New solar power material converts 90 percent of captured light into heat

 

---

Graduate student Bryan VanSaders measures how much simulated sunlight a novel material can absorb using a unique set of instruments that takes spectral measurements from visible to infrared. This testing is led by electrical engineering professor Zhaowei Liu.

A multidisciplinary engineering team at the University of California, San Diego developed a new nanoparticle-based material for concentrating solar power plants designed to absorb and convert to heat more than 90 percent of the sunlight it captures. The new material can also withstand temperatures greater than 700 degrees Celsius and survive many years outdoors in spite of exposure to air and humidity. Their work, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot program, was published recently in two separate articles in the journal Nano Energy.

By contrast, current solar absorber material functions at lower temperatures and needs to be overhauled almost every year for high temperature operations.

"We wanted to create a material that absorbs sunlight that doesn't let any of it escape. We want the black hole of sunlight," said Sungho Jin, a professor in the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Jin, along with professor Zhaowei Liu of the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering professor Renkun Chen, developed the Silicon boride-coated nanoshell material. They are all experts in functional materials engineering.

The novel material features a "multiscale" surface created by using particles of many sizes ranging from 10 nanometers to 10 micrometers. The multiscale structures can trap and absorb light which contributes to the material's high efficiency when operated at higher temperatures.

Concentrating solar power (CSP) is an emerging alternative clean energy market that produces approximately 3.5 gigawatts worth of power at power plants around the globe -- enough to power more than 2 million homes, with additional construction in progress to provide as much as 20 gigawatts of power in coming years. One of the technology's attractions is that it can be used to retrofit existing power plants that use coal or fossil fuels because it uses the same process to generate electricity from steam.

Traditional power plants burn coal or fossil fuels to create heat that evaporates water into steam. The steam turns a giant turbine that generates electricity from spinning magnets and conductor wire coils. CSP power plants create the steam needed to turn the turbine by using sunlight to heat molten salt. The molten salt can also be stored in thermal storage tanks overnight where it can continue to generate steam and electricity, 24 hours a day if desired, a significant advantage over photovoltaic systems that stop producing energy with the sunset.

One of the most common types of CSP systems uses more than 100,000 reflective mirrors to aim sunlight at a tower that has been spray painted with a light absorbing black paint material. The material is designed to maximize sun light absorption and minimize the loss of light that would naturally emit from the surface in the form of infrared radiation.

The UC San Diego team's combined expertise was used to develop, optimize and characterize a new material for this type of system over the past three years. Researchers included a group of UC San Diego graduate students in materials science and engineering, Justin Taekyoung Kim, Bryan VanSaders, and Jaeyun Moon, who recently joined the faculty of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The synthesized nanoshell material is spray-painted in Chen's lab onto a metal substrate for thermal and mechanical testing. The material's ability to absorb sunlight is measured in Liu's optics laboratory using a unique set of instruments that takes spectral measurements from visible light to infrared.

Current CSP plants are shut down about once a year to chip off the degraded sunlight absorbing material and reapply a new coating, which means no power generation while a replacement coating is applied and cured. That is why DOE's SunShot program challenged and supported UC San Diego research teams to come up with a material with a substantially longer life cycle, in addition to the higher operating temperature for enhanced energy conversion efficiency. The UC San Diego research team is aiming for many years of usage life, a feat they believe they are close to achieving.

Modeled after President Kennedy's moon landing program that inspired widespread interest in science and space exploration, then-Energy Secretary Steven P. Chu launched the Sunshot Initiative in 2010 with the goal of making solar power cost competitive with other means of producing electricity by 2020.

---

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of California - San Diego. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Tae Kyoung Kim, Jaeyun Moon, Bryan VanSaders, Dongwon Chun, Calvin J. Gardner, Jae-Young Jung, Gang Wang, Renkun Chen, Zhaowei Liu, Yu Qiao, Sungho Jin. Si boride-coated Si nanoparticles with improved thermal oxidation resistance. Nano Energy, 2014; 9: 32 DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2014.06.021

---

 

5 Ways to Improve Your Attention

 

Things You Can Do to Minimize Distraction and Increase Concentration

It happens to the best of us. You're sitting in class or in a meeting and you suddenly find yourself daydreaming, losing focus, and not paying attention. In one study of over 2,000 adults, people reported that their minds weren't really on the task at hand almost 50 percent of the time. Perhaps even more importantly, people report feeling less happy when they are distracted.

So what can you do to improve your attention, increase your focus, and prevent your mind from wandering? Researchers have discovered a few different things that might help:

suedhang/Image Source/Getty Images

1. Stop Multitasking

Trying to do many different things at once makes it more difficult to concentrate on any one thing. While it might seem like multitasking can help you accomplish more, research has shown that juggling multiple tasks actually reduces both productivity and accuracy. If you want to make the most out of your attentional resources, try focusing on just one task at a time.

