Technology based on the use of high-performance lasers and sensors for the generation and detection of infrared light promises to be one of the key technologies of the 21st century. Realization of this goal will require the ...
Materials Science
Dec 18, 2015
0
33
When visiting California's central valley in the summertime, it's hard to imagine that solar energy isn't single-handedly meeting the west coast's energy needs. But one problem with modern solar cells is that while the solar ...
Energy & Green Tech
Nov 12, 2015
3
122
When it comes to installing solar cells, labor cost and the cost of the land to house them constitute the bulk of the expense. The solar cells—made often of silicon or cadmium telluride—rarely cost more than 20 percent ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 28, 2015
9
1667
NASA's recent discovery of 12 more exoplanets, including the most Earth-like yet, brings the number of exoplanets – those outside our solar system – discovered to nearly 2,000. It's now thought that almost every star ...
Astronomy
Jul 27, 2015
1
38
Nanfang Yu, assistant professor of applied physics at Columbia Engineering, and colleagues from the University of Zürich and the University of Washington, have discovered two key strategies that enable Saharan silver ants ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 18, 2015
15
10601
A new material with light absorption characteristics ideally suited for making chemical fuels from sunlight was created via a nanowire growth strategy that fused the semiconductors silicon (Si) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) ...
Materials Science
Jun 1, 2015
0
7
A new process has been developed for spontaneously incorporating and assembling carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and oxygen scavenging nanoparticles into chloroplasts, the part of plant cells that conduct photosynthesis – converting ...
Bio & Medicine
May 21, 2015
0
29
Scientists have identified a mechanism that could turn out to be a big contributor to warming in the Arctic region and melting sea ice.
Earth Sciences
Nov 3, 2014
42
0
The key to creating a material that would be ideal for converting solar energy to heat is tuning the material's spectrum of absorption just right: It should absorb virtually all wavelengths of light that reach Earth's surface ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 29, 2014
2
0
(Phys.org) —Just about everything we touch in the course of a day - car, phone, computer, fridge, detergent - even medicines, rely on the chemical industry to turn raw materials such as petroleum by-products, minerals and ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 17, 2014
0
0
