The Winds of Change are Blowing: New Kite-Like Wind Turbine Promises to Revolutionize Wind Energy

by Erin Dahlstrom Almost two years after its May 2013 purchase of alternative wind energy company Makani, Google X, Google’s semi-secret “moonshots” lab announced at SXSW that they will be starting to test full-scale models of Makani’s kite-like wind turbines in April 2015 [1,2].  While wind turbines have generally been trending bigger and more expensive in order to increase energy output, Makani has taken the … Continue reading The Winds of Change are Blowing: New Kite-Like Wind Turbine Promises to Revolutionize Wind Energy

A View inside the LHC

Giant Particle Smasher Returns

Two weeks ago, the world’s largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, returned after two years of extensive upgrades. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is part of particle physics, a branch that examines the tiny particles that constitute everything in the universe. Two years ago, the LHC provided evidence for the existence of the Higgs Boson. After such a monumental achievement, what do particle physicists hope to discover with the upgraded LHC? Continue reading Giant Particle Smasher Returns

Thrills and Spills: The Keystone XL Pipeline

Turning on the tap for a clean glass of water is a luxury many Americans take for granted. Though TransCanada Corporation promises minimal spillage and environmental impact through improved safety features in its plans to install a 1169-mile-long, 36-inch-wide pipe through the grasslands of Canada and the United States, risking this natural resource is one of the many considerations President Obama examined before vetoing the … Continue reading Thrills and Spills: The Keystone XL Pipeline

An easier way to break down Cellulose for energy?

Humans can’t digest cellulose. Similarly, we’ve found it hard to efficiently break down cellulose in biomass for energy applications, until now. Researchers show a more efficient breakdown of cellulose than current methods that require energy-intensive pretreatment steps to separate the parts that can be easily broken down from those that cannot, consuming more energy than they yield. Here, no pretreatment steps are required. In this … Continue reading An easier way to break down Cellulose for energy?

Why the blue LED should light up your life (and won a Nobel Prize)

What do you think of when you hear the phrase ‘green technology’? Do solar panels, wind turbines, and electric cars come to mind? What about light-emitting diodes (LEDs)? Unlike many costly green technologies, LEDs are accessible to the majority of Individuals who want to help the environment and save money. Using an LED for 50,000 hours of white-light home lighting (i.e. LED light bulbs for … Continue reading Why the blue LED should light up your life (and won a Nobel Prize)

Fracking: How cheap energy is reshaping America’s environment

Presented by Jared Atkinson, Natasha Goss, and Jordan Wilkerson The advent of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, has led to the development of previously inaccessible resources, significantly increasing world gas and oil reserves. Despite the positive impact on energy reserves, questions about the long-term environmental effects of these extraction methods are unanswered. The technical details involved in fracking and the associated … Continue reading Fracking: How cheap energy is reshaping America’s environment

Hybrid Solar Cell with Higher Efficiency

In a finding that appears in the journal Nature Materials (original article here), researchers demonstrate efficient energy harnessing using a hybrid solar cell. Specifically, they show ultrafast energy transfer between an organic molecule (made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms) and an inorganic semiconductor (made of atoms other than carbon and hydrogen). Normally, absorption of one photon or particle of light by a solar cell … Continue reading Hybrid Solar Cell with Higher Efficiency

NASA’s Physics-Defying Space Engine More Fiction Than Fact?

The history of modern physics contains several examples of crazy and successful new ideas. Unfortunately for scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, their “impossible” space engine may not be one of them. Why? Simply put, it violates Isaac Newton’s third law of motion. NASA’s experiment involved placing a radio antenna inside of a sealed, metal container. Once turned on, radio waves produced by … Continue reading NASA’s Physics-Defying Space Engine More Fiction Than Fact?

Computational Chemistry Shines Light on Solar Energy Storage in Plants

Figure 1. Electron flow in Photosystem II. Plants take electrons from water to store energy from the sun. Whether it is the oxygen that we breathe or animals that we eat, our lives are made possible by photosynthesis.  Photosynthesis is the process that plants have used for billions of years to convert energy from the sun, water, and carbon dioxide into the life-sustaining biomolecules and oxygen … Continue reading Computational Chemistry Shines Light on Solar Energy Storage in Plants

Encouraging Sustainable Energy in the Developing World

Societies will always need energy to develop and function; how this energy is generated and delivered will determine whether we can achieve a sustainable future. Today, approximately 40% of the world’s population, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, don’t have access to modern sources of energy, instead relying on old-fashioned biomass burning, such as the use of firewood, charcoal, or animal waste, which leads to … Continue reading Encouraging Sustainable Energy in the Developing World