A few days from now, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will lift off from Florida, carrying a satellite the size of a loaf of bread with nothing to power it but a huge polyester "solar sail."
Space Exploration
Jun 20, 2019
10
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Vacuum tubes initially played a central role in the development of electronic devices. A few decades ago, however, researchers started replacing them with semiconductor transistors, small electronic components that can be ...
The QCD vacuum (i.e., the ground state of vacuum in the quantum chromodynamics regime) is theoretically characterized by the presence of non-zero expectation values of condensates, such as gluons and quark–antiquark pairs. ...
(Phys.org) -- In the phenomenon of superlubricity, two solid surfaces can slide past each other with almost no friction. The effect occurs when the solid surfaces have crystalline structures and their lattices are rotated ...
Researchers at Columbia Engineering School have built optical nanostructures that enable them to engineer the index of refraction and fully control light dispersion. They have shown that it is possible for light (electromagnetic ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 10, 2011
3
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Futuristic ideas for the use of superconductors, materials that allow electric current to flow without resistance, are myriad: long-distance, low-voltage electric grids with no transmission loss; fast, magnetically levitated ...
Superconductivity
Sep 10, 2010
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As the U.S. Navy minimizes its dependence on foreign oil, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) is a front runner in supporting and bringing forth innovative solutions to fuel consumption challenges.
Environment
Aug 24, 2009
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(Phys.org)—At such an innovation rich time of telepresence, 3-D printing, advanced cryptography, advanced medical imaging, and robotics, you need to wonder why in all this time we never got a break with someone somewhere ...
Cracks permeate the dried-out desert ground, the landscape bears testimony to the lack of water. But even here, where there are no lakes, rivers or groundwater, considerable quantities of water are stored in the air. In the ...
Engineering
Jun 5, 2009
12
0
Nuclear power plants generate 20% of the nation's electricity and are the largest clean energy source in the U.S. But to further offset climate change, the nuclear energy sector needs to extend the lifetime of existing facilities ...
Energy & Green Tech
Jul 8, 2019
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