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Brownfields May Turn Green
Kurt Thelen, MSU professor of crop and soil sciences, is leading the investigation to examine the possibility that some oilseed crops like soybeans, sunflower and canola, and other crops such as corn and switchgrass, can be grown on abandoned industrial sites for use in ethanol or biodiesel fuel production. Another partner is NextEnergy, a nonprofit organization that supports energy technology development. The results of the work conducted here might sprout similar sites across the state and nation in areas that aren't desirable for commercial or residential uses. The results also will contribute crops for biofuel production and may help clean up contaminated soils. "Right now, brownfields don't grow anything," Thelen said. "This may seem like a drop in the bucket, but we're looking at the possibilities of taking land that isn't productive and using it to both learn and produce". The project now is a two-acre parcel that is part of a former industrial dump site in Oakland County's Rose Township. Thelen's group is looking to determine if crops grown on brownfield sites can produce adequate yields to make them viable for use in biofuel production. The crops also need to produce adequate quantities of seed oil......... Posted by: Ashley Permalink Source Future Quantum Research
Or so believes Daniele Binosi of the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information in Innsbruck, Austria, and the European Centre for Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Physics and Related Areas in Trento, Italy, who has been involved in the first phase of the ERA-Pilot QIST project. "Once we can build a quantum computer, the result will be a revolution much like the initial growth in information technology. It will not be so much an evolution in processing power as a revolution. We cannot even imagine now the increase in processing power that will become available". The aims of ERA-Pilot QIST are to foster European research efforts in QIST by investigating the present status of quantum research in Europe, identifying the potential for cooperation between research groups, and making recommendations for future research and funding policy at both national and European level. Collaborating with other related projects, it is part of the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) proactive initiative in the field of Quantum Information Processing and Communication (QIPC). Since 1998, throughout FP5 and FP6 - the EU's Fifth and Sixth Framework Programmes for research, FET has funded projects in this area of research for a total of €100 million......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source Greater Bandwidth From Alternative Semiconductors
In recent years demand for greater bandwidth capacity in telecommunications, particularly for fast-growing metro networks, has been answered by using multi-wavelength transmission techniques over single fibres. Now this approach is running up against its own technological limits - an inability to use the total potential fibre bandwidth due to the lack of suitable semiconductor technology. These were the problems the IST project BigBand attempted to solve. BigBand participants aimed to develop new types of semiconductor devices and systems that could exploit the total bandwidth capability of the latest optical fibres. They focused their efforts around ultra-wideband InP 'quantum dot' technology, which has the potential to overcome the bandwidth restrictions, particularly at the longer wavelengths of 1.4-1.65 µm, of the present 'quantum well' based semiconductor materials (where particles, which were originally free to move in three dimensions, are confined to two)......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source Power, Water, And Refrigeration
Bill Lear, a UF associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, stands in front of a prototype system that provides power, water and refrigeration
Now, in a project funded by the U.S. Army, two University of Florida engineers have designed, built and successfully tested a combined power-refrigeration system that can provide all three - and, with further development, be made compact enough to fit inside a military jet or large truck. "If you're in a forward base in Iraq, it costs you the same per gallon of water as it does per gallon of fuel," said William Lear, a UF associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. "It would be better to just have to send fuel out there, particularly if you could get refrigeration and water out of it - which is what our system achieves". Lear and UF mechanical engineering professor S.A. Sherif have published several academic papers on various aspects of the system, which is being patented by UF. In November, they will present a paper discussing the system's experimental results at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition in Chicago. Both the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the military now rely on large generators to produce electricity in hazard zones. For cooling, they either haul in ice or electricity-hogging refrigerators. Depending on the location and emergency, imported fresh water may be another major logistical challenge and expense......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source Wen To Research On Gravity
Photo / MIT Department of Physics
Xiao-Gang Wen Wen is one of 30 scientists to receive funding in the inaugural round of grants awarded by the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi). FQXi, a new philanthropically funded agency, awards grants to scientists to investigate questions about the deep nature of the universe, including topics such as the fundamental constants of nature, the relationship between quantum mechanics and theories of gravity, the possible existence of other universes, time travel, extraterrestrial life and the ultimate theories of physics. "Over the past century, researchers have discovered how the universe evolved and revolutionized our understanding of the nature of space and time, matter and energy. We're delighted to help give them a crack at new big questions and to see what they find," said Max Tegmark, MIT associate professor of physics and scientific director of FQXi. The institute plans to help scientists focus on "big questions" that conventional funding sources are reluctant to support. FQXi is distributing $2 million in grants in its inaugural round. Wen will receive $94,924......... Posted by: Tyler Permalink Source Underwater Robots Work Together
