Feb 22
Feb 21
Well, someone had to offer a counterpart to the giant donut. NVIDIA has decided that its ongoing success in 3D graphics and mobile processors merits a suitably geometric new headquarters, so it’s upping the stakes among oddly-shaped offices: it’s planning to construct a triangular pair of buildings a stone’s throw away from its existing Santa Clara campus. Like its upcoming parallel at the Fruit Company, the NVIDIA facility will focus on both eco-friendly design and wide open spaces that, officially, are meant to reflect the company’s loves of art, collaboration and science. Of course, the Tegra creator is quick to admit that it really needs the buildings to accommodate its growing staff count — and we imagine that “make it look cool” was also part of the proposal. NVIDIA hasn’t said just when the new headquarters will be ready, although it will have to make up for lost time if it wants to have Silicon Valley’s star attraction.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, NVIDIA
Source: NVIDIA
Feb 18
The world is slowly making the switch over to electric power, and while some mass transit systems have been powered by electricity for a while, it’s usually delivered through overhead cables that connect to the buses and trains at all times. However, Korea is moving away from overhead cables in favor of wireless power to its mass transit vehicles.
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have ended up making major strides in powering mass transit systems over wireless protocols. The systems are called On-line Electric Vehicles (OLEV), and are actually already being tested on Korean roads today. If all goes well, they may switch to the new system permanently.
The technology uses inductive charging to wirelessly transmit electricity from the ground to coils underneath the floor of electric vehicles. The ground has embedded power cables that transmit electricity to the pick-up coils. So far during testing, engineers have recorded an 85% transmission efficiency with the cables and coils.
The technology is similar to what Utah State University is currently doing. Back in December, they introduced an inductive charging technology that involved the same wireless method, which would allows city buses to quickly charge up while waiting at a bus stop, an initiative that would cut down the amount of fuel needed drastically.
[via Txchnologist]
Korean mass transit moving towards wireless power is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Feb 17
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: Biobot, Nintendo Power Glove and an inflatable bathroom bubble
Posted in: Today's ChiliEach week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green.
This week President Barack Obama set the tone for the coming year in his 2013 State of the Union address, which advocated 3D printing and called for a speedy transition towards renewable energy to help combat climate change. The future of clean tech is already looking bright, as the world’s solar power capacity just hit a record 101 gigawatts, and researchers found a new way to charge batteries by harvesting ambient electromagnetic waves from thin air. Speaking of batteries, a new lithium-ion battery developed by USC utilizes nano-sphere technology to store three times more energy while cutting charge time down to just 10 minutes. Clean tech is invading the kitchen as well — behold the Biobot, a tabletop device that converts waste cooking oil into biodiesel.
Feb 15
Adding solar power to your home is a great way to go green and start getting off the grid. However, solar panels do require care and upkeep to make sure that they are functioning at their peak. It may be time for you to choose your weapon in the war on grime. Here are a couple of tools that can help you really clean up.
Feb 13
Scientists working with the European Space Agency (ESA) Cryosat satellite have discovered that Arctic ice loss has been massive in the years between 2003 and 2012. The ice loss is indicated at declining by 36% during autumn and 9% during winter. Cryosat satellite can measure ice thickness using a high-resolution radar altimeter. To achieve this, the altimeter of the satellite shoots microwave energy towards the ice. This energy bounces of the ice sections and off the water in the cracks. The difference in the values is used to calculate the height of ice above water and the volume of the ice covering. Scientists have been collecting data for the past two years for this research.
“Other satellites have already shown drops in the area covered by Arctic sea ice as the climate has warmed, but CryoSat allows scientists to estimate the volume of sea ice – a much more accurate indicator of the changes taking place in the Arctic,” added Tommaso Parrinello, CryoSat Mission Manager. The research was funded by European Space Agency, the German Aerospace Center, Alberta Ingenuity, NASA, the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation. Read more on Treehugger
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Xkuty Scooter Could Be Confused As Electric Bicycle, DC Fast Chargers To Triple In The US, Thanks To Nissan,
Feb 12
This week a group of scientists hailing from Monash University and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) have claimed so-called Carbon Sponges may be able to soak up coal emissions. The possibility of this solution coming to a real-live working environment should have both the scientific community and the environmental activist community abuzz immediately if not soon due to its implications. The release shown by Monash University this week details a new method for carbon capture that includes sunlight – a brand new day for the environment.
