Petróleo em Portugal... Do Sol!

Uma maneira de transformar a Energia Solar em Combustível, Petróleo em Portugal!

Breakthrough solar reactor makes fuel from sunlight

By Darren Quick

17:23 December 26, 2010

Because conventional photovoltaic panels produce electricity directly from sunlight, the energy they generate must either be used as it is produced or stored – either in batteries or by using the electricity to produce a fuel that acts as a storage medium for the energy. Now U.S. and Swiss researchers have developed a prototype device that directly converts the Sun’s rays into fuels that can be stored, allowing the energy to be used at night or transported to locations where it is needed.

A BBC report citing a paper appearing in the journal Science describes how the prototype device uses a quartz window and cavity to focus sunlight into a cylinder lined with cerium oxide. Cerium oxide, also known as ceria, is hygroscopic (meaning that it attracts and holds water molecules from the surrounding environment) and will also absorb a small amount of carbon dioxide. As the sunlight heats the ceria, it thermochemically breaks down the water and carbon dioxide pumped into the cylinder to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen that can be converted to a liquid fuel.

http://www.gizmag.com/breakthrough-solar-reactor-makes-fuel-from-sunlight/17377/

...E Como fazer os vossos próprios ROVs!

Education and inspiration via underwater robot

By Ben Coxworth

17:33 December 26, 2010

If you like gadgets, and you like the ocean, then you must like ROVs – it’s just that simple. For the uninitiated, ROVs (Remote Operated Vehicles) are small unmanned submarines that are used for underwater operations deemed too deep, dangerous or difficult for human divers. They’re tethered to a support ship, from which a human operator controls them in real time, watching a live video feed from an onboard camera. It’s all incredibly appealing to those of us who are fascinated by the prospect of what secrets lurk beneath the surface of the ocean... or of the local pond. A few dedicated souls go so far as to trying to create their own homebuilt ROVs, many of them turning to what has become the bible on the subject, Build Your Own Underwater Robot and other Wet Projects. Gizmag had a chance to talk to the two authors of the book, and found out what inspired them to pursue such an unlikely project.

http://www.gizmag.com/book-teaches-kids-to-build-rovs/17371/

Energias Alternativas

Um seguidor do Sol, segue a posição do sol no horizonte

http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-PV-tracker/



Olá Norte friiiio, isolar a casa como deve de ser...

http://www.instructables.com/id/TRULY-insulate-your-loft-and-save-the-planet/



Um Aquecedor de Àgua Solar, por menos de 5 Dólares!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Thermal-Water-Heater-For-Less-Than-Five-Doll/

... E um bioreactor, com Algas, cá temos muitas, com toda esta Costa!

http://www.instructables.com/id/An-Algae-Bioreactor-from-Recycled-Water-Bottles/

Os Dirigíveis estão de volta!

Os Dirigíveis estão de volta!

Northrop Grumman to build football field-sized hybrid airship

By Noel McKeegan


01:38 June 16, 2010

Not so long ago it seemed that the golden age of giant lumbering airships had gone down with the Hindenberg, consigned to less spectacular roles in research, advertising and as a great camera platform above sporting events... but they're making a comeback. Lighter-than-air aircraft are returning to passenger carrying roles in tourism and in recent years we've seen a new-generation of airships put forward as a cargo-lifting solution (DARPA's now seemingly shelved Walrus Project) and even as a corporate air yacht (Aeroscraft ML866). Now the U.S. Army is moving quickly to build a hybrid airship weapons system that will act as a long-duration UAV – a very big, long duration UAV. The Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) will be longer than a football field and stay aloft at altitudes of 20,000 feet for more than three weeks at a time providing an "unblinking eye" for surveillance and reconnaissance.

http://www.gizmag.com/hybrid-airship-us-army/15432/

E nano-estruturas, vejam a escala, aquele espaço é de NM de comprimento!

A fragment of a superconducting thin film patterned with nano-loops measuring 150 nanometers on a side (small) and 500 nanometers on a side (large), where the nano wires making up each loop have a diameter of 25 nanometers.
Brookhaven National Laboratory has fabricated thin films patterned with large arrays of nanowires and loops that are superconducting — able to carry electric current with no resistance — when cooled below about 30 kelvin (-243 degrees Celsius). Even more interesting, the scientists showed they could change the material’s electrical resistance in an unexpected way by placing the material in an external magnetic field. Superconducting nanowires and nano-loops might eventually be useful for new electronic devices

Nature Nanotechnology - Large oscillations of the magnetoresistance in nanopatterned high-temperature superconducting films

http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/06/brookhaven-national-lab-creates-nano.html

Science 4 You... Ora TOMA!

Faz bem à alma, ver bons exemplos em Potugal!!!

