A Promising Solar Energy Breakthrough Just Achieved 1,000-Degree Heat From Sunlight: A new startup backed by Bill Gates says it has managed to harness solar energy to greater effect than ever before, generating enough heat from a field of mirrored panels to drive the production of cement, steel and glass...
Source: sciencealert.com
Intel’s Neuromorphic System Hits 8 Million Neurons, 100 Million Coming by 2020: The 64-chip Pohoiki Beach system is used by researchers to make systems that learn and see the world more like humans. "At the DARPA Electronics Resurgence Initiative Summit today in Detroit, Intel plans to unveil an 8-million-neuron...
Source: ieee.org
Phrase of the day: "Future-directed Postfactual Speculation". A planning technique ('backcasting' - analogous to 'forecasting') for deciding what steps would need to be taken to reach a particular future state. Used by futurists to help identify important factors that may lie ahead. "Backcasting is increasingly...
Source: wikipedia.org
Urban transformation: shopping by kayak in Denmark's greenest neighbourhoods: As nations race to reach ambitious climate goals, can sustainable urban designs help cut energy use and boost social well-being?
Source: trust.org
First Semisolid Lithium Batteries to Debut This Year, in Drones: SolidEnergy Systems will start with drones and aims to have its lithium batteries in electric vehicles after 2021
Source: ieee.org
Offshore wind cheaper than new nuclear: Figures from the government are seen as a milestone in the advance of renewable energy.
Source: bbc.co.uk
Wind turbine manufacturers are dipping toes into energy storage projects: Vestas said to be working with Tesla, and that just caps off a busy summer.
Source: arstechnica.com
A Roadmap to 100% Renewable Energy in 139 Countries by 2050: Wind, solar, hydropower, and geothermal could power most of the world argues Mark Jaobson and team
Source: ieee.org
Phrase of the day: Rotational superradiance 'Water waves can gain energy when they scatter from a whirlpool-like vortex. That is the conclusion of physicists in Brazil, Canada and the UK, who are the first to observe a phenomenon called "rotational superradiant scattering". The team says that the effect...
Source: physicsworld.com
Switzerland votes to phase out nuclear power - BBC News: The referendum result allows the government to go ahead with plans to switch to renewable energy.
Source: bbc.co.uk
UK's first proton beam machine arrives at Newport clinic - BBC News: The UK's first high-energy proton beam machine will offer treatments next year, the firm behind it says.
Source: bbc.co.uk
In record-breaking weekend, Germany got 85% of its electricity from renewables: On the last weekend of April, 85 percent of all electricity consumed in Germany was produced using renewable energy sources.
Source: digitaltrends.com
Efficiency of Silicon Solar Cells Climbs: Japanese materials company prototypes a 26.3 percent efficient silicon cell, steps away from the 29 percent theoretical maximum
Source: ieee.org
Best anti-ageing exercise (for a part of mitochondrial metabolism) is high intensity interval training: "Exercise is the best anti-ageing pill, but which routine is most effective? A study reveals that HIIT is better than weight training at rejuvenating cells ..." says New Scientist magazine. "HIIT...
Source: newscientist.com
Tesla Teams With Tiny Hawaiian Utility to Store Solar: Kauai Island Electric Cooperative is taking advantage of solar PV price drops and emerging battery technology to reinvent itself
Source: ieee.org
Will a New Glass Battery Accelerate the End of Oil?: New low-cost, non-flammable, high-capacity, rapid-charging, solid state battery could pose threat to the internal combustion engine
Source: ieee.org
The Simple Economics of Machine Intelligence. Technological revolutions tend to involve some important activity becoming cheap, like the cost of communication or finding information. Machine intelligence is, in its essence, a prediction technology, so the economic shift will center around a drop in the...
Source: digitopoly.org
Germany's Aggressive Switch to Renewables Will Save €149 Billion: The country’s goal of lowering its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 is yielding dividends in addition to cleaner air.
Source: ieee.org
EU energy use to fall by 30% under new efficiency plans for 2030 - BBC News: New proposals from the European Commission see binding targets for energy efficiency as key method of curbing carbon.
Source: bbc.co.uk
Kenyan Startup Uses the Sun to Turn Human Waste into Cooking Fuel: A Kenyan startup scales up its processing of human waste with a new continuous flow system creating a new fuel stream for cooking
Source: ieee.org