Wind Solar Farms Effect On Local Climate

Soon we may not have to rely on fossil fuels as renewable energy is coming to the fore. As a result of the Paris Agreement, the push is surging forward, and it is expected that wind farms and solar power plants will be appearing across the globe.

There is a lot of debate surrounding wind farms as although it is accepted, they are an excellent source of energy. There is a problem when it comes to reliability. They are seen as ugly and of no use if the wind is not strong. There is another concern and that is the effect on the surrounding areas when the wind path has been altered.

Environmental Research Letters has published a study showing that there is an effect on the earth below a land-based wind farm is warmer than it would be without it. When the farm is offshore, however, there is not an adverse effect when it comes to ecology.

Professor Stephen Mobbs at the University of Leeds has told the BBC that there had been concerns about the effects wind farms could have on the surrounding area, but because there was not any concrete evidence, they set out to get the facts. Scottish wind farm Black Law has been working since 2005 and is the farm chosen to be researched.

Temperature and humidity sensors were put in place, and the microclimate was monitored. The use of the turbines did heat the ground around them, but not to a problematic degree. Even the effect on plants was negligible.

Feature photo: Alphacoders / xGhostx

Carbyne Will Replace Graphene as the Strongest Substance

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Mehmet Hatipoglu

Carbyne is being tipped to replace graphene as the strongest substance that has been invented. The University of Vienna has a team who has successfully produced a stable form of carbyne, and it is 40 times tougher than diamond and has double the tensile properties of graphene.

It was back in 1885 that the idea of carbyne started, but until now it has only been possible to produce it either as a computer copy or in very short pieces because it is unstable. There is a new method of production being used and it is successful. Graphene is being used to protect the carbyne and at present there has been a piece that was 6,400 atoms long, and this piece stayed stable.

Carbyne Will Replace Graphene as the Strongest Substance — Breakthrough technique: The super-strong carbyne was produced inside double-walled graphene nanotubes to keep it stable.Lei Shi / University of Vienna

The journal Nature Materials revealed the latest results and went on to explain that this method would make it possible to produce in bulk. It is being seen as an incredible breakthrough and according to Lei Shi who was part of the team involved, it is the pinnacle of 1D carbon allotropes.

The results mean that bulk production is a reality, and this forerunner has been a significant breakthrough. At the moment, it is not even possible to see carbyne just by using the eyes, but as time goes on it will make a significant difference in construction and mechanics. It is also a great conductor of electricity and will be found in various nanoelectronics devices and household gadgets in the future.

China Will build its First Maritime Nuclear Power Platform

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Mehmet Hatipoglu

It could be the end of fossil fuels as the renewable fuel, and nuclear energy is looking to take over. Renewable plants are shooting up, but unlike others, not on the land but out at sea. The two countries building the largest plants are Scotland with a floating wind farm and Japan with the largest floating solar farm. China has now brought itself into the mix as they are arranging to construct up to 20 nuclear power stations that will float in the South China Sea.

Tech Xplore states that plans in China are civilian in nature according to the government, and the intention is to provide a stream of nuclear power for projects offshore. Airstrips are in place in the sea, so it is possible to send the power to aid military construction efforts. Director of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation has said that nuclear power is a growing trend, and so is the building of platforms to produce it.

China Will build its First Maritime Nuclear Power Platform — China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, is planning to build a fleet of the vessels to provide electricity to remote locations including offshore oil platforms and the contentious man-made islands.

There are other plans for the power plant, and this is a source of energy for desalinization plants and oilfield exploration rigs that are based offshore. The advantage of nuclear over renewable energy is that the weather does not affect the production of nuclear power.

The schemes are not without controversy and a major one surround the ownership of the areas being used. Countries surrounding the plants believe that China should not use some of the lands and are just trying to reclaim parts of the South China Sea. It is expected that the problems will increase rather than subside.

A New Way to Produce More Efficient Solar Cells

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Mehmet Hatipoglu

There has been a wall hit when it comes to the improvement of solar cell efficiency, and this is despite the fact that a great deal of detailed research has taken place. As it seems that the end of the road has been reached, Spiro-OMeTAD may soon be replaced by an alternative can be found.

According to Science Advances, it seems that there is still life in Spiro-OMeTAD and scientists have managed to grow a single crystal of it and have made an amazing discovery. When shown as glass, the hole mobility is three orders of magnitude better than when it is formed as a thin film. This is the way it is being used in solar cells. Osman Bakr at King Abdullah University believes this is a breakthrough for perovskite by showing its potential, and the search for an alternative can be put on hold.

