Most recent 40 articles: PHYS.ORG - Technology
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Tesla, Starlink entry on agenda when Musk heads to India - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 18) |
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Apr 18 · Tech billionaire Elon Musk is set to visit India as his businesses seek new markets in the world's most populous nation, with electric carmaker Tesla - suffering a sales downturn in the United States - reportedly scouting factory locations.
Another Musk-owned business, satellite internet operator Starlink, is set to receive initial approvals to operate in India, a government source told AFP.
Also likely to be on the agenda for the self-described "free speech absolutist" is the large number of content takedown orders India's government imposes on X, the social media platform he took over in 2022.
"Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in ... Read more ...
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Amazon removed Just Walk Out from many of its own stores but wants to sell the system to others - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · Amazon wants the public and - especially other businesses - to know it's not giving up on its Just Walk Out technology.
Although the company is ditching the cashier-less checkout system at its Amazon Fresh grocery stores, it plans to sell the technology to more than 120 third-party businesses by the end of the year. Reaching that goal would double the number of non-Amazon enterprises that use Just Walk Out compared to last year.
"For us, really making sure that we can service that third-party market is the most important thing," Jon Jenkins, the vice president of Just Walk Out at Amazon, said in an interview. "We've definitely been reassuring people that we are in this ... Read more ...
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Control of temperature dependent viscosity for manufacturing of Bi-doped active fiber - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · The work could guide the development of heavily doped Bi active fibers, which exhibit great potential for application in the next-generation optical amplifiers.
Bi-dopants exhibit multi-chemical states and can transform into a deactivated state when the bulk is drawn into the fiber at high temperature, which limits the development of high-performance Bi-active fibers.
"From the viewpoint of thermodynamics, the deactivation of Bi dopants cannot be prevented during the fiber drawing process, since the Bi-active center is not the thermodynamics stable at such temperatures," said Shifeng Zhou, corresponding author on the paper and professor at the South China University of ... Read more ...
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Environment recognition technologies for off-road self-driving with improved real-time processing performance - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · Off-road environment recognition technologies for detecting extraneous substances such as dust, mud, snow, or rain during off-road autonomous driving of construction machinery, agricultural machines, and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and removing the sensor signals of these substances on a real-time basis, have been developed for the first time in Korea.
It is expected that these newly developed technologies will be applied in the future to industrial machinery such as excavators, dump trucks, and search vehicles and also to military self-driving cars, and will provide workers with a safe working environment.
Among the off-road environment recognition technologies that ... Read more ...
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How ideology is darkening the future of renewables in Alberta - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · The ideology of fossil fuels is characterized by an inability to imagine life, or progress, without petroleum products. In politics, this ideology influences the positions of left and right alike. It even encourages those on the center-left to support oil and gas while also endorsing green energy.
In Alberta, we saw this when former Premier Rachel Notley enthusiastically supported the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and increased renewable electricity production.
On the right, conservatives see in this ideology the vindication of their love of business and fossil fuel producers above all else. Project 2025, proposed by the Heritage Foundation, a leading American ... Read more ...
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New material for hydrogen storage confines this clean yet troublesome fuel - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · Finding efficient ways to confine hydrogen is crucial for integrating this promising energy carrier into the sustainable economy of the future. With proper storage technology, hydrogen could one day fuel high-temperature industrial processes and transportation, and serve for balancing supply and demand on the power grid. The study appears in Advanced Energy Materials.
Hydrogen is expected to play a major role in the future low-carbon economy. It can be produced renewably and consumed to generate electricity or heat via fuel cells or combustion. Some of the areas that stand to gain the most from hydrogen energy are steelmaking, production of glass and cement, and the chemical ... Read more ...
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Novel method proposed to design high-efficiency guest components for ternary organic solar cells - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · This work was published in Advanced Materials.
OSCs have attracted considerable attention in the field of organic electronic devices due to their light weight, good mechanical flexibility and transparency. The ternary strategy, in which a guest component is introduced into a host binary system, is considered to be one of the most effective and facile ways to achieve OSCs with excellent power conversion efficiencies (PCEs).
