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Category: transportation

Long-distance cargo ships lose a significant amount of energy due to fluid friction. Looking to the drag reduction mechanisms employed by aquatic life can provide inspiration on how to improve efficiency.

Fish and seaweed secrete a layer of mucus to create a slippery surface, reducing their friction as they travel through water. A potential way to mimic this is by creating -infused surfaces covered with cavities. As the cavities are continuously filled with the lubricant, a layer is formed over the surface.

Though this method has previously been shown to work, reducing drag by up to 18%, the underlying physics is not fully understood. In the journal Physics of Fluids, researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Pohang University of Science and Technology conducted simulations of this process to help explain the effects.

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The batteries will offer more range in the same size pack, but the automaker still has to solve the technology’s life-span problem.

Toyota has chosen to focus on hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles as the cornerstones of its green strategy, but that doesn’t mean the automaker is forgoing an electric vehicle altogether. In addition to an EV crossover coming from the automaker and its partner Subaru in the near future and a lineup of six EVs (some of which are pictured above), which are likely to land in China first, Toyota is currently working on a technological breakthrough that will reach far beyond its use in an EV: the solid-state battery.

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Researchers perfect a battery that will let electric vehicles charge faster and drive farther while lasting a lot longer, but don’t expect to see it anytime soon.

For years, solid-state batteries have been heralded as the answer to many of the issues surrounding EVs. The battery technology allows for greater energy density, which translates into more range from the same size pack as a lithium-ion battery. The problem has been that the failure rate is far too high after repeated charging. Also, they’re super expensive. But Samsung may have solved the first issue.

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Coming late 2020 or early 2021.

CEO Elon Musk is expected to detail the new battery tech at a “Battery Day” event for investors later this month. The long-rumored advancement could make it possible for Tesla to sell its vehicles at more competitive prices.

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Materials scientists at Duke University have uncovered an atomic mechanism that makes certain thermoelectric materials incredibly efficient near high-temperature phase transitions. The information will help fill critical knowledge gaps in the computational modeling of such materials, potentially allowing researchers to discover new and better options for technologies that rely on transforming heat into electricity.

The results appear online on September 4 in the journal Nature Communications.

Thermoelectric materials convert heat into electricity when electrons migrate from the hot side of the material to the cold side. Because providing a temperature difference between its two sides is required, researchers are interested in trying to use these materials to generate electricity from the heat of a car’s tailpipe or recovering energy lost as heat in power plants.

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The is truly unique; as a single seat (or single plus pillion), twin jet, HSA Motorcycle, it is a world’s first in many ways. At just 2.3m long and under 1m wide, it is the smallest of all Gibbs High speed amphibious platforms, and very probably the most technically advanced. It represents true freedom for the individual; serious fun.

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