Researchers at MIT have developed a new type of photovoltaic cell made with carbon nanotubes that captures solar energy in the near-infrared region of the spectrum, which conventional silicon solar cells don’t. The new design means solar cell efficiency could be greatly increased, boosting the chances to make solar power a more popular source of energy.

The new solar cell developed at MIT is a consequence of recent advances in the large-scale production of carbon nanotubes. It also features another type of carbon, a fullerene known as C60 (aka Buckminsterfullerene). The nanotubes have to … Read More → "MIT researchers develop all-carbon solar cell"

Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos means “whoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to Heaven and down to Hell.” This property right principle asserts that a person who owns a particular piece of land owns everything directly above and below that piece of land, no matter the distance, and can prosecute trespassers who violate their border on the surface, underground … Read More → "Do you own the space above your house?"

Gaining access to your gym or office building could soon be as simple as waving a hand at the front door. A Hunsville, Ala.-based company called IDair is developing a system that can scan and identify a fingerprint from nearly 20 feet away. Coupled with other biometrics, it could soon allow security systems to grant or deny access from a distance, without requiring … Read More → "A fingerprint scanner that can capture prints from 20 feet away"

If your childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut and traveling to the moon have been left unfulfilled, a British company has your back. They plan to start flying round trip journeys to the moon starting in just three years. The cost? Just $155 million per person.

Excalibur Almaz was founded by a Houston patent attorney named Art Dula, but they are based on the Isle Of Man which sits in the Irish Sea between … Read More → "Company starts selling tickets to the moon, only $155M round trip"

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory is on its way. In a little more than a month, the 1-ton rover, whichlaunched in November, will descend to the Martian surface.

The nuclear-powered robot is designed to make spectacular new discoveries about the Red Planet. It will drill and analyze the Martian soil to search for signs of water, past or present, and determine whether or not the planet was ever able to … Read More → "What NASA’s next Mars Rover will discover"

A team of Stanford scientists has revealed that it plans to sit Stephen Hawking down in a room, place a device on his head, and literally hack his brain to work out what’s going on in there.

The scientists, who have developed a tool called the iBrain (hey, imaginative!), will do this, on-stage, at a conference in Cambridge, UK, next month. Philip Low, a professor at Stanford and inventor of the iBrain, explains to the Telegraph:

“This is very exciting for us because it allows us … Read More → "Scientists plan to hack Stephen Hawking’s brain"

A tour operator in Nepal runs what they claim is the world’s fastest zip-line, a 1.8km run that drops 600m and attains speeds of 160km/h.
via Boing Boing

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On August 5, NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover will touch down on the surface of the Red Planet. Or that’s what we all hope, because it will be the craziest landing in the history of space exploration.

The landing sequence alone requires six vehicle configurations, 76 pyrotechnic devices, the largest supersonic parachute ever built by anyone, and more than 500,000 lines of code. It’s such an intense undertaking that the scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, call it The Seven Minutes of Terror.
via < … Read More → "Why NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover landing will be seven minutes of absolute terror"

One of the oldest prizes in aviation is one step closer to being claimed after a team from the University of Maryland flew a human-powered helicopter for 50 seconds yesterday. The students managed the tenuous indoor flight with the Gamera II, beating the team’s previous record of 11 seconds set last summer.

The flight came at the end of two action-filled days of flying, fixing and flying again with numerous hops … Read More → "Human-powered helicopter hovers for nearly a minute"

WNYC’s Radiolab is audio storytelling at its best: Experimental, wonderful, and weird. The show’s new app for Android and iOS is designed to get you in on the action of making the crazy sound happen.

The app has a built-in recorder that allows you to capture audio wherever you are and submit it to the show for use on the air. Crowdsourced journalism, hurray!
via Gizmodo

Read More → "Radiolab app: be a part of the nerdiest show on the airwaves"