Various efficient guest components have been developed for binary host systems, but there is still no effective way to predict the effectiveness of guest components in improving device efficiency.
Using density functional theory calculations, the ... Read more ...
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Retro-reflectors could help future cities keep their cool - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · By outfitting building walls and roadways in dense urban centers with retro-reflective materials, which reflect most incoming light directly back to its source, the researchers found that it could be possible to reduce surface temperatures by up to 36°F, lower surrounding air temperatures by almost 5°F, and cool human skin temperatures by almost a degree Fahrenheit.
Such retro-reflective surfaces could be a key strategy for fending off urban heat in dense, high-rise cities like New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Working with collaborators from the University of Perugia in Italy, the team published their findings, including guidelines for installing retro-reflective ... Read more ...
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Cooler transformers could help electric grid - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · Transformers are aging and approaching an average of being 30 to 40 years old. Plus, they face more stress than ever before brought on by factors such as renewable energy and by extreme weather events such as hurricanes, heat waves, and winter storms. Case in point—the 2021 event in Texas that left millions powerless.
That is when University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) researchers decided to look inside grid transformers to see if they could make them better. Grid transformers are filled with copper windings, other metallic components, and cellulose-based electrical insulation like kraft paper. The cellulose insulation is a great electrical insulator essential in the ... Read more ...
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Decarbonization scenario model analyzes ambitious pathways to net-zero carbon emissions - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · Scientists are developing multiple strategies to reduce carbon emissions in, and remove them from, the atmosphere—processes known collectively as decarbonization. In fact, the holy grail of climate change research is finding viable decarbonization pathways to achieve the U.S. government's target of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.
While decarbonization pathways are complex, varied and specific to individual industries, clean-energy technologies and low- and zero-carbon fuels are integral to all carbon dioxide (CO2) mitigation strategies across the U.S. economy. And as scientists develop strategies, they are also creating tools to assess them.
Now, ... Read more ...
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High electric bills threaten California's clean future: This plan could help - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · California has some of the nation's highest electricity rates, and power bills are rising fast. That's a problem because it makes it harder for people to afford switching from fossil fuels to clean electric cars and appliances that are essential to combating climate change.
Who wants to invest thousands of dollars in a heat pump or induction stove only to be punished with higher bills?
But there's a proposal by the California Public Utilities Commission that would ease the burden by changing the way customers of the state's big three investor-owned utilities are billed. Rather than being charged for each kilowatt-hour with rates bulked up to cover capital costs and ... Read more ...
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How Amazon became the largest private EV charging operator in the US - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · Amazon's Maple Valley, Washington, warehouse is built for speed. At night, big rigs pull up to one end to unload boxes and padded mailers - some after a short drive from a bigger warehouse down the road, others following a flight in the hold of a cargo plane. Waiting employees scan, sort and load them into rolling racks.
Before 7 a.m. each day, many of those racks are wheeled out to dozens of vans lined up in four painted lanes. It's the starting line at a Formula One race, but for $22-an-hour delivery drivers who ferry bottles of shampoo and packs of batteries to suburban Seattle doorsteps.
Their routes, the last step in a journey that can take products thousands of ... Read more ...
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Neutron scattering study points the way to more powerful lithium batteries - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · The team used quasi-elastic neutron scattering at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to set the first benchmark, one-nanosecond—or one billionth of a second—for a mixture of lithium salt and an organic polymer electrolyte.
The work is published in the journal Nature Materials.
"It all comes down to the study of materials," said Eugene Mamontov, ORNL Chemical Spectroscopy group leader. "And polymer electrolytes won't catch fire the way liquid electrolytes do in lithium batteries."
The team used the neutron technique to validate computer simulations, ending a long-standing debate about how long it takes lithium ions to break free from tiny cages created by ... Read more ...
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Nissan says it will make next-generation EV batteries by early 2029 - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · Nissan expects to mass produce electric vehicles powered by advanced next-generation batteries by early 2029, the company said Tuesday during a media tour of an unfinished pilot plant.
Japan's legacy automakers have fallen behind newer rivals like America's Tesla and China's BYD in the emerging all-electric auto sector.
