cells harvest light more efficientlyDecember 23rd, 2008 WASHINGTON - Lacing solar cells with nano-sized metallic particles will vastly improve their ability to harvest light more efficiently and cheaply. Like plants, solar cells turn light into energy.
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