A New Way to Produce More Efficient Solar Cells — Schematic diagram of the crystallisation process.

New studies show that be adding an antisolvent to dissolved Spiro-OMeTAD, the vapour rises, and eventually the solution crystallizes. The results have been better than expected, and while it is being carried out on a small scale, there are hopes that further research will allow more efficient solar cells to be produced.

Although Spiro-OMeTAD has played a larger role in cells, the crystal structure is a discovery. Once scientists understood the molecular packing, they were able to move on to its electronic structure and map its charge hopping pathways. It has been an important discovery when it comes to solar cell engineering.

Volkswagen and Shell Try to Block Tesla and Others to Entering the EU Market

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Mehmet Hatipoglu

Shell and VW are claiming that biofuels are the way to green the industry, not electric cars. As a result of the Paris summit, two new fuel efficiency targets have been set – 1 for 2025 the other for 2030. Executives of the two companies are claiming that CO2 labeling and emissions trading systems will be more effective.

EU sources claim that this would prevent real action on car emissions for more than the next ten years. VW head of research Ulrich Eichhorn claims that the current use of electric cars are nothing more than stepping stones whereas biofuels are needed in large numbers. He added that natural gas and diesel will be required until 2020 to meet CO2 targets, and they will be needed to a lesser degree after that.

Roland Berge, the author of The Auto Fuels Coalition, is pessimistic when it comes to the cost of being fuel efficient but also very optimistic regarding greenhouse gas emissions. Some biofuels are three times as dirty as diesel. An EU source was a little cynical about the study, saying that it was evident what the results would be as soon as you knew who was paying for the research.

Recent declarations from Saudi Arabia show that they intend to stop depending upon oil as early as 2030. Colin Crookes at Shell, however, believes that liquid fuel will be needed for the foreseeable future. He goes on to insist that government finance will be required to support new fuels.

Story Via; The Guardian

Engineers Developed an Optical Sensor That is Capable of Detecting Cancer

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Andrew Thomas

Engineers and physicists based at Case Western Reserve University based in Cleveland Ohio have developed an optical sensor that is capable of detecting cancer, and the metamaterials are a million times more sensitive than ones from the past meaning that soon it will be possible to detect cancer at an early stage. It is a small device and once in use, oncologists will be able to find a molecule produced by cancer cells. Not only will detection be quicker, but clearly treatment and a plan of resistance.

Nature Materials journal describes how the nano-sensor appears to be a biological sieve and can isolate the molecule of protein even if it weighs an incredible small weight. It is also helped that diseases other than cancer will be detected and worked upon as well as cancer. A Physics professor from Case Western Reserve explained that the main benefit is the fact that the cancers can be detected while they still weigh very little and usually would have been overlooked when other methods have been used. As yet doctors do not know how much earlier they will be able to find cancer, but even a short time earlier will help to save lives.

Engineers Developed an Optical Sensor That is Capable of Detecting Cancer — The researchers used nanostructured metamaterials 1 million times more sensitive than previous versions, enabling an early detection system for cancer.

More than 575,000 people die of cancer, and more than 1.5 million people are diagnosed with cancer per year in the US.

The researchers now need to find out the difference between specific molecules and they will start with biomarkers for the different types of cancer and they will do this by finding the variations in their light shifts. Oncologists across the world will soon test the equipment, and soon it should appear in clinics.

Story Via; Medicalnewstoday / Feature Photo; Flickr-euthman

This New Therapy Can Be Cure of Blindness, Parkinson and Schizophrenia

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Andrew Thomas

Optogenetics is the name given to a process that has just been carried out on a blind lady in Texas. She suffers from pigmentosa which is a disease that kills off the retinas light sensitive cells. If the trials are successful, the light sensing cells will be created again, and sight will be restored.

The ganglion cells in the lady’s eyes will be made light sensitive, and this is as a result of DNA from algae that is light sensitive itself being injected into her eye. There is hope that if this is successful, it could be used to treat Schizophrenia and Parkinson’s.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research neuroscientist Todd Sherer finds this fascinating as it is so easy to work on the eye due its accessibility. The eye that had already been treated is going to be monitored for the next year, and there could be another three doses of the therapy given. There will also be checks for side effects.