But Nissan, like other companies, sees a chance to catch up and perhaps leap ahead with a new kind of battery that promises to be more powerful, cheaper, safer and faster to charge than the lithium-ion batteries in use today.
Solid-state batteries, which replace the corrosive liquids found in conventional batteries with solid metals, are widely seen ... Read more ...
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Researchers can help shipowners achieve ambitious climate targets - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · Shipowners around the world are in a very difficult position because they are having to order new ships now that will run on fuel and technologies that are not yet fully developed.
A new study suggests that ammonia could be a smart and energy-efficient fuel in the race to achieve net zero in shipping. Researchers at the Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (IØT) and the Department of Marine Technology (IMT) at NTNU and SINTEF Ocean are behind the study.
Help making choices in uncertain times
Postdoctoral fellow Benjamin Lagemann at the Department of Marine Technology describes the challenges the industry is facing. "They need to ... Read more ...
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Samsung returns to top of the smartphone market: Industry tracker - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · Samsung regained its position as the top smartphone seller, wresting back the lead from Apple as Chinese rivals close the gap on both market leaders, industry tracker International Data Corporation (IDC) reported Monday.
South Korea-based Samsung overtook Apple as worldwide smartphone shipments grew nearly 8 percent in the first quarter of this year to 289.4 million, IDC said, citing its preliminary data.
It was the third consecutive quarter of growth in the global smartphone market, signaling that a recovery from a slump in the sector is underway, according to IDC.
IDC Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers team vice president Ryan Reith expected top ... Read more ...
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Solar energy can uplift rural Ethiopians, but is hard to come by - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · Affordable but uncertified and substandard solar panels, coupled with minimal government involvement in the rural energy-transition process, are among the key factors that hinder access to reliable electricity for local communities.
At the same time, when solar panels are added to homes, they offer a healthy and environmentally friendly alternative to kerosene lamps, and they support education by providing children electric light to study past sundown.
"Not a lot is known about how the energy transition to renewable energy is occurring in rural areas in the Global South, so we wanted to understand how households are involved," said Yujin Lee, a doctoral student of ... Read more ...
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Colorado will try turning off the electrical grid to prevent wildfires, an operation pioneered in California - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · Over the past decade, power grids have played roles in wildfires in multiple states, including California, Hawaii, Oregon and Minnesota. When wind speeds are high and humidity is low, electrical infrastructure such as aboveground power lines can blow into vegetation or spark against other components, starting a fire that high winds then spread.
Under extreme conditions, utilities may opt to shut off power to parts of the grid in their service areas to reduce wildfire risk. These outages, known as public safety power shutoffs, have occurred mainly in California, where wildfires have become larger and more destructive in recent decades.
On April 5-6, 2024, Colorado utility ... Read more ...
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Global North energy outsourcing demands more attention, researchers say - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · Global North countries use their advantages in capital and technology to grab a large amount of energy through outsourcing—creating a 'false decoupling' of energy consumption from economic growth.
However, backward production technologies in the Global South tend to result in more energy consumption per unit of output—leading to greater carbon emissions and environmental damage.
An international group of researchers from the UK, Netherlands, and China published their findings in Energy Economics—calling on countries across both Global North and Global South to work together on resolving the problem.
Concerns about the energy associated with the ... Read more ...
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Report explores possibilities of capturing and using carbon dioxide for sustainable production routes - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · A new DECHEMA report "Carbon for Power-to-X—Suitable CO2 sources and integration in PtX value chains" deals with possibilities of capturing and utilizing carbon dioxide for sustainable production routes. Carbon dioxide can serve as a carbon feed for numerous climate friendly commodities produced with Power-to-X technologies. The report elaborates on point sources and state-of-the-art capture methods.
Climate neutral commodities produced with sustainable power - that is the promise of Power-to-X (PtX). The PtX concept unites numerous innovative technologies to establish value chains that are fueled by renewable energy. For this reason, PtX is considered to be a relevant ... Read more ...
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Tesla plans to lay off 10% of workforce after dismal quarterly sales, multiple news outlets report - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · After reporting dismal first-quarter sales, Tesla is planning to lay off about a tenth of its workforce as it tries to cut costs, multiple media outlets reported Monday.
