Comments

nonsquid

Technology

High-Pressure Diamond Anvil Creates a New Solid from Xenon and Hydrogen

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.23.2009 10 Comments
Science under pressure can produce marvelous results, such as an entirely new way to store hydrogen fuel. Researchers combined the noble gas xenon with molecular hydrogen (H2) to make a never-before-seen solid that opens the doors to an entire new family of materials for hydrogen storage.

11.24.2009 at 05:55pm - Comment by nonsquid

Something like this could be used with nitrous oxide for a great water bomb effect, or used as a high temp hydrogen super conductor.
Science

New Reactor Uses Sunlight to Turn Water and Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel

By Clay Dillow Posted on 11.23.2009 22 Comments
Talk about a Eureka moment. Scientists at Sandia National Labs, seeking a means to create cheap and abundant hydrogen to power a hydrogen economy, realized they could use the same technology to "reverse-combust" CO₂ back into fuel. Researchers still have to improve the efficiency of the system, but they recently demonstrated a working prototype of their "Sunshine to Petrol" machine that converts waste CO₂ to carbon monoxide, and then syngas, consuming nothing but solar energy.

11.23.2009 at 12:28pm - Comment by nonsquid

Please, please, please ... I hope this truly works and lives up to it's potential. This might be a means of thermal energy storage locked into a hydrocarbon that would finally exceed the energy density of hydrogen.
Best of What's New

Best of What's New 2009: The Year's 100 Greatest Innovations

By Posted on 11.16.2009 5 Comments
Innovation manifests itself in myriad ways: groundbreaking, revolutionary bursts we'd never before imagined possible, or in more nuanced but no less brilliant refinements of existing technology. And while this year's list contains plenty of instances of the former, in compiling it we've noticed one thing: 2009 is the year of stealth innovation.

11.14.2009 at 01:48pm - Comment by nonsquid

@v3zz4 I believe that the innovation that you are looking for is called a horse. It meets all your listed desires and the horse would produce enough 100% organic reyclable processed fuel to feed your consumer gluttony, without hurting the eniroment. The horse is a sustainable technology that gets better than 100MPG. Retro is new and cool. If you cross a horse with a donkey you will get a Hybid mule.
Technology

Liftoff For NASA's Ares I-X Rocket (Video and Photos)

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 10.30.2009 21 Comments
Ares I-X roared off its launch pad at 11:30 EST at Cape Canaveral. This marks success for NASA's second launch attempt to get the Ares I-X rocket off the ground after weather delayed the launch on Tuesday.

11.3.2009 at 12:03pm - Comment by nonsquid

Has anybody recognized that this launch has failed to capture any volume of public attention? Perhaps we need to put Paris Hilton's dog aboard this rocket. We are doomed to the apathy of a pop culture intelligence. This intelligence cares more about this day in Rock and Roll History than "geek toy" events. Remember that next time you cheer your college football team to victory because we will celebrate the Olympics and the entertainment quality over any real advancement.
Technology

China Designs Indigenous UAV Stealth Fighter, and Bootlegs Some US Models

By Posted on 10.15.2009 33 Comments
When I hear the phrase "knock-off Chinese products", I usually think of either the bootleg DVDs I get on the subway or the cheap electronics I get in Midtown. But a new report in Defense Professionals notes that the Chinese military has channeled that same skill for replication towards closing their UAV technology gap. By simply copying US technology, China has created a stock of advanced drones, and gained the technical knowledge to create some interesting native UAVs as well.

10.15.2009 at 02:01pm - Comment by nonsquid

@m3k The Dalai Lama's Kashmir mountain top has more armed soldiers than Buddhists, now. The Chinese guide said the soldiers are there for fire suppression. Perhaps you believe that.
Science

"Spider Pill" Camera Bots Could Crawl Your Colon

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 10.12.2009 3 Comments
People who dislike having medical cameras snake through their body on the ends of long tubing now have a fun alternative. A new remote-controlled spider bot can scuttle around inside the colon or intestine and perform a medical inspection instead. Rest assured that the experience sounds much more pleasant than Neo's icky encounter with an electronic bug in The Matrix. Italian scientists have tested the device inside pigs, controlling the spider bot wirelessly to diagnose serious conditions such as cancer.

