Battery boost
The growth in the use of mobile phones and portable computers is placing new demands on battery technology, but a new type of lithium battery could solve many of these problems
Author archive
ESF General Assembly: new image, new physics and new secretary general
A number of new research projects in physics were also announced and Enric Banda, former secretary of state for universities and research in Spain, was confirmed as the foundation’s next secretary general. In particular, Rees advised, scientists cannot expect to convince the public of the benefits of science using only scientific logic. “The result is […]
New contractor for weapons lab
Department of Energy officials announced last week who will be running Brookhaven National Laboratory
Climate summit hots up
Politicians and policy-makers from more than 150 countries meet in Kyoto, Japan, this month to set legally binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Clouds over Kyoto
Even if levels had increased over the previous two years, it was surely not beyond the wit of the world’s most technologically advanced countries to reduce them by the end of the decade. The difficult part was going to be cutting emissions below existing levels. Five years later even that soft target has proved too […]
Science studies – what’s wrong?
Physicists form a rather closed group of people. You may occasionally talk to a chemist or a mathematician, but how often do you cross the campus to speak to people working in the relatively new academic disciplines of “science studies”, “sociology of scientific knowledge” (SSK) or “science, technology and society” (STS). Do you even talk […]
Replicating objects by laser light
One of the biggest changes in CAD design in the past five years is the creation of models direct from the CAD package using machine controlled tools. Recently, this design process took another leap forward with the creation of three-dimensional objects or models by irradiation of compositions which crosslink and solidify upon irradiation (photohardenable). This […]
Testing the water
The detection and monitoring of metals and organic compounds in water, is normally done by having an technician collect on-site field samples. These samples are then take back to a laboratory. Though there have been many attempts to provide on-site analysis and remote sampling, all previous solutions still required a technician to collect the sample, […]
Radioactive waste reaches water
The studies were carried out by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on the behalf of the Department of Energy. According to the reports, waste from at least five of the tanks has seeped 70m below into local groundwater. Each tank contains approximately 204 million litres of radioactive material produced from plutonuim production in Richland, Washington. […]
Shady solar outhouses
The US Forest Service has recently installed solar outhouses, but positioned some of them in the shade
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