Perfect vision is not expected, but there should be some vision. The hope is that they will know someone is near them or being able to get across the street. The trial is ongoing, and 14 additional patients involved, and they will not just be people who do not have a lot of vision, but some who are profoundly blind and do not have light sensitivity. Dr. Birch, who carried out the first treatment, tells the future patients they are pioneers and are taking a big step forward but without guarantees.

Featured Photo; Reddit.com

NASA Invests Into Solar Electric Propulsion For Space Exploration

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Mehmet Hatipoglu

NASA Invests Into Solar Electric Propulsion For Space Exploration

Aerojet Rocket has been selected by NASA to develop a Solar Electric Propulsion system and the project is worth $67m. It will be used for robotic missions when travelling to an asteroid and other journeys connected to the Mars programme.

The normal system used to send rockets outside the Earth’s atmosphere is chemical propulsion, but here there is less of a thrust but less fuel is used and thrust lasts longer. The vacuum of space is the ideal place to use SEP, especially as when the spacecraft is expected to be on the mission for a long period of time.

Solar energy is turned into electricity ad this is how the thrust occurs. This form of technology has been on NASA’s radar since the 1950s and the Dawn spacecraft uses it while it is orbiting Ceres the dwarf planet and a couple of other extra-terrestrial bodies. Thrust capacity will hopefully be doubled and also, fuel efficiency should be 10 times the chemical propulsion amount.

The contract is to last for 36 months and covers the building, testing and delivering the scheme with the ultimate hope being the delivery of 4 electrical propulsion units that are capable of flying in space. Steve Jurczyk has said that these tests will lead the way for solar electric propulsion on display and this should happen by the end of the decade. NASA is making an overall push to take forward the SEP. The largest tests will be carried out on SEP systems with eventual use to be on a mission in the 2020’s.

Germans Are Getting Scared of Tesla

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Mehmet Hatipoglu

There were plenty of critics around when the Tesla Model S launched four years ago, despite the fact that it was a luxury all-electric sedan. A lot were German and manufacturers of luxury cars, so were happy to decide the American vehicle was not going to succeed. The vehicle, however, was acclaimed a success by the public, and a great many were sold and as a result, there is now a completely different view of it.

Later on, Tesla received almost 400,000 reservations when the Model 3 Sedan was announced, and there is the expectation that this will take away sales from the likes of Audi and BMW- the very companies who were so critical when it first appeared on the scene.

Germans Are Getting Scared of Tesla

According to the New York Times, the manufacturers are getting concerned about the effect Tesla will have on their sales. Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche has said that Tesla made a lot of promises at the beginning but managed to live up to them. The German companies are to produce a version of their own electric and hybrid models after Tesla outsold them in their country.

At present, there are only short range cars available from German manufacturers, and this is affecting sales and is another kick or the industry after the recent diesel issue with VW. Shareholders have made their feelings known to Daimler executives although it was pointed out Tesla makes a loss, and Daimler shareholders would not accept that.

The hope for German companies is that their vehicles come out before the Tesla model goes into production.

ISS’ Inflatable Pod Hotels; No Pool but Great View

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Mehmet Hatipoglu

An inflatable pod has been attached the International Space Station, and it seems that space hotels could one day be a reality. It will be in place for two years, and its safety will be monitored. It needs to cope with radiation, debris from space and various temperatures. They can also be used as labs for crews traveling to the Moon or Mars. If successful they could become the location of the first people to live away from Earth and be forerunners of the Mars or Moon colonies.

Robert Bigelow founder of Bigelow Aerospace has launched pods before, but humans have never lived in them. He was fascinated by space as a child and aimed to make enough money to allow him to hire the scientists he needed so that he could launch a space program. His Budget Suites of America chain of hotels has provided the millions needed to fund the research, and a NASA administrator believes the pods will take over from the ISS.

ISS' Inflatable Pod Hotels; No Pool but Great View

A few weeks after being put in place, astronauts will start to visit from the ISS, and this will be about eight times a year. They will check radiation, pressure, and temperature as well as the structure.

It is designed to deflate slowly rather than burst if there is a puncture and as there will not be windows, torches must be taken every time a visit is made.

When the two-year experiment is finished, it will be detached from the ISS and will be destroyed when it enters the Earth’s atmosphere.

Story Via; Telegraph.co.uk

ISS' Inflatable Pod Hotels; No Pool but Great View

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