The oceanographic test bed in Monterey is expected to yield rich information in particular about a periodic upwelling of cold water that occurs at this time of year near Point Año Nuevo, northwest of Monterey Bay. But the project has potentially larger implications. It may lead to the development of robot fleets that forecast ocean conditions and better protect endangered marine animals, track oil spills, and guide military operations at sea. Moreover, the mathematical system that allows the undersea robots to self-choreograph their movements in response to their environment might one day power other robotic teams that -- without human supervision -- could explore not just oceans, but deserts, rain forests and even other planets. In addition, the ability to coordinate autonomous vehicles -- a challenge inspired by the grace of bird flocks and fish schools -- may give biologists greater insight into the highly efficient behaviors of animals. The August field experiment is the centerpiece of a three-year program known as Adaptive Sampling and Prediction (ASAP), which is funded by the Office of Naval Research. The two co-leaders of ASAP are Naomi Ehrich Leonard of Princeton University and Steven Ramp of the Naval Postgraduate School......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source At An Underwater Volcano
A University of Florida geologist is among a team of geologists that is the first to observe "anthropogenic influence" in hydrothermal deposits, as per an article in the recent issue of the journal Marine Geology. Examining deposits retrieved from the site of an underwater volcano near Italy, they discovered lead that did not come from the underlying rocks or from any possible natural source in the nearby region or anywhere in Europe. Instead, they traced the lead to an Australian lead mine thousands of miles away. "I guess we can speculate that this is yet another piece of evidence of how widespread our disturbance in the environment is: the fact that we can influence natural hydrothermal systems," said George Kamenov, a faculty member at the UF geological sciences department. Hydrothermal vents form when seawater seeps through cracks in the deep ocean floor, gets heated by magma, or molten rock, then streams upward back into the sea. The vents have aroused a great deal of scientific interest since they were discovered in 1977, in part because of their remarkable appearance but mainly because they host unusual creatures and offer natural laboratories to study the formation of metal ores. Some have tall and elaborate "chimneys" formed from minerals disbursed by the hot water as it leaves the ocean floor. "Black smokers," the hottest hydrothermal vents, spew dark-looking iron and sulfide particles as they shoot up through seawater. Found throughout the world's oceans, a number of vents even harbor eyeless shrimp, giant clams and other fauna rarely seen elsewhere......... Posted by: Tyler Permalink Source 'vertically Oriented Nanoelectronics
"Verticality gives you the ability to fit more things into the same area, so you can add more and more layers while keeping the footprint the same size or smaller," Fisher said. "But before we can even think about using nanotubes in electronics, we have to learn how to put them where we want them". The engineers first created a "thin film" containing two layers of aluminum sandwiching one ultra-thin layer of iron using electron-beam evaporation, a standard process employed in the semiconductor industry. The engineers then used "anodization," a process that causes metals to oxidize - like rusting - to selectively create tiny cylindrical cavities and turn the film into a "porous anodic alumina template" less than 1/100th the width of a human hair in thickness. During the process, an electric field was used to form a precisely aligned array of nanoscopic holes, turning aluminum into porous alumina, the oxidized form of aluminum also known as aluminum oxide. A mixture of hydrogen and methane gas was then flowed into the template's holes, and microwave energy was applied to break down the methane, which contains carbon. The iron layer acted as a catalyst that prompted the carbon nanotubes to assemble from carbon originating in the methane, and the tubes then grew vertically out of the cavities......... Posted by: Kevin Permalink Source New Shuffle-lookalike UP3
LG UP3 Flat is a screen-less MP3 player but just LED indicators. It does playback MP3, WMA (DRM supported), OGG, and ASF audio. Its built-in battery allows up to 10 hours of playback continously. The dimension of UP3 Flat is 78 x 24 x 9.5mm. Conversely, UP3 Sharp comes with a OLED display. Most of the features are same as Up3 Flat, except the UP3 Sharp has only 8 hours of battery life and a dimension of 85 x 25 x 10mm. Althought it is said to be used patented fingerprint-resistant material as its case, it seems doesn't work at all. Both models are available 512MB and 1GB. They are expected to be released in the end of this July......... Posted by: Gina Permalink Source Actions ATJ2098 and Delux iShow
Meanwhile, Delux Technology is going to release a new iShow which is based on this new chip. Its features are most likely with other ATJ2097-based players, but with an 1.8? 260K colors TFT LCD. It does play video at resolution of 160 x 128. Stay tuned. We will keep you updated on this new solution......... Posted by: Gina Permalink Source |
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