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Greenery may fulfill a superficial need to improve the landscape aesthetic, but plants play a much more critical role in regular life function, converting carbon dioxide to oxygen through a process called photosynthesis. Panasonic is among the companies attempting to replicate this natural procedure through artificial means, and it looks like the Japanese electronics maker is well on its way towards a viable solution. Presenting at the International Conference on the Conversion and Storage of Solar Energy this week, Panasonic announced the development of an Artificial Photosynthesis System, which uses a nitride semiconductor to convert water and carbon dioxide — a byproduct of factories and power plants — into an organic material called formic acid, which is used in the manufacturing of dyes and fragrances. Covering the planet in formic acid wouldn’t necessarily represent progress, but assuming demand isn’t exceeded, it certainly beats CO2. Best yet, Panasonic claims that the system converts the substances at plant-like efficiency rates, or 0.2 percent. Hit up the PR after the break for a more granular look at the company’s creation.

Continue reading Panasonic Photosynthesis System converts carbon dioxide to organic material with plant-like efficiency

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Panasonic Photosynthesis System converts carbon dioxide to organic material with plant-like efficiency originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 06:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It looks like a wisp of smoke or even the work of a very confused spider, but this is actually a close up of the lightest material that has ever been created. More »

Slowly, but surely graphene is pushing our technological hopes, dreams and, yes, nightmares towards reality. The stuff is capable of extending battery life, generating electricity, powering high-speed data connections and super computer-worthy CPUs. It’s water proof, stretchy, bendy and apparently self healing. (This space reserved for T-1000 reference.) Researchers at the University of Manchester discovered that, if you put a hole in a sheet of graphene, it simply stitches itself back together. This is thanks to carbon’s tendency to latch on to other atoms, including its own, which can make the futuristic material difficult to work with, but gives it this highly unique quality. Thankfully, we’re no where near self-healing robots. But, the discovery could lead to a simple method for molding it into almost any shape. Once pierced, the form of the mend is determined by the type of molecules introduced — pure carbon simply regrows the perfect honeycomb structure, while a few foreign atoms can lead to “defects.” Of course, if they’re intentional and predictable, defects merely become “features.” For more check out the source link.

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Graphene heals itself, powers our dreams and nightmares originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 22:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Astronomers in Chile using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope are now able to analyze the atmosphere on faraway planet Tau Bootis b. Using CRIRES, a supercooled infrared spectrograph bolted to the ‘scope, the team was able to judge the size of the exoplanet — and for the first time, take a reading of the atmosphere while not in transit. Historically, the only time researchers have been able to conduct atmospheric analysis is during the transit of its nearby star, which imprints the qualities of the atmosphere onto the light. The team found that Tau Bootis b is around six times the size of Jupiter, but its air is so thick with Carbon Monoxide that we’ll have to look elsewhere to plan that expedition to the stars.

Infrared telescope can pick out the atmosphere on distant planets, smell what the aliens are smelling originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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