There were the cleaners, with large padded feet, who were apparently polishing their way the whole length…’ — Arthur C. Clarke, 1972.
IceBot Antarctic (Planetary?) Robotic Explorers Made Of Ice ‘Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures, like excavators or centipedes.’ — Greg Bear, 2015.
Study: Robots Encourage Humans To Take Risks Not exactly Three Laws compliant.
BladeBUG Robots Clean Massive Wind Turbine Blades ‘There were the cleaners, with large padded feet, who were apparently polishing their way the whole length…’ — Arthur C. Clarke, 1972.
IceBot Antarctic (Planetary?) Robotic Explorers Made Of Ice ‘Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures, like excavators or centipedes.’ — Greg Bear, 2015.
Study: Robots Encourage Humans To Take Risks Not exactly Three Laws compliant.
Over the past few years, researchers have been trying to develop new designs for perovskite solar cells that could improve their performance, efficiency and stability over time. One possible way of achieving this is to combine 2-D and 3D halide perovskites in order to leverage the advantageous properties of these two different types of perovskites.
The two-dimensional crystal structure of 2-D halide perovskites is highly resistant to moisture; thus, it could help to increase the performance and durability of solar cells with a light-absorbing 3D halide perovskite layer. However, most of the strategies for combining 2-D and 3D halide perovskites proposed so far simply entail mixing these two materials together (e.g., mixing 2-D precursors with a solution-based 3D perovskite or reacting 2-D precursor solutions on top of a 3D perovskite layer).
Researchers at Seoul National University and Korea University have recently devised an alternative approach for creating solar cells that combine 2-D and 3D halide perovskites. This approach, outlined in a paper published in Nature Energy, could help to simultaneously improve both the efficiency and long-term stability of these cells.
This eco village is 100% self-sufficient
Solar powered yacht. 😃
Pierpaolo Lazzarini designs the ‘Pagurus’, a solar-powered amphibious catamaran. via: Myshify.
Using ocean/sea waves for power. 😃
This is the Eco Wave Power, an innovative and affordable technology that produces clean, renewable energy from ocean waves. (More info: https://youtu.be/BrDua3j1U3M)
Posted in robotics/AI, solar power, space, sustainability | Leave a Comment on NASA’s attempt to burrow into Mars met 2 insurmountable obstacles: cement-like soil and an unexpected energy shortage
InSight lander’s “mole” was unable to hammer through the Martian soil, and unusually dusty solar panels meant the robot was generating less power.
Circa 2020
The acute problem of eutrophication increasing in the environment is due to the increase of industrial wastewater, synthetic nitrogen, urine, and urea. This pollutes groundwater, soil and creates a danger to aquatic life. Therefore, it is advantageous to use these waste materials in the form of urea as fuel to generate power using Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). In this work, we studied the compost soil MFC(CSMFC) unlike typical MFC with urea from the compost as fuel and graphite as a functional electrode. The electrochemical techniques such as Cyclic Voltammetry, Chronoamperometry are used to characterise CSMFC. It is observed that the CSMFC in which the compost consists of urea concertation of 0.5 g/ml produces maximum power. Moreover, IV measurement is carried out using polarization curves in order to study its sustainability and scalability. Bacterial studies were also playing a significant role in power generation. The sustainability study revealed that urea is consumed in CSMFC to generate power. This study confirmed that urea has a profound effect on the power generation from the CSMFC. Our focus is to get power from the soil processes in future by using waste like urine, industrial wastewater, which contains much amount of urea.
SONDORS has just pulled up the curtain on its first-ever electric motorcycle, the SONDORS Metacycle. The new commuter electric motorcycle may just be the first truly low-cost electric motorcycle capable of both city and highway riding.
Of course terms like “affordable” and “low-cost” will always be relative.
But to put things in perspective, we live in a world where the $29799 Harley-Davidson LiveWire is considered largely a commuter electric motorcycle, though with enough power for some impressive drag races as well.
Engineers at MIT and Imperial College London have developed a new way to generate tough, functional materials using a mixture of bacteria and yeast similar to the “kombucha mother” used to ferment tea.
Using this mixture, also called a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), the researchers were able to produce cellulose embedded with enzymes that can perform a variety of functions, such as sensing environmental pollutants. They also showed that they could incorporate yeast directly into the material, creating “living materials” that could be used to purify water or to make “smart” packaging materials that can detect damage.
“We foresee a future where diverse materials could be grown at home or in local production facilities, using biology rather than resource-intensive centralized manufacturing,” says Timothy Lu, an MIT associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science and of biological engineering.
