Gizmorama
February 21, 2011
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It's the sewing kit that is ideal for helping around the house.
http://pd.gophercentral.com/u/1082/c/186/a/474
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Good Morning,
A new study conducted in Illinois takes a look at what it
would cost to meet our lofty biofuel goals. America hopes
to cut 30 percent of its petroleum consumption by 2030 by
replacing it with biofuel; read all about the implications
and possibilities in the second article.
Until Next Time,
Erin
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Yale scientists build 'anti-laser'
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - U.S. researchers have announced the dev-
elopment of the world's first "anti-laser," a device that can
absorb and cancel out a laser beam. Scientists at Yale Uni-
versity say the silicon-based device can absorb an incoming
laser beam entirely, converting its light to heat energy,
the BBC reported Thursday. The technology could lead to a
new generation of supercomputers using light rather than
electrons, the researchers say. The anti-laser device can
focus two lasers beams of a specific frequency into an opti-
cal cavity made from silicon, trapping the incoming beams of
light and causing them to bounce around until all their ener-
gy is dissipated in the form of heat. Changing the wavelength
of the incoming light switches the anti-laser on and off,
creating an optical switch that could be the basis of a very
fast optically-based computer. Using silicon to create the
anti-laser means optical components could be manufactured
using current technology, researchers say, since the material
is already widely used in computing. One thing the anti-laser
will not do is create a "shield" against a high-power laser
weapon, the researchers say. "The energy gets dissipated as
heat," Yale professor Douglas Stone says. "So if someone sets
a laser on you with enough power to fry you, the anti-laser
won't stop you from frying."
Study: Meeting biofuel goal may be costly
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - U.S. researchers say the goal of replacing
30 percent of petroleum consumption in the U.S. with biofuels
by 2030 is attainable, but at a high price. Scientists at
the University of Illinois say between 600 million and 900
million tons of biomass could be produced in 2030 at a price
of $140 per ton while still meeting the country's demand for
food from agriculture, a UI release reported Thursday. "Most
studies consider costs in the range of $40 to $50 per ton,
which is fine when we're talking about biomass production to
meet near-term targets for cellulosic biofuel production,"
Madhu Khanna, a professor of agricultural and consumer econ-
omics, said. "But if we really want to get to the 30 percent
replacement of gasoline, at least with the current tech-
nology, then that's going to be much more costly." It would
require switching large areas from conventional crops to
perennial grasses like switchgrass and miscanthus, she said.
"Unless biomass prices are really high, these perennial
grasses are going to have a hard time competing with crops
like corn, soybean and wheat for prime agricultural land,"
Khanna said. It's a misperception to believe there's an
inescapable trade-off between fuel and food, she said. "That
concern is much more prevalent when we talk about first-gen-
eration biofuels like corn-based ethanol," she said. "But
for second-generation fuels, you can use crop residues as
well as dedicated energy crops that can be grown on marginal
land. "This reduces the need to divert cropland away from
food crop production," she said. "I'm optimistic that we can
get considerable amounts of biomass without disrupting food
production."
'Hummingbird' spy drone unveiled
LOS ANGELES - A California company says it has developed a
miniature spy plane for the Pentagon dubbed the Nano Humming-
bird for battlefield and urban surveillance. AeroVironment,
of Monrovia, says the camera-equipped drone can fly at speeds
of up to 11 miles per hour, hover, and fly sideways, backward
and forward as well as turn clockwise and counterclockwise,
all by remote control, the Los Angeles Times reported Thurs-
day. The company built the drone for the Pentagon's research
arm as an experiment in nanotechnology, designing it to look
like a bird for potential use in spy missions, the newspaper
said. Industry experts say a flying "hummingbird-like" air-
craft is a step toward technology that could produce drones
capable of flying through open windows or sitting on power
lines, capturing audio and video while enemies would be none
the wiser. "The miniaturization of drones is where it really
gets interesting," defense expert Peter W. Singer, author of
a book about robotic warfare, said. "You can use these things
anywhere, put them anyplace, and the target will never even
know they're being watched."
Algae in wastewater seen as energy source
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. researchers say algae grown in waste-
water could be a promising source of biofuel while cleaning
up the wastewater at the same time. Researchers at the
Rochester Institute of Technology say their project to dev-
elop biodiesel from microalgae is doubly "green" because in
addition to creating biofuel, the algae consume nitrates and
phosphates and reduce bacteria and toxins in the water, an
RIT release said Thursday. Biodiesel from algae could reduce
diesel fuel's telltale black puffs of exhaust with cleaner
emissions low in the sulfur and particulates that come from
fossil fuels, the researchers say. "Algae -- as a renewable
feedstock -- grow a lot quicker than crops of corn or soy-
beans," RIT researcher Eric Lannan says. "We can start a
new batch of algae about every seven days. It's a more cont-
inuous source that could offset 50 percent of our total gas
use for equipment that uses diesel." Starting with algae
production from 30 gallons of wastewater in a lab at RIT
and moving to 100 gallons in a 4-foot-by-7-foot tank, the
researchers say they plan to build a mobile greenhouse at a
wastewater treatment plant in the spring and scale up pro-
duction to as much as 1,000 gallons of wastewater.
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