ByronScott - Slashdot User

Submission + - How bad is the Gulf Coast oil spill? (al.com) 2

Submitted by Dasher42 on Monday May 03, 2010 @12:07PM

Dasher42 writes: Claims are circulating on the internet that the Coast Guard fears that the Deepwater Horizon well has sprung two extra leaks and raises fears that all control over the release of oil at the site will be lost. The oil field, one of the largest ever discovered, could release 50,000 barrels a day into the ocean, with implications for marine life around the globe that are difficult to conceive of. So, considering that losing our oceanic life with subsequent unravelling of our land-based ecosystems is a far more possible apocalyptic scenario than a killer asteroid — what do we do about it?

Submission + - Purple Pokeberries Provide Cheap Solar Power (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by separsons on Friday April 30, 2010 @10:23AM

separsons writes: Researchers at Wake Forest's Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials created a low-cost solar power system geared towards developing nations. By coating fiber-based solar cells with dye from purple pokeberries, a common weed, scientists created a cheap yet highly efficient solar system. Wake Forest researchers and their accompanying company, FiberCell Inc., are the first company to file a patent for fiber-based solar. Plastic sheets are stamped with plastic fibers, creating millions of tiny "cans" that can trap light until it is absorbed. The fibers create a huge surface area, meaning sunlight can be collected at any angle from the time the sun rises until it sets. Coating the system with pokeberry dye creates even greater absorption. Researchers say the system can produce twice as much power as traditional flat-cell technology.

Submission + - Call of Duty: Black Ops announced (gamepron.com) 1

Submitted by UgLyPuNk on Friday April 30, 2010 @09:32AM

UgLyPuNk writes: Is anyone other than Activision doing anything in the games industry these days? In amongst all the lawsuits and signings, they’ve just found the time to announce the latest in one of the world’s best-selling franchises: Call of Duty: Black Ops is due to hit shelves November 9th.

Submission + - Docs Perform First Remote Control Heart Surgery (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by ByronScott on Thursday April 29, 2010 @02:55PM

ByronScott writes: Doctors at a British hospital have just carried out the world’s first surgery using a remote controlled robot! The procedure fixed a patient’s irregular heart rhythm, and although the doctor was in the same hospital as the patient — just through the wall in another room — developers of the RC surgery technology believe this is the first step towards long-distance operations. Imagine a doctor in London performing surgery on your heart in New York!

Submission + - Japan to Launch "Ikaros," a Solar Sail Spacecraft (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by separsons on Wednesday April 28, 2010 @10:39AM

separsons writes: On May 18th, Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch Ikaros, a fuel-free spacecraft that relies completely on solar power. The spacecraft's 46-foot-wide sails are thinner than a human hair and lined with thin-film solar panels. After a rocket brings the craft to space, mission controllers on the ground will steer Ikaros by adjusting the sails' angles, ensuring optimal radiation is hitting the solar cells. If the mission proves successful, the $16-million-dollar spacecraft will be the first solar sail-powered craft to enter deep space.

Submission + - Japanese space craft brings back space rock (theage.com.au)

Submitted by phaic tan on Wednesday April 21, 2010 @08:00PM

phaic tan writes: Bridie Smith from the Sydney Morning Herald reports on the Hyabusa spacecraft returning to earth in June with samples from the Itokawa Asteroid: "A JAPANESE spacecraft will land in Australia in June, bringing with it samples from an asteroid found 300 million kilometres from Earth. The unmanned Hayabusa spacecraft, launched in May 2003, will become the first spacecraft to bring asteroid material to Earth when it lands in Woomera, South Australia, later this year."

Submission + - Cows on Treadmills Produce Clean Power for Farms (inhabitat.com) 1

Submitted by separsons on Monday April 19, 2010 @10:18AM

separsons writes: William Taylor, a farmer in Northern Ireland, recently developed the Livestock Power Mill, a treadmill for cows. Taylor uses the device to generate clean, renewable power for his farm. Cows are locked into a pen on top of a non-powered, inclined belt. The cows' walking turns the belt, which spins a gearbox to drive a generator. One cow can produce about two kilowatts of electricity, enough energy to power four milking machines. It may seem like a kooky idea, but Taylor could be onto something: According to his calculations, if the world's 1.3 billion cattle used treadmills for eight hours a day, they could provide six percent of the world's power!

