Since the dawn of modern warfare, the best way to stay alive in the face of incoming fire has been to take cover behind a wall. But thanks to a game-changing “revolutionary” rifle, the U.S. Army has made that tactic dead on arrival. Now…
Read Full ArticleFermilab Experiment Hints At Existence of Brand-New Elementary Particle
A fourth neutrino could help explain dark matter Physicists working with a Fermilab neutrino experiment may have found a new elementary particle whose behavior breaks the known laws of physics. If correct, their results poke holes in the accepted Standard Model of particles and…
Read Full ArticleCell Phones Powered by Conversation?
Chatty teenagers could be the world’s next renewable energy source. Scientists from Korea have turned the main ingredient of calamine lotion into a tiny material that converts sound waves into electricity. The research could lead to panels that can charge a cell phone from…
Read Full ArticleScientists discover tiny solar panels that create themselves
File this one under “holy crap,” but scientists at MIT have discovered molecules that spontaneously assemble themselves into a pattern that can turn light into electricity — essentially a self-creating solar panel. In a petri dish. The researchers set out to create a synthetic…
Read Full ArticleElectricity collected from the air could become the newest alternative energy source
Imagine devices that capture electricity from the air ― much like solar cells capture sunlight ― and using them to light a house or recharge an electric car. Imagine using similar panels on the rooftops of buildings to prevent lightning before it forms. Strange…
Read Full ArticleFlywheel power grid storage project gets DOE loan
Beacon Power on Monday said it has closed a $43 million loan guarantee with the Department of Energy for a project to use flywheels to buffer 20 megawatts of power on the grid. The loan covers 62.5 percent of the estimated $69 million needed…
Read Full ArticleStar Trek-like Heisenberg Compensators!??!
A quantum memory may be all scientists need to beat the limit of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, according to a paper published in Nature Physics. According to a group of researchers, maximally entangling a particle with a quantum memory and measuring one of the particle’s…
Read Full ArticleVideo: Is Steve Durnin’s D-Drive the holy grail of infinitely variable transmissions?
Ready for a bit of a mental mechanical challenge? Try your hand at understanding how the D-Drive works. Steve Durnin's ingenious new gearbox design is infinitely variable – that is, with your motor running at a constant speed, the D-Drive transmission can smoothly transition…
Read Full ArticleWith Lasers and Flyovers, a Solar Map of New York
While most residents were sleeping, a twin-engine Shrike Commander flew serial missions over the city recently, cruising low like Superman and back and forth like a lawn mower. Equipped with a laser system, the plane collected highly precise images of the city, its rooftops,…
Read Full ArticleUS Navy Wants to Field Cyber-Attack System
In 2018, the U.S. Navy hopes to take a major step toward fielding a cyber-attack system on a tactically survivable, fighter-size aircraft. Although researchers are cautious about discussing their cyberwarfare and electronic attack projects, one company states that it is “developing a weapon system…
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