Amazonian Mushroom Eats Indestructible Plastics
Why Piracy Is Indispensable For The Survival Of Our Culture
Last Year Techdirt wrote about the case of the huge collection of historic jazz recordings that had been acquired by the US National Jazz Museum. The central problem is that even if the recordings can be digitized before they deteriorate, very few people will hear them because of their complicated copyright status. But as this eye-opening article from Benj Edwards explains, bad as that situation is, it's even worse for the entire category of software creations. Floppy disks, which were once used as the medium du jour for personal computers, have a decidedly finite lifespan: estimates for the data retention abilities of a floppy range anywhere from one year to 30 years under optimal conditions. Fortunately, getting around such schemes is just the kind of challenge that hackers enjoy, and this has led to efforts by enthusiasts to preserve these fast-disappearing cultural artefacts by transferring them from the old media to more modern storage. Edwards concludes with a call to action:
This solar panel printer can make 33 feet of solar cells per minute
Whatever oil and gas true believers want to think, the world is doing this solar power thing. It’s getting cheaper and cheaper to make solar panels, and the panels are getting more and more effective. For example: A team in Australia just built a gigantic printer that spits out solar cells at a rate, Gizmodo reports, of about 33 feet every minute. It’s not even particularly complicated technology, according to the researchers. Gizmodo writes: [The printer system] utilizes only existing printer technology to embed polymer solar cells (also known as organic or plastic solar cells) in thin sheets of plastic or steel at a rate of ten meters per minute. This particular type of cell isn’t the most efficient, but it’s the type that lends itself to uses where you need a little flexibility — solar windows, bags, or tents, for instances.
Could Battery Advances Mean a Better Robot?: Scientific American
Every robot has its limit. For the famous Roomba vacuum, it's two to three hours. For the several thousand robots deployed in Iraq, about the same. Perhaps more than any other factor, the life span of batteries has limited the infiltration of robotics into daily life. And so roboticists have watched the huge increase in investment into battery technology this year, driven by the new administration in Washington and the push for electric cars, with much interest. While the majority of this funding will manifest first in the garage, it will likely allow robotics to push into entirely new, mobile realms, according to Henrik Christensen, the director of the Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "We are going to piggyback on whatever they're going to do," he said. "There is no doubt that new development in robot technology is very much going to benefit from battery technology," he added. Such robots are closer than we think, Hong said.
First plants caused ice ages, new research reveals
New research reveals how the arrival of the first plants 470 million years ago triggered a series of ice ages. Led by the Universities of Exeter and Oxford, the study is published in Nature Geoscience. The team set out to identify the effects that the first land plants had on the climate during the Ordovician Period, which ended 444 million years ago. During this period the climate gradually cooled, leading to a series of 'ice ages'. This global cooling was caused by a dramatic reduction in atmospheric carbon, which this research now suggests was triggered by the arrival of plants. Among the first plants to grow on land were the ancestors of mosses that grow today. The research suggests that the first plants caused the weathering of calcium and magnesium ions from silicate rocks, such as granite, in a process that removed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, forming new carbonate rocks in the ocean. The team used the modern moss, Physcomitrella patens for their study.
More than 7,500-year-old fish traps found in Russia
Public release date: 25-Jan-2012 [ Print | E-mail Share ] [ Close Window ] Contact: Marta Garcia Gonzalomarta.garcia.gonzalo@orgc.csic.es 34-915-681-476Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) A team of international archeologists, led by the Spanish National Research Council, has documented a series of more than 7,500-year-old fish seines and traps near Moscow. The equipment found, among the oldest in Europe, displays a great technical complexity. The survey will allow us to understand the role of fishing among the European settlements by early Holocene (10,000 years ago), especially in those areas where inhabitants did not practice agriculture until nearly the Iron Age. Ignacio Clemente, CSIC researcher (Institució Milà I Fontanals) and manager of the project, explains: "Until now, it was thought that the Mesolithic groups had seasonal as opposed to permanent settlements. Advanced Technology Organic remains [ Print | E-mail AAAS and EurekAlert!
This glass sphere might revolutionize solar power on Earth
German architect André Broessel, of Rawlemon, has looked into his crystal ball and seen the future of renewable energy. In this case it’s a spherical sun-tracking solar energy-generating globe — essentially a giant glass marble on a robotic steel frame. But this marble is no toy. It concentrates both sunlight and moonlight up to 10,000 times — making its solar harvesting capabilities 35 percent more efficient than conventional dual-axis photovoltaic designs. André Broessel was a finalist in the World Technology Network Award 2013 with the globe’s design and afterward produced this latest version, called Betaray, which can concentrate diffuse light such as that from a cloudy day. André Broessel’s latest invention looks like something out of a superhero movie. In reality, though, it’s a stand-alone solar energy generator. But Broessel’s invention may be more than just aesthetically pleasing. “We can squeeze more juice out of the sun,” Broessel says. Source: NewsDiscovery
A Guide to Recent Battery Advances
Electric vehicles, hybrids, and renewable energy have at least one thing in common–if they’re ever going to be more widely used, representing the majority of cars on the road or a large share of electricity supply, batteries need to get significantly better. Batteries will need to store more energy, deliver it faster and more reliably, and ultimately, cost far less. The specific ways batteries need to improve vary by the application, but in all these areas, researchers have been making significant headway. Last week, MIT researchers led by Yang-Shao Horn , a professor of materials science and engineering and mechanical engineering, and Paula Hammond, a professor of chemical engineering, announced a new approach to high-power lithium-ion batteries, the type that’s useful for hybrid vehicles or for stabilizing the electricity grid.
