New Solar Cell Breaks the 40 Percent Efficient Sunlight-to-Electricity Barrier

Posted on December 6, 2006 by DrQuickbeam

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander Karsner today announced that with DOE funding, a concentrator solar cell produced by Boeing-Spectrolab has recently achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of 40.7 percent, establishing a new milestone in sunlight-to-electricity performance. This breakthrough may lead to systems with an installation cost of only $3 per watt, producing electricity at a cost of 8-10 cents per kilowatt/hour, making solar electricity a more cost-competitive and integral part of our nationï¿½s energy mix.

A page linked from Wikipedia’s article on solar energy calculates the land area that would need to be covered by solar collectors at 8% efficiency to meet the world’s energy needs (using 2003 figures). At 40% efficiency, it looks like a square 265 miles in the American southwest would accomplish the goal.

energy.gov

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The Price of Money – Selfishness

Posted on December 6, 2006 by DrQuickbeam

A series of experiments have shown that merely thinking about or looking at money changes the way people behave, causing them to be more selfish and self-sufficient.

Kathleen Vohs and colleagues, who completed the research, said that because money allows people to achieve goals without help from others, tasks that reminded the participants of money led to feelings of self sufficiency, causing them to avoid dependency and to prefer that other people weren’t dependent on them.

BPS Research

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New Evidence Suggests Liquid Water on Mars

Posted on December 6, 2006 by DrQuickbeam

Images taken by NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft suggest the presence of liquid water on the Martian surface, a tantalizing find for scientists wondering if the Red Planet ever has harbored life.

The orbiting U.S. spacecraft allowed scientists to detect changes in the walls of two Martian craters that may have been caused by the recent flow of water, a team of researchers said in a paper appearing on Wednesday in the journal Science.

reuters

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Timetable for Moon Colony Announced

Posted on December 5, 2006 by DrQuickbeam

NASA plans to permanently occupy an outpost at one of the Moon’s poles, officials announced on Monday.

The first four astronauts will land for a short visit in 2020, but it will take until at least 2024 to prepare for “a fully functional presence with rotating crews”, said Scott Horowitz, associate administrator for the exploration systems mission directorate.

It has taken NASA nearly three years to get to this point in their planning, following President George W Bush’s announcement of his “vision” for exploring the Moon and Mars).

In April 2006, representatives of NASA and 13 other space agencies met to plan themes and objectives for an exploration strategy – essentially why to return to the Moon and what to do there. (NASA videos relating to the six themes decided upon are available.)

The planned base on the Moon is now a key part of the strategy. But NASA will not be going it alone. “It is critical we have international participation and commercial participation,” says NASA deputy administrator Shana Dale, although no agreements are yet in place.

“The US will build the transportation infrastructure,” said Dale. NASA will also provide initial capabilities for communications, navigation, and operation around the base. But the US is seeking help from other countries and private corporations in other areas, including the lunar habitation modules, power, logistics and robotics.

NewScientist

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Weed Enhances Fertility of Tobacco Inhibited Sperm

Posted on December 4, 2006 by DrQuickbeam

A reproductive medicine specialist at the University at Buffalo has shown that a new compound may improve the fertility of tobacco smokers who have low sperm count and low percentage sperm motility.

The sperm from male smokers were washed with a synthetic (cannabinoid) chemical called AM-1346. After incubation, there was a doubling in the fertilizing capacity of sperm from poor quality semen, results showed.

“Human sperm carry the cholinergic receptor, which responds to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine,” noted Burkman. “Nicotine mimics acetylcholine and binds to the cholinergic receptor.” In earlier research, Burkman and colleagues also showed that human sperm contain cannabinoid receptors, which respond to marijuana, as well as natural cannabinoids occurring in the body.

“Research from other scientists indicates that the cholinergic system and the cannabinoid system naturally regulate human sperm and help prepare them for fertilizing an egg,” she said. “Our research suggests that this natural regulation is out of balance for the majority of smokers when sperm are continuously exposed to nicotine.

science blog

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China Agrees To Ban ‘Transplant Tourism’

Posted on December 4, 2006 by DrQuickbeam

Maybe the thought of bad publicity as it gears up for the 2008 summer Olympics forced China’s hand. Maybe not. Nevertheless, China finally bowed to international pressure and agreed to ban transplant tourism, the practice of treating rich westerners with “donated” organs, often taken from executed prisoners.

At a summit on transplants in Guangzhou in mid-November, the Chinese government declared: “Payments for organs and transplant tourism are not permitted”.

The declaration further specified that written consent must be obtained from donors, or from the family if the donor cannot consent. Chinese nationals will receive priority, and foreigners will only be treated under special circumstances. The declaration, which becomes law on 1 January, will severely tighten restrictions on China’s transplant surgeons, and transplant facilities will be regularly inspected to ensure compliance.

“It’s very encouraging,” says Keith Rigg, a UK surgeon based in Nottingham who attended the summit. “They’re aware there’s been a lot of bad publicity.”

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Homeland Security Assigns Terror Scores to Travelers

Posted on December 4, 2006 by DrQuickbeam

Without their knowledge, millions of Americans and foreigners crossing U.S. borders in the past four years have been assigned scores generated by U.S. government computers rating the risk that the travelers are terrorists or criminals.

The travelers are not allowed to see or directly challenge these risk assessments, which the government intends to keep on file for 40 years.

The government calls the system critical to national security following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Some privacy advocates call it one of the most intrusive and risky schemes yet mounted in the name of anti-terrorism efforts.

Virtually every person entering and leaving the United States by air, sea or land is scored by the Homeland Security Department’s Automated Targeting System, or ATS. The scores are based on ATS’ analysis of their travel records and other data, including items such as where they are from, how they paid for tickets, their motor vehicle records, past one-way travel, seating preference and what kind of meal they ordered.

cnn

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How to Shrink a Carbon Nanotube

Posted on December 4, 2006 by DrQuickbeam

A research group has devised a way to control the diameter of a carbon nanotube – down to essentially zero nanometers. This useful new ability, designed by scientists from the University of California at Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, may help carbon nanotubes become more easily incorporated into new technologies.

“One of the biggest hurdles in working with carbon nanotubes has been lack of control over their size,” said UC Berkeley physicist Tom Yuzvinsky, the study’s lead author, to PhysOrg.com. “Now that we can precisely set the diameter of carbon nanotubes, we can tailor individual nanoscale devices to meet our needs.”

The exceptional electrical and physical properties of carbon nanotubes – for example, they conduct very well and are extremely strong – have led them to become the basis of many nanoscale devices, such as sensors and transistors. But since these properties depend on the size of the nanotubes and methods to precisely control their size have been unreliable, nanotubes have not been as thoroughly incorporated into new technologies as many scientists would like.

Yuzvinsky and his colleagues have taken a significant step toward changing this.

physorg

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