Tech

Solar cells, light emitting diodes, displays and other electronic devices could get a bump in performance because of a discovery at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory that establishes new boundaries for controlling band gaps.

While complex transition metal oxides have for years held great promise for a variety of information and energy applications, the challenge has been to devise a method to reduce band gaps of those insulators without compromising the material's useful physical properties.

PHILADELPHIA (February 21, 2012) — Seven adult-sized humanoid robots took the stage during Drexel University's celebration of National Engineers Week, in a first-of-its-kind assembly of robotic technology. A showcase event on Feb. 20 introduced all seven of the Korean HUBO robots to the community. Their presence -together in one place- is a unique event that serves as a key milestone for a nationwide, collaborative robotics research effort funded by the National Science Foundation.

DURHAM N.C. -- Randomness and chaos in nature, as it turns out, can be a good thing – especially if you are trying to harvest energy from the movements of everyday activities like walking.

Duke University engineers believe they have come up with the theoretical underpinning that could lead to the development of energy harvesting devices that are not only more versatile than those in use today, but should be able to wring out more electricity from the motions of life.

Champaign, IL – February 21, 2012 – Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have identified a new contender in the bioenergy race: a temperate and tropical maize hybrid. Their findings, published in GCB Bioenergy, show that the maize hybrid is potentially capable of producing ethanol from biomass (plant material used for biofuel production) at levels equal to or greater than ethanol produced from grain harvested from current commercial maize hybrids.

PHILADELPHIA (February 20, 2012)— Researchers at Drexel University are bringing the latest technological advancements in 3-D printing to the study of ancient life. Using scale models of real fossils, for the first time, they will be able to test hypotheses about how dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals moved and lived in their environments.

Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have identified a new contender in the bioenergy race: a temperate and tropical maize hybrid. Their findings, published in GCB Bioenergy, show that the maize hybrid is potentially capable of producing ethanol from biomass (plant material used for biofuel production) at levels equal to or greater than ethanol produced from grain harvested from current commercial maize hybrids.

A growing world population, mixed with the threat of climate change and mounting financial problems, has prompted University of British Columbia researchers to measure the overall 'health' of 152 countries around the world.

Encompassing both economic and ecological security, high-income countries were ranked among the least healthy overall. Many countries in South America performed well, offering future generations better financial, food, water, and energy security.

Cuttlefish have the most acute polarization vision yet found in any animal, researchers at the University of Bristol have discovered by showing them movies on a modified LCD computer screen to test their eyesight.

Cuttlefish and their colourblind cousins, squid and octopus, see aspects of light – including polarized light – that are invisible to humans, giving them a covert communication channel. The Bristol study, published today in Current Biology found that cuttlefish were much more sensitive to polarization than previously thought.

New research, published by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), takes a significant step towards changing the international definition of the kilogram – which is currently based on a lump of platinum-iridium kept in Paris. NPL has produced technology capable of accurate measurements of Planck's constant, the final piece of the puzzle in moving from a physical object to a kilogram based on fundamental constants of nature. The techniques are described in a paper published in Metrologia on the 20th February.

KANSAS CITY, MO – In a standard biology textbook, cells tend to look more or less the same from all sides. But in real life cells have fronts and backs, tops and bottoms, and they orient many of their structures according to this polarity explaining, for example, why yeast cells bud at one end and not the other.

Vancouver, B.C. (Wednesday, February 15, 2012) – Your smart phone uses broadband to connect you to the world. But when charging it, you're relying on an electrical system that was designed and built in the era of the rotary phone.

Because these systems are becoming outdated, too much electricity is slipping between our fingers, even as politicians highlight the need for "energy security". Plus, generating power to keep up with increasing demand is getting harder because communities oppose new plants in their backyard.

AUSTIN, Texas — Intersections of the future will not need stop lights or stop signs, but will look like a somewhat chaotic flow of driverless, autonomous cars slipping past one another as they are managed by a virtual traffic controller, says computer scientist Peter Stone.

"A future where sitting in the backseat of the car reading our newspaper while it drives us effortlessly through city streets and intersections is not that far away," says Stone, a professor of computer science at The University of Texas at Austin.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — If the increased use of biomass to produce alternative fuels is to become a reality, more attention needs to be paid to logistics – how, for example, biomass raw materials are shipped from farm to refinery, as well as the development of better ways of preparing the products for shipping.

The world is moving from a hydrocarbon economy to a carbohydrate economy, according to University of British Columbia biofuel expert Jack Saddler. He is presenting his work at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver on Feb. 17.

With the global demand for energy continuing to grow, the biofuels industry will emerge as an economically and environmentally sustainable solution, he says.

• The artificial 'leaf'
• 'Turbocharging' photosynthesis
• Capturing 'wasted' solar energy

Improving natural photosynthesis to make new fuels and boost crop production is the focus of Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) funded research presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting today. It could see us one step closer to bottling the sun's energy or turbocharging plants to produce bumper crops.