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A Science4you, empresa 100% Portuguesa, tem actualmente duas áreas de negócio distintas:

Brinquedos: Produção, Desenvolvimento e Comercialização

Formação: Campos de Férias e Workshops de Ciência

newbox.TV

Brinquedos Didácticos, cá da terra, nada menos que geniais;

É Bom!

Vão ao Site deles, já:
http://www.science4you.pt/

Notícias

Mias perto ainda da Fusão. 30.000 Joules com cada pulso de fusão:

Lawrenceville Plasma Physics High Yield Pulses to Megawatt Generators

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Lawrenceville Plasma Physics (LPP) has a goal of generating 30,000 joules with each nuclear fusion pulse. This would be net energy with conversion to elecricity. So if 100,000 joules was put in from the capacitors then they would need say 200,000 joules back and convert that to 130,000 joules. 100,000 joules for the next shot and 30,000 as excess energy. they are currently only around the 1 joule level. In April it was 0.1 joule, but in May the current increased to 1 megaamp which suggests about 1 joule output.

LPP plans to then increase the pulse rate to 60 pulses per seconds. It would be producing 1.8 million joules per second.

A one megawatt generator produces one million joules per second. (a watt is a joule/ second)

LPP was also trying to get up to 100,000 joules in each pulse. 60 such pulses would be 6 million joules per second, which if converted at with only about 20% loss would be equal to a 5 megawatt generator.

31.536 million seconds per year * 30,000 joules * 60 pulses per second / 3600 seconds =

8760 hours * 60 * 30,000 watt hours = 15.768 million Kilowatt hours

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http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/06/lawrenceville-plasma-physics-high-yield.html

Progressos na Des-Salinização da Água do Mar:

Saltwork Technologies Desalination and Efficiency of Other New Desalination Approaches

Saltworks' patent pending technology employs an innovative Thermo-Ionic™ energy conversion system that uses up to 80 per cent less electrical/mechanical energy relative to leading desalination technologies. The energy reduction is achieved by harnessing low temperature heat and atmospheric dryness to overcome the desalination energy barrier. Saltwater is evaporated to produce a concentrated solution. This solution, which has concentration gradient energy, is fed into Saltworks' proprietary desalting device to desalinate either seawater or brackish water. Some electrical energy is used to circulate fluids at a low pressure, yet the bulk of the energy input is obtained through the evaporation of saltwater.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/06/saltwork-technologies-desalination-and.html

Grafenos, o futuro da Electrónica:

Doping Graphene
Dopant chemicals adhere to a graphene sheet, modifying its properties for the development of ultra small and fast electronic devices. Credit: American Physical Society
by Staff Writers


College Park MD (SPX) Jun 07, 2010
An organic molecule that has been found to be effective in making silicon-based electronics may be viable for building electronics on sheets of carbon only a single molecule thick. Researchers at the Max Plank Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart report the advance in a paper appearing online in the journal Physical Review B on June 1.
Ultrathin carbon layers known as graphene show promise as the basis for a host of extremely small and efficient electronic devices. But in order to create a useful component, the electronic properties of materials like silicon or graphene must be tailored through a doping process.
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Doping_Graphene_999.html

Notícias

Dispersar o Calor como nunca antes, com Nanoestruturas:

Nanostructure coatings remove heat four times faster

In a finding that could well revolutionize cooling technology as we know it, researchers at Oregon State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have discovered a way to achieve near-optimal heat dissipation by applying a nanostructured coating. Because of performance, versatility and economy of materials used, their method could soon lead to better electronics, heating and air conditioning.

We've recently discussed the importance of heat dissipation in electronics; however, while cooling laptops and the likes is an important issue in itself, they are by no means the only area that could benefit from better heat dissipation. The team's work focuses on heat transfer using water in particular and could be used in heating, cooling and air conditioning applications as well as keeping your lap from burning up the next time you check your email at the airport.

http://www.gizmag.com/nanostructure-coatings-remove-heat-four-times-faster/15384/

Fungos, para criar Bio-Combustível:

Fungus Among Us Could Become Non-Food Source For Biodiesel Production
by Staff Writers
Murcia, Spain (SPX) Jun 11, 2010
In the quest for alternatives to soybeans, palm, and other edible oilseed plants as sources for biodiesel production, enter an unlikely new candidate: A fungus, or mold, that produces and socks away large amounts of oils that are suitable for low-cost, eco-friendly biodiesel. That's the topic of a study in ACS' bi-monthly journal Energy and Fuels.

Victoriano Garre and colleagues point out that manufacturers usually produce biodiesel fuel from plant oils - such as rapeseed, palm, and soy. However, expanded production from those sources could foster shortages that mean rising food prices.