CEO Elon Musk detailed the plans in a memo sent to employees. The layoffs could affect about 14,000 of the 140,473 workers employed by the Austin, Texas, company at the end of last year.
Musk's memo said that as Tesla prepares for its next phase of growth, "it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity," The New York Times and CNBC reported. News of the layoffs was first reported by electric vehicle website Electrek.
Also Monday, ... Read more ...
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The airline industry's biggest climate challenge: A lack of clean fuel - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · In a glimmer of progress for the daunting task of reducing air travel's climate impact, a newly built plant in rural Georgia is expected to begin pumping out the world's first commercial quantities of a new type of cleaner jet fuel this month.
The $200 million plant from LanzaJet Inc. will be the first to turn ethanol into a fuel compatible with jet engines. The facility is one of many efforts around the globe attempting to crack one of the biggest problems facing greener air travel: finding and developing cleaner feedstocks that can generate enormous quantities of fuel without triggering ripple effects that end up worsening the climate and biodiversity crises.
Progress ... Read more ...
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Amazon CEO touts AI in annual shareholder letter - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 12) |
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Apr 12 · In his annual letter to shareholders, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy went back to 2003.
Quoting from a "Vision document" that year for Amazon Web Services - the company's cloud computing division - Jassy said Amazon has always been focused on designing and offering "primitives," or the building blocks that other innovators need to make the next great thing.
That philosophy is how Amazon built AWS, as well as how it sped up delivery for retail customers and how it decided to store and ship products for the third-party merchants that sell on Amazon's digital store, Jassy said. Other companies used those building blocks to launch their own services, Jassy continued, naming Airbnb, ... Read more ...
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Making cement is very damaging for the climate. One solution is opening in California - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 12) |
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Apr 12 · Now one California startup has developed a technology that reduces carbon dioxide in the making of cement and could have the potential to operate at large scale. Fortera intercepts carbon dioxide exhaust from the kilns where cement is made and routes it back in to make additional cement. In its first effort at commercial scale, the technology is being added to a CalPortland facility in Redding, California, one of the largest cement plants in the western U.S. It opens Friday.
"Our target is about being a ubiquitous solution that can work really at any plant," said Ryan Gilliam, Fortera CEO.
Initially Fortera will produce enough to mix with about one-fifth of CalPortland's ... Read more ...
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New open-source generative machine learning model simulates future energy-climate impacts - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 11) |
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Apr 11 · Energy system planners and operators need detailed, high-resolution data projected into the future to understand how climate change will impact wind and solar generation, electricity demand, and other weather-dependent energy variables. Available data show that climate change will likely increase energy demand, but there are very few high-resolution resources to quantify these impacts.
"We envision a future where all or nearly all electricity demand is met by renewable energy sources," said Grant Buster, data scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). "We need to understand how renewable resources like wind or solar might be ... Read more ...
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Amazon adds Andrew Ng, a leading voice in artificial intelligence, to its board of directors - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 11) |
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Apr 11 · Amazon is adding artificial intelligence visionary Andrew Ng to its board of directors, a move that comes amid intense AI competition among startups and big technology companies.
The Seattle company said Thursday that Ng, a managing director at the Palo Alto, California-based AI Fund, will replace a seat vacated by Judy McGrath, a former CEO of MTV who told Amazon she won't run for reelection.
Ng's AI Fund, which he founded in 2017, invests in entrepreneurs building artificial intelligence companies. Previously, he led AI teams at the Chinese tech company Baidu and Google, where the team he oversaw taught a computer system to recognize cats in YouTube videos without ever ... Read more ...
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Aston Martin to make petrol cars 'for as long as allowed' - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 11) |
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Apr 11 · British luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda will continue to produce traditional combustion-engine vehicles for as long as legally possible, its boss told UK media this week.
"For as long as we're allowed to make ICE (internal combustion engine) cars, we'll make them. I think there will always be demand, even if it's small," Chairman Lawrence Stroll told reporters on Wednesday in comments confirmed to AFP on Thursday.
