Hasta La Gadget!

Harnessing the awesome power of the Sun isn’t just dependent on the efficiency of solar cells, but also on making them affordable. Current techniques aren’t exactly cheap, but researchers from Stanford University think they’ve made a bit of a breakthrough by producing a relatively inexpensive photovoltaic cell using nothing but carbon. We’re sure other scientists might disagree with the ‘world’s first’ claim, but those at Stanford think it’s a matter of language, and that these other pretenders are “referring to just the active layer in the middle, not the electrodes.” The team selected a trio of carbon types to use in their cell: a mixture of nanotubes and buckyballs make up the light-absorbing layer, while graphene is being utilized for the electrodes.

The carbon amalgam can be applied from solution using simple methods, meaning the flexible cells could be used to coat surfaces, although you won’t be seeing it smeared over anything too soon. The prototype only touts a “laboratory efficiency of less than 1 percent,” so it can’t compete with traditional solar cells just yet. Also, it only absorbs a sliver of the light spectrum, but the researchers are looking to other forms of the wonder element which could increase that range. They are hoping that improving the structure of the cells will help to boost their efficiency, too. They might never generate the most energy, but the all-carbon cells can remain stable under extreme conditions, meaning they could find their calling in harsh environments where brawn is a little more important than status, or looks.

Filed under: Science, Alt

Stanford researchers create ‘world’s first’ all-carbon solar cell, do it on the cheap originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google is well-known for projects with unexpected origins. It’s almost natural, then, that the code Google used to build a web course has led to a full-fledged tool for online education. The open-source Course Builder project lets anyone make their own learning resources, complete with scheduled activities and lessons, if they’ve got some skill with HTML and JavaScript. There’s also an avenue for live teaching or office hours: the obligatory Google+ tie-in lets educators announce Hangouts on Air sessions. Code is available immediately, although you won’t need to be grading virtual papers to see the benefit. A handful of schools that include Stanford, UC San Diego and Indiana University are at least exploring the use of Course Builder in their own initiatives, which could lead to more elegant internet learning — if also fewer excuses for slacking.

Filed under: Internet

Google releases Course Builder, takes online learning down an open-source road originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 20:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The US Department of Energy’s SLAC accelerator lab already has a pretty useful X-ray laser — the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). But, recent modifications to the device have scientists drooling over its new found potential. Using a thin wafer of diamond, the Stanford-run lab filtered the beam to a lone frequency, then amplified it in a process called “self-seeding.” That’s given the world’s most powerful X-ray laser even more punch by tossing out unneeded wavelengths which were reducing its intensity. The tweaks allow scientists across many fields to finesse and image matter at the atomic level, giving them more power to study and change it. According to the lab, researchers who came to observe the experiment from other X-ray laser facilities “were grinning from ear to ear” at the possibility of integrating the tech into their own labs. The SLAC team claims they could still add 10 times more punch to the LCLS with further optimization, putting the laser in a class by itself — X-ray-wise, anyway.

Continue reading Diamond hones DOE X-ray laser howitzer to razor-sharp precision

Filed under: Science

Diamond hones DOE X-ray laser howitzer to razor-sharp precision originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Aug 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s a sad day for space travel. Sally Ride, the first American woman to ever travel to space, has died at the age of 61 after a bout with pancreatic cancer. She’s best known for breaking NASA’s gender barrier by flying on Space Shuttle Challenger on June 18th, 1983, but she spent much more of her time guiding our future in space while here on Earth — she founded NASA’s Office of Exploration and directed its early strategy, and she later went on to lead the California Space Institute as well as teach physics at the University of California in San Diego. Her final decade saw her establish Sally Ride Science to encourage students wanting to follow in her footsteps, especially girls. Ride blazed one of the brighter trails in technology, and she’ll be missed.

Update: Ride is survived by her same-sex partner of 27 years, Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy.

[Image credit: National Archives]

Filed under: Transportation, Science

Sally Ride, first American woman in space, dies at 61 (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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