Author Archives: curiouscat

Solar Power Innovation: 10 Times Cheaper needs 10 Times less Sun

Dr Wayne CampbellTaking nature’s cue for cheaper solar power (site broke link so I removed it):

Solar cell technology developed by the University’s Nanomaterials Research Centre will enable New Zealanders to generate electricity from sunlight at a 10th of the cost of current silicon-based photo-electric solar cells.
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Dr Campbell says that unlike the silicon-based solar cells currently on the market, the 10x10cm green demonstration cells generate enough electricity to run a small fan in low-light conditions – making them ideal for cloudy climates. The dyes can also be incorporated into tinted windows that trap to generate electricity.

He says the green solar cells are more environmentally friendly than silicon-based cells as they are made from titanium dioxide – a plentiful, renewable and non-toxic white mineral obtained from New Zealand’s black sand. Titanium dioxide is already used in consumer products such as toothpaste, white paints and cosmetics.

“The refining of pure silicon, although a very abundant mineral, is energy-hungry and very expensive. And whereas silicon cells need direct sunlight to operate efficiently, these cells will work efficiently in low diffuse light conditions,” Dr Campbell says. “The expected cost is one 10th of the price of a silicon-based solar panel, making them more attractive and accessible to home-owners.” The Centre’s new director, Professor Ashton Partridge, says they now have the most efficient porphyrin dye in the world and aim to optimise and improve the cell construction and performance before developing the cells commercially.

Related: Solar power breakthrough at Massey – Cheap, Super-efficient Solar – Large-Scale, Cheap Solar Electricity – Micro-Wind Turbines for Home Use

Solar Flares May Threaten GPS

Solar Bursts May Threaten GPS (site broke link so I removed it):

The cause for their concern, Johnson said, was an unexpected solar radio burst on Dec. 6 that affected virtually every GPS receiver on the lighted half of Earth. Some receivers had a reduction in accuracy while others completely lost the ability to determine position, he said.
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And protecting the system is no simple task, added Paul M. Kintner Jr., a professor of electrical engineering at Cornell University, who monitored the December event. There are two possible ways to shield the system, he said, both very expensive. Either alter all GPS antennas to screen out solar signals or replace all of the GPS satellites with ones that broadcast a stronger signal.

That’s why it’s essential to learn more about the sun’s behavior quickly in an effort to find ways to predict such events, the researchers said. In addition to the GPS system, the December solar flare affected satellites and induced unexpected currents in the electrical grid, Johnson said.
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Dale E. Gary, chairman of the physics department of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said the burst produced 10 times more radio noise than any burst previously recorded.

Related: Solar Storms – Solar Eruption Photo

Cats Control Rats … With Parasites

Cats Control Rats … With Parasites

What, then, could attract rats to cat pee? None other than toxoplasma gondii, a parasite carried by cats. If a rat is infected by t. gondii, cat urine doesn’t seem so bad anymore; it’s even kind of attractive. Even more impressively, Stanford University researchers have found that the rats otherwise behave normally, with all their usual fears intact. The response is so specific that cats and t. gondii seem almost like a single organism — which, in a sense, they are.

Related: Bizarre Human Brain Parasite Precisely Alters Fear – Virus may be eating your brain

Fellowship Winners

Several fellowships and scholarships have announced winners for this year:

As I have mentioned before I work for ASEE (which manages the NSF and NDSEG fellowships): this blog is my personal blog and is not associated with ASEE.

Find out more about these and other science and engineering fellowships and scholarships. Also see: How to Win a Graduate Fellowship – NSF Undergraduate STEM Scholarships

Ranking Universities Worldwide

The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities provides another estimate of the top universities. The methodology is far ideal however I still find it interesting. The various attempts to rank schools can provide a general idea of impact of various institutions (though the measures are fairly crude). Still a sensible picture (especially at the country level) can emerge. And the various rankings should be a able to track shifts in the most influential institutions and relative country strength over time. How quickly those rankings track changes will vary depending on the measures used. I would imagine most will lag the “real” changes as it is easy to imagine many measures that would lag. Still, as I have said before, I expect the USA will lose in relative ranking compared to China, India, Japan, Singapore, Mexico…

The ranking methodology used here weighed rankings in: Jiao Tong academic rankings, Essential Science Indicators, Google Scholar, Alexa (a measure of web site visits to universities) and The Times Higher World University Rankings.

Country representation of the top universities (number of top schools in each country):

location Webometrics
Top 100		 Jiao Tong
Top 101		 % of World
Population		 % of World GDP*
USA 53 54   4.6%   30.4%
Germany 10   5  1.3   6.3
Canada   8   4  0.5   2.5
United Kingdom   6 10  0.9   5.0
Australia   3   2  0.3   1.6
Japan   1   6 2.0 10.3
The rest of Europe 16 13
Brazil   1   0   2.8   1.8
Mexico   1   0   1.6   1.7
Israel   0   1   0.1   0.3

* IMF, World Economic Outlook Database, September 2006 (2005 data)
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Lead the Way – Cleveland

Project Lead the Way introduces students to engineering (site broke the link so I removed it – poor usability):

Project Lead The Way offers hands-on curriculum to allow students a taste of the creativity, variety, teamwork and possibilities engineering fields are offering. The course teaches students the key elements and skills of engineering and technology-based careers.
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“In the five years we’ve had this program, we went from 20 to over 300 students,” he said. “Our goal is gender equity. We want to see more diversity. We started out with two females five years ago. Now we’re about 28 percent female. We’re seeing more African Americans and more Asians coming in.”

Related: Middle School Engineers – Getting Students Hooked on Engineering

Big Atlantic Sharks Disappearing, Study Warns

Tiger Shark

Big Atlantic sharks disappearing, study warns (phb broke link so I removed it):

Humans, mainly those in countries with a craving for shark-fin soup, have devoured so many of the oceans’ top predators that it has rattled the length of the marine food chain, according to a study to be published today in the prestigious journal Science. While previous studies have calculated declines by half or more, this one argues that seven of the largest sharks along the Atlantic Coast have all but vanished because of overfishing — down as much as 99 percent for bull, dusky and smooth hammerheads over the last 35 years.
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The study’s premise: As larger sharks disappeared, smaller ones and rays, both often prey, exploded over the same period. One in particular, the cownose ray, perpetuated to the point that by 2004 it gulped down much of the scallop population in Chesapeake Bay. ”I think that’s just the tip of an iceberg,” Fordham said. “There are so many connections we don’t understand. Sharks keep the oceans in balance.”

Photo by Jim Winstead

Related: As large sharks go away, scallops, clams follow – Arctic Sharks – 50 New Species Found in Indonesia Reefs

Yale Cultivates Young Scientists

Yale Science and Engineering Association (YSEA), Outreach programs cultivate young scientists:

Since 1989, YSEA has funded high-school science fair awards all over the world; in 2006, 241 outstanding high school students were awarded YSEA medals. By getting the Yale name into the public consciousness, YSEA hopes to draw high school applicants who intend to major in the sciences.
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For New Haven high school students, the New Haven Science Fair Program pairs them up with Yale graduate students for one-on-one mentorships. The students select a field that interests them, then develop an in-depth science fair project that teaches them about the scientific process. It’s an enjoyable introduction to the world of science research, and in early March, the students got the opportunity to show off what they’d learned in the yearly science fair, held in Commons.

Related: Science Education sites for students and teachers – science internships – science fairs