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Researcher are now looking to make the most of this new discovery.

Did you know that bacteria in the natural world breathe by exhaling excess electrons, causing an intrinsic electrical grid? In a new study, Yale University researchers discovered that light could supercharge this electronic activity within biofilm bacteria, yielding an up to a 100-fold increase in electrical conductivity, according to a press release published by the institution earlier this month.

Yale researchers have found that bacteria buried underground have developed a way to respire by “breathing minerals” through tiny protein filaments called nanowires. This process can be amplified by light producing electricity.

Continue reading “Scientists discover bacteria that can use light to ‘breathe’ electricity” »

A group of researchers from China has found a way to use static energy to boost the power produced by wave energy. The invention could finally make the technology viable and efficient.

PARIS – Vast Space, a Southern California startup founded by cryptocurrency billionaire Jed McCaleb, plans to establish an artificial-gravity space station in low Earth orbit.

McCaleb envisions a future where millions of people are living throughout the solar system. Since other companies are helping to reduce launch costs, McCaleb thinks the next important step will be creating large structures where people can live and work in space.

“Earth has finite resources, but out in the solar system, there is an enormous untapped wealth, both in terms of energy and matter, that could support many ‘Earths,’” McCaleb told SpaceNews by email. “Likewise, mankind needs a frontier. Every prosperous civilization has had one to push off into – nevertheless, we haven’t had one for some time. Without a frontier, the world becomes a zero-sum game, which is detrimental to the psyche of a civilization. And in terms of the long-term future of humanity, we will need to live off of the Earth eventually.”

Industrial heat consumes a huge proportion of global energy. Rondo Energy says its brick-toasting heat storage device is so cheap and efficient that it makes decarbonization an instant no-brainer across a huge range of industries. Bill Gates agrees.

The new fund will be focused on startups in energy, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, satellites and more.

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During the middle ages, the concept of the perpetual motion machine would develop. The first law, known as the Law of Conservation of Energy, would prohibit the existence of a perpetual motion machine, by preventing the creation or destruction of energy within an isolated system.

Continue reading “Pulling Energy Out Of Thin Air” »

As the poet Dylan Thomas once explained, it is “the force that through the green fuse drives the flower.”

Organic photochemistry brings life to Earth, allowing plants to “eat” sunlight. Using this power of light to make new molecules in the lab instead of the leaf, from fuel to pharmaceuticals, is one of the grand challenges of photochemical research.

What is old is new again. Sometimes gaining new insight requires a return to old tools, with a modern twist. Now, a collaborative team from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Princeton University has resurrected a century-old microwave technique to reveal a surprising feature of well-established light-driven chemistry.

Boron as rocket fuel has been a tough nut to crack.

Rocket scientists in China are working to develop a boron-powered supersonic missile that can fly like a commercial airliner and then swim in the water to act as a torpedo, South China Morning Post.

IStock/AlexLMX

Continue reading “Boron-powered Chinese missile will work in the air and underwater” »

Move over, Elon Musk and Richard Branson: A Canadian company wants to join the fight for better high-speed train travel.

Toronto-based TransPod recently unveiled plans for a “FluxJet,” a fully-electric transportation system that’s “a hybrid between an aircraft and a train.” The project, currently in the conceptual stage, would involve 82-foot-long, magnetically levitated trains that would carry passengers at roughly 621 miles per hour.

Continue reading “This Canadian company wants to build a train-plane ‘hybrid’ that can go 620 miles per hour—take a look” »