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.
NIST method improves timing in oscilloscopes
A new method for correcting common timing errors in high-speed oscilloscopes has been developed by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The method improves the accuracy and clarity of measurements performed in the development and troubleshooting of components for wireless and optical communications, military radar and other technologies.
Oscilloscopes display graphical representations of electrical and optical signals as waves, showing how the
Making the big step from electronics to photonics by modulating a beam of light with electricity
Much of our electronics could soon be replaced by photonics, in which beams of light flitting through microscopic channels on a silicon chip replace electrons in wires. Photonic chips would carry more data, use less power and work smoothly with fiber-optic communications systems. The trick is to get electronics and photonics to talk to each other.Now Cornell University researchers have taken a major step forward in bridging this communication gap by developing a silicon device that allows an el
Scientists develop novel multi-color light-emitting diodes
A team of University of California scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed the first completely inorganic, multi-color light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on colloidal quantum dots encapsulated in a gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor. The work represents a new “hybrid” approach to the development of solid-state lighting. Solid-state lighting offers the advantages of reduced operating expenses, lower energy consumption and more reliable performance.
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Deeply held values fuel debate over offshore wind power
Wind farms are nothing new to some parts of the United States, where tall, white wind turbines with their giant propellers tower over the landscape, generating electricity with every sweep of their blades.
Now these windmills may be coming to an ocean near you — but not without significant public debate and navigation of a “hodgepodge” of regulations, according to recent University of Delaware research.
Willett Kempton and Jeremy Firestone, in the Marine Policy Program a
Simple but seminal: Cornell researchers build a robot that can reproduce
One of the dreams of both science fiction writers and practical robot builders has been realized, at least on a simple level: Cornell University researchers have created a machine that can build copies of itself.
Admittedly the machine is just a proof of concept — it performs no useful function except to self-replicate — but the basic principle could be extended to create robots that could replicate or at least repair themselves while working in space or in hazardous environ
Robot walks, balances like a human
If you nudge this robot, it steps forward and catches its balance—much like a human
The machine called RABBIT, which resembles a high-tech Tin Man from “The Wizard of Oz,” minus the arms, was developed by University of Michigan and French scientists over six years. It’s the first known robot to walk and balance like a human, and late last year, researchers succeeded in making RABBIT run for six steps. It has been able to walk gracefully for the past 18 months.
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