Submission + - This Is Apple's Next iPhone (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 19, 2010 @10:08AM

An anonymous reader writes: There has been some speculation about it. Not anymore: 'This is Apple's next iPhone. It was found lost in a Bar in Redwood City, camouflaged to look like an iPhone 3GS. We got it. We disassembled it. It's the real thing, and here are all the details.' Judging by Gizmodo's reaction, it looks like a winner.

Submission + - Israel Blocks iPad Imports (macobserver.com)

Submitted by unixcrab on Thursday April 15, 2010 @10:02AM

unixcrab writes: Apple’s iPad is proving to be popular everywhere — except Israel. The country’s Communication Ministry is refusing to let people bring the multimedia tablet into the country because it hasn’t tested and approved the Wi-Fi technology used in the device, according to Haaretz.

Ministry officials commented, “The iPad device sold exclusively today in the United States operates at broadcast power levels [over its WiFi modem] compatible with American standards. As the Israeli regulations in the area of WiFi are similar to European standards, which are different from American standards, which permit broadcasting at lower power, therefore the broadcast levels of the device prevent approving its use in Israel.”

The government seems serious about its iPad import ban. Customs officials have already confiscated ten iPads and told their owners to ship them overseas.

Submission + - MIT Researchers Harness Viruses to Split Water (inhabitat.com) 2

Submitted by ByronScott on Monday April 12, 2010 @10:58AM

ByronScott writes: A team of researchers at MIT has just announced that they have successfully modified a virus to split apart molecules of water, paving the way for an efficient and non-energy intensive method of producing hydrogen fuel. The team engineered a common, harmless bacterial virus to assemble the components needed to crack apart a molecule of water, yielding a fourfold boost in efficiency over similar processes.

Submission + - Google preparing iPad rival? (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by dazedNconfuzed on Monday April 12, 2010 @10:38AM

dazedNconfuzed writes: 'nuff said.

Submission + - Underwater Robot Powered by Ocean's Thermal Energy (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by separsons on Friday April 09, 2010 @10:10AM

separsons writes: A team of scientists recently created world's first underwater robotic vehicle powered entirely by renewable, ocean thermal energy. Researchers from NASA, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the US Navy developed Sounding Oceanographic Lagrangrian Observer Thermal RECharging (SOLO-TREC), an autonomous robot that runs on a thermal recharging engine. The engine derives power from the natural temperature differences found at varying ocean depths. SOLO-TREC produces about 1.7 watts of energy each dive, enough to juice the robot's science instruments, GPS receiver, communication device and bouyancy control pump. SOLO-TREC is poised to revolutionize ocean monitoring: Previous robots could only spend a limited amount of time underwater because of depleting power sources. SOLO-TREC can stay beneath the surface of the waves for indefinite amounts of time. Based on SOLO-TREC's success, NASA and the US Navy plan to incorporate thermal recharging engines in next-generation submersibles.

Submission + - MIT Making Super Efficient Origami Solar Panels (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by ByronScott on Thursday April 08, 2010 @01:45PM

ByronScott writes: Could the next solar panels be in the shapes of origami cranes? They could be if MIT power engineering professor Jeffrey Grossman has his say. Standard flat solar panels are only optimized to capture sunlight at one point of the sun’s trajectory — otherwise they need automated tracking systems to follow the sun. But Grossman found that folded solar cell systems could produce constant power throughout the day sans tracking and his new designs are up to two and a half times more efficient per comparative length and width than traditional flat arrays.

Submission + - Solar-Powered Plane Makes First Successful Flight (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by lilbridge on Wednesday April 07, 2010 @10:21AM

lilbridge writes: The Solar Impulse, a solar powered plane covered in 12,000 solar cells, took its maiden flight today in Switzerland. The plane stayed aloft for 87 minutes performing test maneuvers as well as completing a successful take off and landing. With the first test flight behind them, the developers can focus on gearing up for their around the world solar powered flight set for 2012. More on Inhabitat.com

Submission + - Largest Sodium Sulfur Battery Powers Texas Town (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by separsons on Tuesday April 06, 2010 @03:57PM

separsons writes: The largest sodium sulfur battery in America, nicknamed "BOB," can provide enough electricity to power all of Presidio, Texas. Until now, the small town relied on a single, 60-year-old transmission line to connect it to the grid, so the community frequently experienced power outages. BOB, or "Big-Old Battery," began charging earlier this week. The house-sized battery can hold four megawatts of power for up to eight hours. Utilities are looking into similar-sized batteries to store power from solar and wind so that renewables can come online before the country implements a smart grid system.

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