Thomas Barwick / Getty Images

2. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness involves purposely paying attention to things in a particular way, and new research suggests that practicing mindfulness might actually help improve your ability to concentrate. According to research presented at an annual conference held by the British Psychological Society (BPS), children who took a short training course in mindfulness were better able to concentrate and ignore distractions.

Juzant / Getty Images

3. Meditate

Researchers have found that those experienced in meditation are better at focusing their attention on a single item and ignoring irrelevant items. What about people new to meditation? Can practicing this skill help you better focus your attentional spotlight? The research indicates that the answer is yes. Participants in one study who learned to meditate and practiced for approximately 30 minutes per day were quicker to notice new stimuli, indicating that they had improved their attention.

So why exactly does meditation help? One suggestion is that it decreases the attentional blink that we all experience. Attentional blink is a brief period of time after we focus on one item, about half a second, where we are unreceptive to secondary stimuli. Essentially, focusing on one thing makes us briefly blind to other things. One study found that participants who received meditation training demonstrated a marked reduction in attentional blink.

Tetra Images / Getty Images

4. Turn Off the Technology

From smart phones to video games to online video, it seems like we spend a huge chunk of our day absorbed by various forms of technology. Unfortunately, research has demonstrated that the constant distraction presented by such technology can actually make it more difficult for young children to focus on activities such as reading for an extended period of time. If you want to focus your attention and fully devote yourself to a task, turn off the technology - at least for long enough to let you finish the job.

Zakaria Wakrim / Getty Images

5. Practice Makes Perfect

Meditation can help you learn to improve your focus, but it takes practice to learn how to bring your bring your attention back to the task at hand. Researcher Wendy Hasenkamp suggests that becoming aware of when your mind has wandered, actively disengaging from the distraction, and bringing your focus back to the task at hand can help make people more mindful of how they utilize their attention. The more you notice that your mind has wandered, and thus the more you actively bring yourself back to a state of attention, the better you will become at maintaining your focus on a single task.

"Understanding the way the brain alternates between focused and distracted states has implications for a wide variety of everyday tasks," Hasenkamp explains. "For example, when your mind wandered off in that meeting, it might help to know you’re slipping into default mode—and you can deliberately bring yourself back to the moment. That’s an ability that can improve with training."

Final Thoughts

If you've ever felt like you have a "short attention span" or if you often catch your mind wandering when you should be focusing on a task, you might be able to benefit from some of these "attention boosting" activities. Eliminating distractions, putting an end to multitasking, meditating, and actively practicing these skills are just a few of the things that researchers believe can have a beneficial influence on attention. Think of attention as a muscle – the more you work with it, the stronger it will be.

References

Carr, N. (2010, June 20). As technology advances, deep reading suffers. SFGate. Retrieved from http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/As-technology-advances-deep-reading-suffers-3261215.php

Hasenkamp, W., Wilson-Mendenhall, C. D., Duncan, E., & Basalou, L. W. (2012). Mind wandering and attention during focused meditation: A fine-grained temporal analysis of fluctuating cognitive states. NeuroImage, 59, 750-560.

Hasenkamp, W. (2013, July 17). How to focus a wandering mind. Greater Good. Retrieved fromhttp://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_focus_a_wandering_mind

Jha, A. P., Krompinger, J., & Baime, M. J. (2007). Mindfulness training modifies subsystems of attention. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 7(2), 109-119.

Testing of filters to contain radioactive materials

 

---

-If released in significant quantities, radioactive materials pose a potential threat to people and the environment. Now, new research at Mississippi State University is helping the nuclear industry ensure that radioactive materials continue to be safely contained and that standards of safety are continuously improved.

MSU's Institute for Clean Energy Technology (ICET) is doing research to ensure that confinement systems for processing radioactive waste are robust and effective with minimal risk of accidental exposure for workers at specialized waste treatment facilities, as well as area neighbors.

The university research center recently hosted visitors from the U.S. Department of Energy, Washington State's Department of Health, Bechtel National, Inc., Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, and nuclear energy industry leaders from across the country to observe testing technology which assesses nuclear grade high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration systems.

ICET is an entity of the university's Energy Institute and is currently engaged in major projects funded by the DOE Office of Environmental Management, the DOE Nuclear Safety Research and Development program, and by Bechtel National, Inc., to test HEPA filtration systems with the goal of developing more robust HEPA filters for the nuclear industry. The filters are used at energy facilities across the country, such as the DOE Hanford site in Washington State, the Savannah River site in South Carolina, and the Idaho site. 

Charles Waggoner, deputy director of ICET and MSU research professor, said the highly technical processes and testing infrastructure are vitally important for assessing HEPA filtration systems' abilities to withstand unexpected harsh conditions, such as a fire or high humidity event like a steam line failure.

