How researchers can keep birds safe as U.S. wind farms expand
Citizen science data should help guide where wind turbines are built, scientists argue
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A new device can produce electricity using shadows
Jun 2020
It exploits the contrast between light and dark to produce a current to power a small gadget
A new device can produce electricity using shadows
Editorial Briefing
Aluminum-air battery technology for electric vehicles
Jan 2014
Advances in aluminum-air battery technology might allow electrically powered vehicles to become more realistic and competitive automotive options for many drivers.
Aluminum-air battery technology for electric vehicles
Editorial Briefing
The bright future of LED lighting
Jan 2015
Although sales will continue for as long as inventory remains, worldwide production of incandescent lights (lamps) has mostly been phased out by the push for more energy-efficient lighting and improvements in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Between 2009 and 2015 the price of an LED lamp as bright as a 60-watt incandescent lamp dropped from U.S. $70 to $10. Meanwhile, the efficiency (or efficacy) of LEDs for turning power into light (as measured in lumens per watt) increased, as did their working lifetime, which greatly lowered their effective operating costs. See also: Fluorescent lamp; Illuminance; Illumination; Incandescent lamp; Lamp; Light-emitting diode; Luminous efficacy; Luminous efficiency; Luminous flux
The bright future of LED lighting
Editorial Briefing
Faster-charging batteries for electric vehicles
Jan 2021
Many new-model electric vehicles (EVs) now have a driving range greater than 320 kilometers (200 miles). Consequently, range anxiety—the fear of running out of battery power before completing a trip or reaching a charging station—is becoming less problematic. Battery charging, however, remains an issue, as it may take as long as eight hours to recharge an EV battery to its full capacity. Nevertheless, thanks to advances in battery technology, a number of new and existing battery suppliers are reporting EV battery packs in late stages of development that can accept a full charge in 10 to 15 minutes. See also: Battery; Electric vehicle; Electric vehicles and range anxiety
Faster-charging batteries for electric vehicles
Editorial Briefing
Land-use requirements for solar energy
Jan 2014
To understand how much land the average solar power plant occupies, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) analyzed the land-use requirements in 2012 for 72% of the operating utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in the United States. Utility-scale solar plants are those with capacities greater than 1 megawatt (MW). Comparing the total land area (fenced-in area) of CSP and PV plants and normalizing the values for alternating-current (ac; PV is direct current), the NREL found that 25 CSP plants with a total capacity of 3747 MW used on average 10 acres/MWac, whereas 147 PV plants with a total capacity of 4100 MW used on average 8.9 acres/MWac. See also: Concentrating solar power; Electric power generation; Energy sources; Solar cell; Solar energy
Land-use requirements for solar energy
Editorial Briefing
Nanoscale Yagi-Uda antenna converts electricity into light
Jan 2020
With a miniature version of the kind of television antennas that often adorned rooftops before the advent of satellite and cable TV, researchers have demonstrated the conversion of electrical signals into light beamed in a particular direction. This device, referred to as a directional antenna, could be used to generate light for data transfer purposes on the nanometer (nm) scale—or billionths of a meter—needed for today’s electronics components. See also: Antenna (electromagnetism); Data communications; Nanotechnology
Nanoscale Yagi-Uda antenna converts electricity into light
Editorial Briefing
Stretchable conductors
Jan 2014
Flexible circuitry, which can bend but not stretch, has been used by the electronics industry for years. Stretchable electronics offer the potential for new consumer electronic devices such as stretchable displays and wearable electronics as well as implantable biomedical devices that can conform to the body's shape and change shape during movement. See also: Printed circuit board
Stretchable conductors