Future Energy and Technology

OLEDs

2008-11-17T21:19:00.001-07:00

Organic Light Emitting Diodes, have gained significant press over the past years because of their distinct advantages over LCDs. Because OLEDs do not require a backlight they can be significantly thinner and and require much less energy to operate. Sony has shown the most progress in advancing the OLED's image. The current limiting factor for OLEDs are the life of the organic material, which can only last approximately 1/4 as long as a LED or LCD monitor.

Formal what

2008-11-17T19:35:00.003-07:00

Fomalhaut b was recently confirmed, being the first extrasolar planet to be confirmed by direct imaging. After 18 years, the Hubble telescope has finally pinpointed the location of Fomalhaut b, a planet 25 light years away. The planet is most similar to Neptune in our solar system. This confirmation is evidence of the great strides our astronomical technology is taking.

Reinventing the wheel

2008-11-17T18:35:00.004-07:00

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has recently come up with a non-pneumatic tire that will be able to withstand the punishments of a military zone. It will even be able to withstand IED attacks, so long as the rest of the vehicle does. They have been working on the project for four years on a DOD contract.

Californian solar

2008-11-17T18:15:00.002-07:00

California has recently opened their first solar plant in twenty years. Aiming to sell energy for 10 to 15 cents per hour. This is much more competitive than previous attempts at selling solar energy, easily costing over 40 cents per kilowatt hour. The plant is owned by PG&E corp, and the solar plant adds to the company's renewable output putting it at 14%. The size of this plant increased support for solar and its viability for a future energy source. Even though the current financial market has been less than ideal, there are still more plans for expansion of this and similar sites.

Burning pencil

2008-11-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

Not very futuristic, but pretty awesome, what you can do with some electricity and a pencil.