Energy & Particles : Science World Report

May 10, 2012 09:34 AM EDT

VIDEO: MIT: Magnetically Suspended 3D Ball Control System

What if materials could defy gravity, so that we could leave them suspended in mid-air? ZeroN is a physical and digital interaction element that floats and moves in space by computer-controlled magnetic levitation.

May 09, 2012 10:11 AM EDT

Quantum Dots Brighten the Future of Lighting

With the age of the incandescent light bulb fading rapidly, the holy grail of the lighting industry is to develop a highly efficient form of solid-state lighting that produces high quality white light.

May 09, 2012 08:43 AM EDT

EWiND Facility Aimed at Improvements in Wind Energy

A wind turbine and a meteorological tower recently erected on the University of Notre Dame's White Field are a highly visible symbol of the University's commitment to establish a premier wind energy research program.

May 09, 2012 08:04 AM EDT

Much Ado about Nothing - Exploring the Vacuum with the LHC

Empty space is anything but. Remove everything you can from an area of space and it will still bustle with activity. A veritable abundance of particles and all-pervasive fields fill space with energy. Empty space even weighs something. Indeed, studying 'nothing' can tell us almost everything about t...

May 08, 2012 01:07 PM EDT

KIT Researchers Succeed in Realizing a New Material Class

The Rubicon was crossed, so to speak, at the DFG Center for Functional Nanostructures (CFN) and at the Institute of Applied Physics (AP) in Karlsruhe during the past few months. Eventually, numerous three-dimensional transformation acoustics ideas, for example inaudibility cloaks, acoustic prisms or...

May 08, 2012 11:27 AM EDT

Light Touch Keeps a Grip on Delicate Nanoparticles

Using a refined technique for trapping and manipulating nanoparticles, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have extended the trapped particles' useful life more than tenfold.* This new approach, which one researcher likens to "attracting moths," promises to give ...

May 08, 2012 09:41 AM EDT

The Energy Efficient Soldier

U.S. soldiers are increasingly weighed down by batteries to power weapons, detection devices and communications equipment. So the Army Research Laboratory has awarded a University of Utah-led consortium almost $15 million to use computer simulations to help design materials for lighter-weight, energ...

May 08, 2012 09:32 AM EDT

Next-generation Nanoelectronics: A Decade of Progress, Coming Advances

Traditional silicon-based integrated circuits are found in many applications, from large data servers to cars to cell phones. Their widespread integration is due in part to the semiconductor industry's ability to continue to deliver reliable and scalable performance for decades.

May 02, 2012 04:07 PM EDT

Dog Excrement Keeps The Lights On At Arizona Park

Students from Arizona State University have come up with a novel way to reduce waste around the local dog park and cut energy costs using a "dog waste digester" -- a device that creates poo-powered electricity.

Apr 27, 2012 02:09 PM EDT

Folding Light: Wrinkles and Twists Boost Power from Solar Panels

Taking their cue from the humble leaf, researchers have used microscopic folds on the surface of photovoltaic material to significantly increase the power output of flexible, low-cost solar cells.

Apr 27, 2012 10:13 AM EDT

Bejeweled: Nanotech Gets Boost from Nanowire Decorations

Like a lead actress on the red carpet, nanowires-those superstars of nanotechnology-can be enhanced by a little jewelry, too. Not the diamonds and pearls variety, but the sort formed of sinuous chains of metal oxide or noble metal nanoparticles.

Apr 26, 2012 04:07 PM EDT

Oil Palm Surging Source of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Continued expansion of industrial-scale oil palm plantations on the island of Borneo will become a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 unless strong forest and peatland protections are enacted and enforced, according to a National Academy of Sciences study.