In addition, oilseeds require scare farmland, and costly fertilizers and pesticides. To meet growing demand for biodiesel fuel, scientists are looking for oil sources other than plants. Microorganisms such as fungi, which take little space to grow, are ideal candidates. But scientists first must find fungi that produce larger amounts of oil.

http://www.biofueldaily.com/reports/Fungus_Among_Us_Could_Become_Non_Food_Source_For_Biodiesel_Production_999.html

Novas Tecnologias...

Um novo método de dissociar o Hidrogénio do Oxigénio na Àgua, através de dois passos, utilizando um Complexo Metálico, uma nova solução para a produção de Hidrogénio, e que aproveita também o Oxigénio:

Unique Approach For Splitting Water Into Hydrogen And Oxygen

by Staff Writers

Rehovot, Israel (SPX) Apr 07, 2009

The design of efficient systems for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, driven by sunlight is among the most important challenges facing science today, underpinning the long term potential of hydrogen as a clean, sustainable fuel.

But man-made systems that exist today are very inefficient and often require additional use of sacrificial chemical agents. In this context, it is important to establish new mechanisms by which water splitting can take place.

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports

...E progressos importantes estão a ser feitos no campo da Astronáutica Privada, uma Bomba (de bombear) para Hidrogénio, mais barata e de longa vida:

XCOR Aerospace and United Launch Alliance Announce Successful Hydrogen Piston Pump Tests

June 8th, 2010, Mojave, CA, USA and Littleton, CO, USA: XCOR Aerospace, the developer of the Lynx, a manned suborbital spacecraft and related technologies, and United Launch Alliance (ULA), the primary launch services provider to the US Government, announced the first successful demonstration of XCOR’s long life, high performance piston pump technology with liquid hydrogen.

XCOR engineers Mark Street (L) and Mike Valant

discuss an upcoming test in the control room.

XCOR has been developing piston pumps for space applications for more than eight years as an alternative to turbopumps, demonstrating longer life and lower cost. XCOR’s piston pumps have other advantages including the ability to operate over a wide range of speeds and inlet conditions. After XCOR performed risk reduction and demonstration projects in 2009 that validated high performance cryogenic (liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen) piston pump operations, ULA asked XCOR if the pump technology could be extended to liquid hydrogen. Implementing rapid prototyping techniques and working on a fixed price basis, XCOR developed a single piston work-horse test article and test bench, and then successfully tested the pump with hydrogen in less than four months. Based on this success, ULA and XCOR have begun the next phase of the project to further mature the technology.

http://www.xcor.com/press-releases

NUNCA ATIREM ÀGUA PARA UM FOGO COM ÓLEO!!!

NUNCA ATIREM ÀGUA PARA UM FOGO COM ÓLEO!!!

Vejam com atenção, que isto não é brincadeira nenhuma...

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...Mas é claro que vocês pensaram, logo, "porque é que ninguém faz andar um Motor com uma Mistura de Óleo e àgua?"

Também eu, e vejam o que encontrei:

newbox.TV

Notem o detalhe do Depósito com um tubo para a entrada de ar, que mergulha na mistura, agitado-a permanentemente...

ESPERTO! 

3 Boas Notícias!

Mais perto da fusão:

Thursday, January 28, 2010
Scientists Overcome Obstacle to Fusion
The world's largest laser system has uniformly compressed and superheated a fuel capsule.
By Kevin Bullis

One of the key outstanding questions about whether it's possible to use lasers to ignite fusion has been answered. A huge, stadium-sized laser facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA, uniformly compressed and heated a tiny capsule to very high temperatures. The experiments confirmed a theory the scientists there had about how to control the energy from 192 high-power lasers to compress the spherical capsule evenly from all sides.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/energy/24720/

Um novo Bio-Combustível de Alta Densidade:

New Process Yields High-Energy-Density, Plant-Based Transportation Fuel

by Staff Writers
Madison WI (SPX) Mar 01, 2010

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers has developed a highly efficient, environmentally friendly process that selectively converts gamma-valerolactone, a biomass derivative, into the chemical equivalent of jet fuel.


While biofuels such as ethanol are becoming more popular as blending agents in automobile fuels, they have limitations for use in jet fuel because of their low energy density. And, given present internal combustion engine designs, conventional biofuels cannot fully replace petroleum-derived hydrocarbons.

http://www.biofueldaily.com/reports/New_Process_Yields_High_Energy_Density_Plant_Based_Transportation_Fuel_999.html

Uma autêntica maravilha, TODOS os Ficheiros da revista Popular Science, à mão de semear:

We've partnered with Google to offer our entire 137-year archive for free browsing. Each issue appears just as it did at its original time of publication, complete with period advertisements. It's an amazing resource that beautifully encapsulates our ongoing fascination with the future, and science and technology's incredible potential to improve our lives. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

In the future, we'll be adding more advanced features for searching and browsing, but for now, enter any keyword into the box below and dive in.

http://www.popsci.com/archives


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