The remarks come after Aston Martin in February delayed the launch of its first electric vehicle by one year until 2026, and with deliveries due in 2027.
The delay came after Britain last year pushed back its planned ban on the sale of high-polluting ... Read more ...
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Bumpy ride for electric cars in Europe - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 11) |
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Apr 11 · Electric cars are a key part of Europe's green transition plans but the road ahead remains littered with obstacles with 10 years to go before a crucial milestone.
Despite the fact that the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned in the European Union as of 2035, sales of plug-in "zero emission" vehicles have stalled in the region in recent months.
The market share for electric cars has shrunk from 14.16 percent last year to 12 percent or less since the start of this year, a drop attributed mainly to Germany's decision to abruptly halt subsidies for electric car purchases on Europe's biggest market at the end of 2023.
Sigrid de Vries, director general of ... Read more ...
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Integrating battery storage into electrical grids can sometimes increase emissions due to market forces - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 11) |
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Apr 11 · Integrating battery storage into electrical grids may seem like a straightforward way to improve reliability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the economics behind electrical grid reliability complicate the impact, requiring more careful implementation to ensure reduced emissions.
"Green technologies may not always be green in practice. We need to understand these complicated interactions to assess tradeoffs and also to develop deployment strategies that match our goals," said Johanna Mathieu, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan.
In most of the United States, utilities deliver electricity while ... Read more ...
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Enhancing radiative cooling with aperture mirror structures - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 10) |
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Apr 10 · Radiative cooling routes thermal radiation from the surface of Earth through the atmosphere to outer space. Transmissivity of the atmosphere to thermal radiation varies depending on angle: the greatest thermal radiation transmission through the atmosphere happens in the "zenith direction," right above your head; the least transmissive angle is horizontal.
The principle is elegantly simple: the more the cooling surface faces upwards, the more cooling power it has. The mirror structure increases this power without needing to expand the surface area. Adding the mirror structure makes the cooling device take up more space for a given area, but this added space is protected from ... Read more ...
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Exceptional oxide ion conductivity at lower temperatures offers potential solution for solid-state fuel cells - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 10) |
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Apr 10 · Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are known for their high efficiency and improved safety compared to other types of fuel cells. One of the key factors in SOFC performance is the solid electrolyte: the oxide ion conductor. Its excellent electrochemical properties make it an ideal electrolyte not only for SOFC applications but also for solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOECs), sensors, and oxygen separation membranes.
Despite the significant advantages of oxide ion conductors, commonly used oxide ion conductors such as yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) require extremely high operating temperatures of 1000−700 oC. Over long periods, such high temperatures can be detrimental to ... Read more ...
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New quantum material promises up to 190% quantum efficiency in solar cells - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 10) |
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Apr 10 · A prototype using the material as the active layer in a solar cell exhibits an average photovoltaic absorption of 80%, a high generation rate of photoexcited carriers, and an external quantum efficiency (EQE) up to an unprecedented 190%—a measure that far exceeds the theoretical Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit for silicon-based materials and pushes the field of quantum materials for photovoltaics to new heights.
"This work represents a significant leap forward in our understanding and development of sustainable energy solutions, highlighting innovative approaches that could redefine solar energy efficiency and accessibility in the near future," said Chinedu Ekuma, ... Read more ...
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Oil bosses call phasing out fossil fuels a 'fantasy' - but an international agreement is plausible - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 10) |
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Apr 10 · Such a phase-out requires international cooperation to restrict the supply of fossil fuels, including coal, oil and gas. This won't be easy, but it is possible. If such cooperative efforts are pursued alongside ambitious action to tackle the demand for fossil fuels, it could lead to environmental and economic benefits.
Some countries are already taking unilateral action to restrict fossil fuels, by, for instance, banning new oil and gas exploration or extraction. Yet their effectiveness is limited: if the supply of fossil fuels is restricted in one part of the world, it may simply increase elsewhere.
Getting countries to agree on ditching fossil fuels is hard. The latest ... Read more ...
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Better battery manufacturing: Robotic lab vets new reaction design strategy - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · Their new recipes use unconventional ingredients to make battery materials with fewer impurities, requiring fewer costly refinement steps and increasing their economic viability.