"The testing we're doing is very significant," Waggoner said, "and we are the only place in the world with infrastructure and personnel capable of doing this work."

The HEPA filters are the last line of defense to be sure that radioactive contamination is contained. These specialized filters are 99.97 percent efficient, and they are tested to ensure that they will maintain that efficiency, even under the stress of an unexpected event, such as if damage to a facility is caused by an earthquake.

Of particular interest to the high-profile visitors, MSU researchers discovered a problem with one variation of "separatorless" HEPA filters. DOE now has expanded funding at ICET to further study the issue, and results from this testing will be used to determine a path forward.

DOE HEPA filter technical specialist in the Office of Environment, Health, Safety & Security Subir Sen said his office prepares the directives and standards for DOE in regards to HEPA filter procurement and a separate quality control testing program.

"We also manage the additional testing that the filters used in nuclear facilities for DOE undergo through an independent filter test facility," he said, explaining that each individual filter used in a DOE nuclear facility is tested before use.

"When test results were published by Dr. Waggoner which showed that separatorless filters may not perform under certain conditions, we became interested. [DOE's Office of Environmental Management is] following through with this test to find out how they perform and if any recommendations need to be made within our standards," he said.

Sen noted that the testing process at MSU is unique in that it combines different types of stressors to see how the filters perform during a combination of harsh conditions. While current national consensus standards also require testing for harsh conditions, the MSU testing at ICET is the only one that combines the conditions to occur simultaneously.

Scott MacMurray, a project engineer with Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, South Carolina, said the testing at MSU will impact which design of filters his company will purchase in the future. As a member of the Energy Facility Contractors Operating Group, MacMurray said contractors who run the various DOE sites around the U.S. will be sharing information about the latest test findings at ICET.

"Lots of different groups have sent a representative because it's such an important program," MacMurray said of the MSU visit. "All the different parties are interested in the results of the testing."

For more information about Mississippi State, visit www.msstate.edu.

The Biotech Company Mapp May Hold the Key to Fighting Ebola

 

The Ebola Virus.  Handout/Getty Images News/Getty

Amazingly, a nine-person San Diego company called Mapp may have the best shot yet at ending the deadly Ebola epidemic. They've developed an experimental drug called ZMAPP that has been rushed into use as the virus spreads. Their extraordinary story reveals opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship in the biotechnology sector. 

Fact #1: They are a tiny company

Possibly the most amazing thing about the ZMAPP story is that it was developed by a completely obscure and tiny company and not a pharmaceutical giant like Merck or GlaxoSmithKline. The New York Times reports that the firm was started in 2003 by Dr. Larry Zeitlin and Kevin J. Whaley, two researchers who had begun working together at Johns Hopkins University many years ago on ways of using crops to produce immune system proteins to treat diseases in people.

Fact #2: The experimental drug is not approved for human use

ZMAPP was still in development, slated for human trials in 2015, when the Ebola crisis hit. Until that point, it had only been tested in monkeys and showed some promise there. In August, it was used to treat Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, two doctors who had been infected with Ebola while treating patients in West Africa. Both doctors recovered.

The Morning Consult, a website that covers questions pertaining to regulation and industry, questions how the doctors got the drug, looking askance at the stated private deal brokered by Samaritan's Purse, the nonprofit employing Dr. Brantley and Mapp. Were other forces at play, the author wonders?

Fact #3: The FDA's "animal rule" may provide a regulatory fast-track for ZMAPP

While drug regulation in the United States is quite labyrinthine, characterized by a series of clinical trials that can take years, the FDA did create an "animal efficacy rule" in 2002 in part to help speed the development and testing of drugs to reduce or prevent life-threatening conditions caused by exposure to lethal toxic agent (bioterrorism). It's possible that this rule may help a drug like ZMAPP get to market more quickly.

Fact #4: Mapp produces this drug with the help of tobacco plants

An article in the New York Times explains that ZMAPP is the result of a long process of developing and engineering antibodies that start in mice exposed to a key Ebola protein. The antibodies that the mice produce against the virus are genetically modified to better resemble human antibodies. Interestingly enough, as part of the production process, the gene for each antibody produced is introduced into the leaves of a tobacco plant.

While "monoclonal antibodies" like these, typically used in the treatment of cancer and other diseases, are normally grown in animal cells, the tobacco plants are used in this process because they are cheaper and will potentially allow more of the antibody to be produced in less time.

Fact #5: It's actually quite something to produce drugs with genetically engineered crops

The Times notes that this type of plant modification is not practiced at large scale, because of the worry of cross-contamination. Instead, these plants are grow inside of buildings and their cultivation is funded, in part, by the U.S. Department of Defense.

If the Ebola crisis worsens, Mapp may turn to other production facilities to ramp up their production of ZMAPP.

