Take a video tour of asteroid Bennu’s remarkable terrain and read a list of 10 cool things scientists know about this pristine remnant from the early days of our solar system. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/top-10-things-to-know-about-asteroid-bennu-video-tour…
Tag: solar panels
NASA’s OSIRIS-REX Makes Historic Touchdown On Asteroid Bennu To Collect Rock Samples
NASA’s Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) sample return spacecraft has successfully touched the asteroid Bennu and collected a 2-oz sample of its surface. New Atlas reports: Launched atop an Atlas/Centaur booster from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on September 8, 2016 at 7:05 pm EDT, the robotic OSIRIS-REx probe spent…
Tesla Powerwall Rival Seeks To Bring Hydrogen Into Your Home
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: It’s about the size of Tesla Inc.’s Powerwall, but can store up to three times as much energy over a longer period. That’s the promise of a new hydrogen-based energy-storage system for homes and businesses being developed by Australian startup Lavo Hydrogen Technology Ltd. The technology, developed with scientists at the University of…
Windows become transparent solar panels with added nanoparticles
Windows can be converted into solar panels by sandwiching nanoparticles between panes of glass – which could make them useful in cities where space for solar panels may be limited Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2253816-windows-become-transparent-solar-panels-with-added-nanoparticles/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Thin-Skinned Solar Panels Printed With Inkjet
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: Solar cells can now be made so thin, light and flexible that they can rest on a soap bubble. The new cells, which efficiently capture energy from light, could offer an alternative way to power novel electronic devices, such as medical skin patches, where conventional energy sources are unsuitable. Until now, ultrathin organic…
Investors Argue This Stock Market Isn’t Like the ’90s Dot-Com Boom
The stock market is setting new records, with some tech companies at “the steepest premium ever versus cheap shares,” reports Bloomberg. (Even Tesla “is trading at more than 800-times earnings while an electric-truck peer, which made just $36,000 last quarter by installing solar panels for its founder, is valued at $16 billion.”) So is it like the great dot-com bubble of…
Solar Panels Are Starting to Die, Leaving Behind Toxic Trash
“Solar panels are an increasingly important source of renewable power that will play an essential role in fighting climate change. They are also complex pieces of technology that become big, bulky sheets of electronic waste at the end of their lives — and right now, most of the world doesn’t have a plan for dealing with that,” reports Wired. (Alternate URL…
Amazing photos in Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter celebration
NASA has posted a sampling of some of the most awe-inspiring photos of Mars, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the launch of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. They are proof that Mars is a very photogenic world. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-photos-mars-reconnaissance-orbiter-15th-anniversary…
Transparent Solar Panels For Windows Hit Record 8% Efficiency
Bodhammer shares a report from the University of Michigan: In a step closer to skyscrapers that serve as power sources, a team led by University of Michigan researchers has set a new efficiency record for color-neutral, transparent solar cells. The team achieved 8.1% efficiency and 43.3% transparency with an organic, or carbon-based, design rather than conventional silicon. While the cells have…
Could Spacecraft of the Future Be Powered By ‘Lattice Confinement’ Nuclear Fusion?
schwit1 writes: Researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have now demonstrated a method of inducing nuclear fusion without building a massive stellarator or tokamak. In fact, all they needed was a bit of metal, some hydrogen, and an electron accelerator. The team believes that their method, called lattice confinement fusion, could be a potential new power source for deep space missions….