What is Digg?24 Comments
- FallOutBoyTonto, on 07/30/2008, -2/+20when will we get our zed p m's?
- L0C0loco, on 07/31/2008, -1/+10A nice, if brief, article presenting a few of the near-term opportunities for getting us off of fossil fuels. Quantum dots are not just for solar cells though. They are being used to make efficient thermo-electric materials that can turn (waste) heat directly into electricity. Once their efficiencies get to 30% or so they will be reasonable replacements for mechanical generators (turbines). Quantum wires are interesting, but the real promise of nanotubes is in their strengthening of materials while also decreasing their mass. High strength to weight materials would have applications everywhere and reduce the need for energy in transportation systems (probably the only one listed that could be applied to aircraft). Improved storage systems are a vital piece of the puzzle of your energy future. Ultracapacitors could vastly improve the amount of energy captured in regenerative breaking systems (current versions capture only 30%) in addition to the stated benefit of fast (dis)charging. Certainly some sort of battery-capacitor hybrid system will appear very soon.
- darthsand, on 07/30/2008, -2/+11I love articles on the different dimensionalisms of the world based on the assumptions of quantum physics!
- KaiUno, on 07/31/2008, -4/+7The LOL! makes me think you're lying.
- ha3er0, on 06/16/2009, -2/+5Just search for quantum porn with Cuil. Duh!
- LarianLeQuella, on 07/30/2008, -3/+5LOL! I was just having a discussion with my wife about this very subject! I need to show this to her.
- fractorial, on 07/31/2008, -0/+2...But why is it faster?
- bkrock, on 07/31/2008, -0/+2the next sentence...
"capacitors are more durable and can charge and discharge much faster than batteries." - drgreenberg, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1Every semiconductor device we've used for the past several decades has depended on the specifics of quantum physics. This is hardly new stuff.
- Hangly, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1?
Quantum physics powers the present. - hakkola, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1next sentence...
So you can charge it quicker, but it also dies quicker?
I was going to post the same thing as llbbl. Quantum logic, less is more!
Haha, I get what it is saying but it sounds funny regardless. - DrJG, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1Thank you, mpind176.
- thebellmaster1x, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1That's pseudoscientific nonsense. You can't extract zero-point energy from a vacuum. By definition, you can't have less energy than the least energy possible. Mr. Beardens is an idiot.
- llbbl, on 07/31/2008, -1/+2"The resulting "ultracapacitor" could store as much as 50 percent of the electricity that a similarly-sized battery can"
wait so you get 1/2 the power for the same size? that doesn't sound so great to me....
but wait there's more!
its made out of nano-tubes so it must be awesome?? !!!
wat - brundlefly76, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1You can use it to power your house but you can never know how much.
- humanerror, on 07/31/2008, -1/+2Um... wait, no, don't come in yet. Your wife says it's very interesting and tell her about it later.
- digghasnoethics, on 07/31/2008, -1/+1"The strange behavior of quantum physics might seem too unpredictable to rely on for our energy needs, but new technologies hope to capitalize on its very strangeness."
Err, don't they know that no quantum strangeness, no sun at all?
Say thank you for quantum tunnelling. - hollyminkowski, on 07/31/2008, -2/+2Yup, the wave particle duality is a real head-scratcher.
That classic slit experiment just seems impossible! How does that work?
Waveicles... - Eezyville, on 07/31/2008, -1/+1LOL at the thumbnail!
- illuniel, on 08/08/2008, -0/+0what?? nothing about zero point energy?
- dilbert, on 07/31/2008, -1/+1FTA:"The trouble is that superconductors only work at extremely cold temperatures."
Rly? Cold temperatures? Instead of cold distances or cold age? Doesn't cold always refer to temperature?
Science isn't what it used to be. - dhdghg, on 07/31/2008, -1/+0Tom Beardens website has demonstrated vacuum energy principles and pioneers for many
years. http://www.cheniere.org/ - wunksta, on 07/31/2008, -1/+0uhh what do you suggest? have them say "The trouble is that superconductors only work at extremely cold." ?
- disrupter, on 07/31/2008, -6/+1Engage!
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