"Over the past two decades, many battery materials with enhanced capacity, charging speed and stability have been designed computationally, but have not made it to market," said Wenhao Sun, the Dow Early Career Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at U-M and the corresponding author of the study published in Nature Synthesis.
"A lot of times, a simple material is a good starting point, but when you add a little bit of compound A and a little bit of compound B, magic happens and you get ... Read more ...
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Analysis shows snapshot of the clean supply chain of the future - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · NREL analysis formed the backbone of the Port of Los Angeles' $82.5 million Zero- and Near-Zero-Emissions Freight Facilities Shore to Store project and final report, which brought together more than a dozen public and private sector partners for a 12-month demonstration of a net-zero-emissions supply chain that stretched across Southern California.
The California Air Resources Board and the Port of Los Angeles awarded the project funds, and the demonstration involved partners including Toyota Motor North America, Kenworth Truck Company, Shell, the Port of Los Angeles, and the Port of Hueneme.
The Shore to Store project, which used battery-electric cargo handling ... Read more ...
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EU probes Chinese wind turbine suppliers over subsidies - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · The European Union on Tuesday announced a probe into Chinese wind turbine suppliers, the latest move by Brussels targeting Beijing over green tech subsidies suspected of undermining fair competition.
The 27-nation bloc is seeking to massively ramp up renewable energy as it aims for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, while moving away from excessive reliance on cheaper Chinese technology.
"Today, we are launching a new inquiry into Chinese suppliers of wind turbines," EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said in a speech at Princeton University, in the US state of New Jersey.
"We are investigating the conditions for the development of wind parks in Spain, ... Read more ...
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How vulnerable are European countries to changes in gas prices? - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · On the next day, prices for natural gas, of which Russia is one of the world's largest exporters, soared, shaking Europe's energy markets. The following months saw energy saving and supply diversification measures, but also exorbitant bills and fear of shortages.
Two years have passed since then and there are still many unanswered questions. To what extent is Europe vulnerable to fluctuations in the prices of fossil fuels, in particular, gas? And what makes some countries more vulnerable than others? What does all this mean for the energy transition and the EU's commitment to renewables?
What makes an electricity market vulnerable?
One of the main conclusions of ... Read more ...
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Making robots more flexible and reducing their energy consumption by up to 25% - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · Three main objectives are in focus—ensuring production continuity even in pandemic times, strengthening Europe's independence in production automation, and significantly reducing the energy consumption of robot applications in European factories.
Technically, GreenBotAI focuses on the reaction and latency times in industrial robotics, optimized path planning, and executing well-defined tasks while the robot is in motion ("on the fly"). Without stopping, for example, it is possible to capture 2D images for object recognition for the desired handling or assembly task. In this Franco-German research project, Fraunhofer IWU leads the consortium.
The project focuses on ... Read more ...
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New study reveals enhanced thermal stability in all-solid-state batteries - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · A study led by Professor Sung-Kyun Jung and his research team in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST has unveiled a more stable approach to utilizing all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs), setting a new standard for the development of safe battery systems.
Conventional lithium-ion batteries, powered by organic liquid electrolytes, have long been associated with a high risk of fire and explosion. To mitigate these dangers, the research community has turned its attention to ASSBs that leverage non-flammable inorganic solid electrolytes.
In the pursuit of next-generation solid-state batteries, sulfide solid electrolytes have emerged as promising materials. ... Read more ...
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Research finds Americans supportive but misinformed about fusion energy's promise - PHYS.ORG - Technology (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · The paper is published in the journal Fusion Science and Technology.
Fission energy, or the splitting of atoms, differs from fusion energy, which combines two atoms under extreme heat and pressure. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the fusion process is intrinsically safe. It offers an abundant source of energy with very little greenhouse gas emissions or long-living radioactive waste. The same cannot be said for fission energy.
"We discovered that less than half of all respondents had heard of fusion energy, and many confused fission and fusion," he said. "This confusion, along with pop cultural references of Godzilla or Homer Simpson and memories of ... Read more ...
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