Nanomaterials could double efficiency of solar cells by converting waste heat into usable energy
An experimental solar cell created by MIT researchers could massively increase the amount of power generated by a given area of panels, while simultaneously reducing the amount of waste heat. Even better, it sounds super cool when scientists talk about it: “with our own unoptimized geometry, we in fact could break the Shockley-Queisser limit.” The Shockley-Queisser limit, which is definitely not made up, is the theoretical maximum efficiency of a solar cell, and it’s somewhere around 32 percen..>> view originalSuperflares on the Sun May Have Provided Warmth for Life to Develop on Earth, Study Says | The Weather Channel
The building blocks for life on Earth were likely made possible by superflares from a young sun, a new NASA study has found.The findings, published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, used observations from NASA's exoplanet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope. In studying the data, scientists learned that younger stars, similar to the sun billions of years ago, shoot out flares and coronal mass ejections far more often than older stars.The flares that came from our sun were responsible for break..>> view originalBreakdown of Biodegradable Plastics in Ocean 'Extremely Slow,' UN Report Says
The rate at which the biodegradation of plastics in the ocean is difficult to estimate but is considered to be "extremely slow," according to a new report by the United Nations. 0 Shares. Email. Biodegradable plastics, often found in bottles and ...>> view originalSquid Are Thriving While Fish Decline
Photo Population numbers of cephalopods like this giant Australian cuttlefish from Spencer Gulf, South Australia, have been increasing in the past 60 years. Credit Scott Portelli The squids are all right — as are their cephalopod cousins the cuttlefish and octopus.In the same waters where fish have faced serious declines, the tentacled trio is thriving, according to a study published Monday.“Cephalopods have increased in the world’s oceans over the last six decades,” Zo..>> view originalSpace-craft: NASA offers origami model of space station's expandable habitat
May 25, 2016 — NASA's plan to expand an experimental inflatable module on board the International Space Station this week has given rise to a new "space-craft." The space agency has created "origaBEAMi," a print, fold and inflate-it-yourself miniature paper model of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM). The real BEAM was launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule in April and is scheduled to be deployed to its full-size Thursday morning (May 26). Aboard the orbiting outpost, NASA astronaut..>> view originalWhy Antarctic Sea Ice Isn't Shrinking
Even as the extent and thickness of sea ice in the Arctic plunges to ever-lower levels, the seasonal sea ice that encircles the frozen continent of Antarctica has stubbornly refused to follow suit. In fact, if anything, the trend is slightly in the other direction. The years 2012 to 2014 saw record highs in Antarctic wintertime sea ice extent, before a return to average levels in 2015. This is despite the fact that water temperatures in the Southern Ocean have been increasing. Scientists have p..>> view originalLight Bending Trick Reveals Supremely Old, Faint Galaxy
The triple-imaged galaxy as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. The peaks along the same wavelength reveal that they come from the same source. Credit: Bradac/HST/W. M. Keck Observatory By looking far, far out into the universe, it is possible to see some of the earliest galaxies to ever form. Now, scientists have spotted a very early galaxy that's the faintest they have ever seen. The first galaxies to ever form in the cosmos lie far from the Milky Way (due to the expansion of the un..>> view originalHow Nile Crocodiles Are Bigger and Badder Than Alligators
With toothy jaws and a long scaly tail, Florida's newest invader may look like its American cousins—but that's where the similarities end. The Nile crocodile—four of which have been found in the state's swamps since 2000—are more dangerous than the native crocodiles and alligators, scientists say. The second largest living crocodilian, the Nile can reach 20 feet (six meters) in length and take down everything from hippos to humans. It has a reputation in its native Africa for being a man-e..>> view originalScience|How Big Are Those Killer Asteroids? A Critic Says NASA Doesn't Know.
During his paleontological endeavors — another hobby — he challenged research by a Florida State University professor, Gregory M. Erickson, about the growth rates of dinosaurs. In a 2013 paper, Dr. Myhrvold described the perceived statistical wrongs and stopped just short of accusing Dr. Erickson of manipulating the data.Corrections have been appended to several of Dr. Erickson’s papers, including two in Nature. Dr. Erickson and his colleagues maintain that the mistakes did not alter their conc..>> view original
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Nanomaterials could double efficiency of solar cells by converting waste heat into usable energy and other top stories.
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