News tagged with plant material

Related topics: biofuel

GE and Hitachi want to use nuclear waste as a fuel

(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the world's biggest providers of nuclear reactors, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (a joint venture of General Electric and Hitachi), wants to reprocess nuclear waste for use as a fuel in ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Feb 18, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (36) | comments 11 | with audio podcast report

Researchers build Moon garden

The Moon is not the most hospitable place for growing fruits and vegetables. The lack of atmosphere and natural water, extreme temperatures, and exposure to cosmic rays present some serious challenges for ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Sep 16, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (24) | comments 7 | with audio podcast report

Taming the wild phonon

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have succeeded in creating a synthetic crystal that can very effectively control the transmission of heat -- stopping it in its tracks and reflecting it back. ...

Physics / General Physics

created Mar 22, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (22) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Researchers discover source for generating 'green' electricity

University of Minnesota engineering researchers in the College of Science and Engineering have recently discovered a new alloy material that converts heat directly into electricity. This revolutionary energy conversion method ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Jun 22, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (19) | comments 21 | with audio podcast

Ancient Mayans Inspire Modern Fade Proof Dye

Physicists have created a dye that promises to last for a thousand years. The secret to this extraordinary durability? Its formula is based on a Mayan pigment, a brilliant blue color that survives to this ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Jul 30, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (19) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists reach the heights with gecko-inspired tank robot (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have developed a tank-like robot that has the ability to scale smooth walls, opening up a series of applications ranging from inspecting pipes, buildings, aircraft and nuclear ...

Electronics / Robotics

created Oct 31, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (14) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New paper describes method for cleaning up nuclear waste

While the costs associated with storing nuclear waste and the possibility of it leaching into the environment remain legitimate concerns, they may no longer be obstacles on the road to cleaner energy.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Mar 20, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 16 | with audio podcast

Hunters, not climate change, killed giant beasts 40,000 years ago

The first Australians hunted giant kangaroos, rhinoceros-sized marsupials, huge goannas and other megafauna to extinction shortly after arriving in the country more than 40,000 years ago, new research claims.

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 25 | with audio podcast

Plants that can move inspire new adaptive structures

The Mimosa plant, which folds its leaves when they're touched, is inspiring a new class of adaptive structures designed to twist, bend, stiffen and even heal themselves. University of Michigan researchers ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 19, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (12) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Mini generators make energy from random ambient vibrations

Tiny generators developed at the University of Michigan could produce enough electricity from random, ambient vibrations to power a wristwatch, pacemaker or wireless sensor.

Technology / Engineering

created Mar 23, 2010 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (11) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Scientists create new enzymes for biofuel production

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and world-leading gene-synthesis company DNA2.0 have taken an important step toward the development of a cost-efficient process to extract sugars ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Mar 23, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 3

Scientists unveil chocolate-fueled race car

(AP) -- Scientists unveiled on Tuesday what they hope will be one of the world's fastest biofuel vehicles, powered by waste from chocolate factories and made partly from plant fibers.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created May 05, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (10) | comments 3

Nanocrystal-coated fibers might reduce wasted energy

(Phys.org) -- Researchers are developing a technique that uses nanotechnology to harvest energy from hot pipes or engine components to potentially recover energy wasted in factories, power plants and cars.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Apr 17, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Rising CO2 levels threaten crops and food quality

Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide interfere with plants’ ability to convert nitrate into protein and could threaten food quality, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis. The ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created May 13, 2010 | popularity 2.6 / 5 (15) | comments 6

Love that dirty water: Scientists find low-tech way to recycle H2O

Horticulturists at Pennsylvania State University have come up with a low-cost, green method for recycling so-called "gray" water -- the stuff from sinks, showers and washing machines that would otherwise go down the drain.

Space & Earth / Environment

created May 24, 2010 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (9) | comments 1