Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Quick-Cooking Nanomaterials in Microwave to Make Tomorrow's Air Conditioners

ScienceDaily (Jan. 10, 2012) — Engineering researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method for creating advanced nanomaterials that could lead to highly efficient refrigerators and cooling systems requiring no refrigerants and no moving parts. The key ingredients for this innovation are a dash of nanoscale sulfur and a normal, everyday microwave oven.

Almost 1 In 3 US Warplanes Is a Drone

Posted by samzenpus  

from the skynet-approved dept.

parallel_prankster writes"A recent Congressional Research Service report,titled U.S. Unmanned Aerial Systems, looks at the more-prominent role being played by drones. In 2005, drones made up just 5 percent of the military's aircraft. Today one in three American military aircraft is a drone. The upsides of drones being they are cheaper and safer — the military spent 92% of the aircraft procurement money on manned aircraft. The downside — they're bandwidth hogs: a single Global Hawk drone requires 500 megabytes per second worth of bandwidth, the report finds, which is 500 percent of the total bandwidth of the entire U.S. military used during the 1991 Gulf War."

Cambridge Scientists Create Huge Quantum Particles

Posted by Unknown Lamer  

from the quantum-mechanics-never-looked-so-good dept.
judgecorp writes"Researchers at Cambridge University have produced a quantum fluid thousands of times larger than previously, leading to the possibility ofpolaritons produced at lower power and at a broader temperature range. This could lead to quantum circuits, as well as applications such as more sensitive gyroscopes."

Too cute not to share...

What Does Sunset On an Alien World Look Like?

Posted by Soulskill  

from the forgot-my-camera dept.
The Bad Astronomer writes"Using real data from Hubble Space Telescope of a planet orbiting another star, exoplanetary scientist Frédéric Pont created a lovely imageof what sunset would look like from HD209458b, nicknamed Osiris, a planet 150 light years away. The Hubble data gave information on the atmospheric absorption of this hot Jupiter planet, and, coupled with models of how the atmosphere was layered, Pont was able to create a realistic looking sunset on the planet. The big surprise: the star looks green as it sets! Sodium absorption sucks out the red colors and blue is scattered away, leaving just the green hues to get through. It's a lovely application of hard scientific knowledge."

Monday, January 9, 2012

Carbon Emissions 'Will Defer Ice Age'

Posted by Soulskill  

from the not-cool dept.
Sven-Erik writes"Due to subtle variations in the Earth's orbit, researchers have calculated that the next Ice Age is due within 1,500 years. However, a new study suggests greenhouse gas emissions mean it will not happen that soon(abstract). 'Dr Skinner's group ... calculates that the atmospheric concentration of CO2 would have to fall below about 240 parts per million (ppm) before the glaciation could begin. The current level is around 390ppm. Other research groups have shown that even if emissions were shut off instantly, concentrations would remain elevated for at least 1,000 years, with enough heat stored in the oceans potentially to cause significant melting of polar ice and sea level rise.'"