Opportunities in Biotechnology

Mapp's story highlights the exploding opportunities in the emergent field of biotechnology, or the use of living systems or organism to make useful products. In this case, the product is a theraputic treatment for Ebola, but the biotechnology sector comprises solutions in a number of sectors including agriculture, biofuels and even industrial chemical production.

source of this post:http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/Technology/fl/5-Mindblowing-Facts-About-the-Company-That-May-Hold-the-Key-to-Fighting-Ebola.htm

9 Futuristic Inventions You Won't Believe Actually Exist!

 

Tiny computers, smartphones, instant messaging and videoconferencing were all fanciful science fiction inventions up until about twenty years ago. Now they are so ubiquitous, we hardly give them a second thought.

But what about all of those cool inventions that movies, TV and science fiction promised us like flying cars, robot fighters and bionic body parts? Believe or not, some are actually real, and poised to shape markets of tomorrow. 

Here are 9 science-fiction like technologies and inventions and the companies working to bring them to life.

The Hendo Hoverboard. Photo: Hendo

1. Hoverboards

Hoverboards were a key component of the film Back to the Future, and they are one of the first things most people think about when they wonder about all of the futuristic ideas we were promised.

Lucky for us, the hoverboard is about to be real, and for just $10,000, it can be yours, through this Kickstarter from Hendo Hoverboards.

Hendo was founded by Greg Henderson, who patented a technology called Magnetic Field Architecture (MFA™) to make hoverboards a reality. But unlike Marty McFly's version, these boards are for more than just tooling around town. They may one day be employed to help prop up precarious buildings in disaster zones. Check out this video of a Verge writer actually testing one out! The future is definitely here!

Related: Intro to Crowdfunding

Photo: Terrafugia

2. Flying Cars

The automobile industry has remained largely static since the days of the model T. Sure, new features are added all the time, but the basic idea of wheels on the ground has remained the same with little disruption to the basic model.

That may all change with flying car company Terrafugia. They have produced the Transition®, a two-place, fixed wing, street legal airplane. Imagine flying into your next meeting, and parking your flying car in the garage later! 

Coneyl Jay/Stone/Getty Images

3. Tiny and Powerful Products

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale, and the field has plenty of possibilities in a number of areas, including medicine and energy production. At GE, scientists have worked to create polymer-based nanoparticles that can target and kill MRSA.

Related: 5 Mind-Blowing Facts About the Tiny Company that Might Hold the Key to Stopping Ebola

Would you eat this instead of a delicious hamburger?. Photo: Soylent

4. Food pills

Soylent is a company with a simple proposition: "What if you never had to worry about food again?" While Soylent is a nutrition shake and not a pill, it still promises complete nutrition in powdered form. Founder Robert Rhinehart developed Soylent after realizing how much time he could save if he didn't have to prepare food.

But will Soylent catch on with a public hungry for delectable treats? Time will tell. 

Air touch technology from ITRI. Photo: Industrial Technology Research Institute

5. Air Touch Technology

One of the coolest sci-fi technologies in the film Minority Report were the air-touch screens, liberating computing from the desk and even the hand-held device. Thanks to the Taiwanese company Industrial Technology Research Institute, the possibility of computing with an air-touch screen is becoming closer than ever. 

Lockheed Martin's exosuit. Photo: Lockheed Martin

6. Military Exoskeleton

An Iron Man-like "smart suit" that confers upon its wearer extra protection and super human strength? Lockheed Martin is working on just that in the HULC exoskeleton, "a completely un-tethered, hydraulic-powered anthropomorphic exoskeleton that provides users with the ability to carry loads of up to 200 pounds for extended periods of time and over all terrains. Its flexible design allows for deep squats, crawls and upper-body lifting." The HULC is being developed for use in military conflicts. 

Miguel Navarro/Stone/Getty Images

7. 3-D Printers

Remember the replicator from Star Trek? The explosion of 3-D printing over the past few years has produced innovations just as dazzling, from rapid prototyping to medical applications. Right at the forefront of this trend are companies like Makerbot, which put powerful 3D printing power right in the hands of consumers. 

Double trouble?. Martin Barraud/Caiaimage/Getty Images

8. Cloning

We all know about Dolly the sheep, the first successful mammalian clone. But did you know there's a South Korean company that for a hefty fee (around $100,000 to be exact) will clone your beloved dog? It's true -- Sooam Biotech will supply you with an exact genetic replica of your beloved pooch, treats, training and TLC not included.

Related: What Dogs Can Teach Us About Business

Bernhard Lang/Photographer's Choice/Getty Images

9. Bionic Eye

Helping the blind to see via technology -- surely one of the most laudable goals that an entrepreneur can dream up. And thankfully, it's now possible via the Argus® II Retinal Prosthesis System ("Argus II"). This "bionic eye" from the company Second Sight provides electrical stimulation of the retina to induce visual perception in blind individuals. Pretty cool! 

source of this post: