Power and Electrical Engineering
This topic covers issues related to energy generation, conversion, transportation and consumption and how the industry is addressing the challenge of energy efficiency in general.
innovations-report provides in-depth and informative reports and articles on subjects ranging from wind energy, fuel cell technology, solar energy, geothermal energy, petroleum, gas, nuclear engineering, alternative energy and energy efficiency to fusion, hydrogen and superconductor technologies.
Improved Water Vapor Sensor Takes to the Skies
By pairing a sleek new air sampler designed at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) with a diode laser from SpectraSensors, Inc., researchers have hit on a technology that can capture highly accurate atmospheric water vapor data during routine commercial flights. The data will benefit researchers and forecasters, who need more frequent, accurate measurements at various altitudes worldwide to improve weather forecasts and monitor climate change.
Currently wate
’Plastic oil’ could improve fuel economy in cars, chemists say
Recycled plastic bottles could one day be used to lubricate your car’s engine, according to researchers at Chevron and the University of Kentucky, who in laboratory experiments converted waste plastic into lubricating oil. These polyethylene-derived oils, they say, could help improve fuel economy and reduce the frequency of oil changes.
The pilot study appears in the July 20 issue of the American Chemical Society’s peer-reviewed journal Energy & Fuels. ACS is the worl
UCI scientists use nanotechnology to create world’s fastest method for transmitting information in cell phones and computers
Demonstrating breakneck signal speed of 10 gigahertz, method uses nanotubes instead of conventional copper wires
UC Irvine scientists in The Henry Samueli School of Engineering have demonstrated for the first time that carbon nanotubes can route electrical signals on a chip faster than traditional copper or aluminum wires, at speeds of up to 10 GHz. The breakthrough could lead to faster and more efficient computers, and improved wireless network and cellular phone systems, addi
High-Tech Robot Skin
Goddard Technologist Proposes Sensitive Skin Covering for Robots
A ballerina gracefully dances on a small stage. She is followed not by a male partner, but by a robotic arm manipulator that seems to sense her every move. For NASA Goddard technologist Vladimir Lumelsky, the performance shows the future of robotics.
It also demonstrates an advanced technology that Lumelsky hopes to develop as part of the push from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. t
World-first technology enables study of ancient bacteria
Sustainable energy source could solve Bermuda Triangle riddle
Experts at Cardiff University, UK, have designed world-first technology to investigate sustainable energy sources from the ocean bed by isolating ancient high-pressure bacteria from deep sediments.
Scientists and engineers at Cardiff University are investigating bacteria from deep sediments which despite high pressures (greater than 1,000 atmospheres), gradually increasing temperatures (from an icy 2°C to over
Pollution-eating bacteria produce electricity
Microbiologists seeking ways to eliminate pollution from waterways with microbes instead discovered that some pollution-eating bacteria commonly found in freshwater ponds can generate electricity. They present their findings today at the 105th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
“The bacteria are capable of continuously generating electricity at levels that could be used to operate small electronic devices. As long as the bacteria are fed fuel they are abl