The Monash University group speaking on a new technique this week say that current methods for carbon capture aren’t as ideal as they could be. Speaking on how a new carbon sponge overcomes many of these difficulties with a sunlight release element, the Monash University Department of Checmical Engineering spoke of the photosensitive metal organic framework (MOF). With this MOF, the current technique (which includes liquid capture technologies heated to release resulting build-up) can be done away with entirely.
Also according to the release from Monash University, MOFs can be described in simplest terms as groups of metal atoms that are linked together with organic molecules. Massive amounts of gas can be stored here due to the high internal surface area of each group. With the solution proposed this week, this newest MOF was created with groups of azobenzene molecules of the light-sensitive variety.
So like a sponge you’ve got a material that easily collects matter then releases it when you like – simple and effective. At the moment it would appear that sets of researchers are working to make this MOF optimized in a way that allows for industrial environment-level efficiency – that’d be where we want to go for the big-time workplace.
According to Science Recorder, this study’s findings can be found in the scienc journal Angewandte Chemie. Be sure to let them know, when you get there, that we’re excited to see these miracle-workers in action soon!
Coal emissions may be history with Carbon Sponge is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Feb 10
Disappearing Packages: When the Product is the Package, and the Package is the Product
Posted in: Today's ChiliEvery year, 140 billion pounds of packaging are disposed of in the United States alone. The world is running out of space for land fills and we’ve already got enough particulate matter in the atmosphere, just in case some people think burning the whole lot is the solution.
Design student Aaron Mickelson is well aware of the impact that all this packaging has on the environment. His alternative? Disappearing packaging.
Not the type of disappearing that involves magic, but ingenuity. Instead of using non-biodegradable materials to package various household products, Aaron’s packaging calls for the product itself to be integrated into the packaging, so the latter gets used up in the process as well.
Instead of ending up with an empty bottle, you’ll end up with… well, nothing. Some example designs include detergent pods which punch out of a perforated sheet that forms the package, soap packaging made out of soap, and garbage bags that are packed in, well… a garbage bag.
Doing something like this might be easier said than done, but it’s worth a shot, at the very least.
[via TAXI via Bit Rebels]
Jan 29
44 Gnarly Photos of Wood
Posted in: Today's Chili
Concrete and steel may be the cornerstones of modernity, but I have a feeling we’ll be building out of wood long after we develop transparent aluminum. It’s the most abundant, complexly beautiful thing. Here are 44 photos that celebrate it. More »
Jan 28
Tesla‘s Model S isn’t only just a beautiful car, but it’s also completely electric. And just recently, it completed the quarter mile in just under 12.4 seconds, beating out a Dodge Viper SRT10, which makes the Model S the world’s fastest production electric vehicle by the National Electric Drag Racing Association.
According to DragTimes, the The Model S Performance edition managed a 12.371 quarter mile at 110.84 mph, going 0 to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds, winning handsomely over a Dodge Viper SRT10 without any problem. Granted, the 12.371-second run was the best out of several runs, and the car was on a full charge. Still though, even without a full battery, the Model S ran 12-second runs regardless.
Even after a 78-mile trip driving at 70 mph, the Model S ran back-to-back 12.6-second runs at 108 mph. The car as roughly a 350-mile range on a full charge, so the battery wasn’t low by any means, but after a quick road trip, the car can still pump out torque like it’s nothing, which is impressive to say the least.
The Tesla Model S features a 416HP engine, and the entire car weighs in at 4,700 lbs., so it’s fairly surprising that it was able to go from 0 to 60 mph in less than four seconds. Back in November, the car was named Motor Trend’s 2013 Car of the Year, beating out the Cadillac ATS, Toyota Avalon, Porsche 911, BMW 3 Series, Ford Fusion, and the Subaru BRZ.
[via DragTimes]
Tesla Model S sets world record for fastest production electric vehicle is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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