Archive for December, 2008

Discovery of leaks in earth’s magnetic field

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

There are many many discoveries being announced these days having to do with the solar behavior and sun/earth interaction due to the multiple research space craft that are now in space studying solar behavior.  Here are several very recent articles:
Here’s one having to do with the content of a large solar flare - which unexpectedly [...]

Colorado meteor event - Dec 6, 2008

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

“COLORADO SUPERBOLIDE: Last night, Dec. 6th at 1:06 a.m. MST, a meteor of stunning brightness lit up the skies of Colorado. Astronomer Chris Peterson photographed the event using a dedicated all-sky meteor camera in the town of Guffey, near Colorado Springs.
Video
Fireballs [...]

Fusion reactors: progress but slow

Friday, December 5th, 2008

The science associated with power generation through fusion continues to progress.  But slowly:Fusion reactors inch toward commercialization
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Solar power as inexpensive as fossil-fuels (coal) within 5 years

Friday, December 5th, 2008

Even as momentum has been building in recent years for wind energy installations - it looks like solar is getting close to perhaps an even more rapid ramp up:
Will solar power ever be as cheap as coal?
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New thin film solar cells boost efficiency by 50%

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

MIT has come up with a new solar cell technology that boosts efficiency of the cells by 50%, uses less material, and thus should approach per-KW power generation costs similar to current power grid costs.
Solar cell efficiency boosted
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New method to capture energy from slow moving water

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

Traditional power generation via water turbine has been around for quite a long time.  But here is an interesting new idea whereby power can be generated through slow moving water.  The idea came in part by paying attention to the way a fish motivates in water:
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/36907
Here’s the company established to commercialize the idea:
Vortex Hydro Energy
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