10.13.2009 at 12:33am - Comment by nonsquid

I wonder if used ones would be cheaper...
Technology

LHC Test Could Lead to Hyperdrive Space Propulsion (Well, In Theory)

By Clay Dillow Posted on 10.9.2009 40 Comments
Add one more thing to the list of mysteries, theories, and unsubstantiated ideas that will be confirmed/denied/debunked if CERN ever gets the Large Hadron Collider up and running: hyperdrive spacecraft propulsion. In 1924, German mathematician David Hilbert published a paper noting a pretty amazing side effect to Einstein's relativity: a relativistic particle moving faster than about half the speed of light should be repelled by a stationary mass (or at least it would appear to be repelled, to an inertial observer watching from afar).

10.11.2009 at 02:34am - Comment by nonsquid

@soundwash - Wow ... all this time I thought we were regressing in our ability to build anything useful (like build skyscrapers in NY city, space shuttle replacements, build breeder nuclear reactors in America, civilian supersonic flight, make steel in US of A, create new hydrogen bomb designs, or go back to the moon). *Here is a small glimmer of mankind reaching out and building something useful(LHC)for the small price of a duel unit nuclear reactor and here comes the parade of mental nuts! *Now my reality and universe will "smack me in the forehead"! *I am going to watch the movie Armageddon again and again and wish with all my might, that movie the stars like Bruce Willis will save my reality before it bludgeons my forehead. *Thank you for opening my eyes to your fantasy.
Technology

LHC Test Could Lead to Hyperdrive Space Propulsion (Well, In Theory)

By Clay Dillow Posted on 10.9.2009 40 Comments
Add one more thing to the list of mysteries, theories, and unsubstantiated ideas that will be confirmed/denied/debunked if CERN ever gets the Large Hadron Collider up and running: hyperdrive spacecraft propulsion. In 1924, German mathematician David Hilbert published a paper noting a pretty amazing side effect to Einstein's relativity: a relativistic particle moving faster than about half the speed of light should be repelled by a stationary mass (or at least it would appear to be repelled, to an inertial observer watching from afar).

10.9.2009 at 11:14am - Comment by nonsquid

I guess the LHC stationary walls did not repel the near speed of light protons earlier this year. @Quasi44 "rob brown people of their birth right"? don't worry, we gave Obama the peace prize to make up for all that. This is about as political as giving Al Gore the peace prize for all his ground breaking work in the global warming belief.
Cars

Google Working on "Smart Charging" Software for Electric Cars

By Mike Spinelli Posted on 10.7.2009 9 Comments
Imagine millions of plug-in vehicle owners returning home from work on a hot summer day, plugging in their cars at the same time, and melting down an overtaxed, outdated, and otherwise atrophied electrical grid. But the geniuses at Google say averting a disaster scenario could be as simple as a few lines of code (well, a few more than just a few).

10.7.2009 at 07:19pm - Comment by nonsquid

Lets add electric "on demand water heaters" to the equation so that "green energy savers" raise the peak demand to the morning shower time. The intelligent systems would attempt to drain your EV to limit line load. Your "intelligent" system would attempt to discharge your DC batteries, run it though your not so efficient inverter then supply the 240 VAC to your resistor bank "on demand water" heater. If everybody used their own inveter, system line harmonics would be horrible, but inverter switching efficiencies would be even worse. Most utilities like the idea of a smart grid as a means for fancy rationing. Nominal load shifting means shutting off your power so they can supply "vital" loads. You are not a vital load.
Technology

"Ring-Wing" Submarine Swarm To Search For Undersea Oil

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 9.9.2009 4 Comments
A robotic swarm of "ring-wing" submarines could someday scout underwater locations for oil. Engineers from GO Science, an engineering firm specializing in aerodynamic robots, have struck a $10 million deal with an unnamed oil company. GO's ring-wing foil concept has applications for aerial vehicles as well, but the startup company has currently focused on undersea flyers.

9.9.2009 at 07:57pm - Comment by nonsquid

How are they communicating with this device? I see an antenna, but it is under water. This is a fantastic design. It shields the motors, provides inherent stability, lift and maneuverability in the water. Well done.