Author: Randall Barranco

– 201110google geothermal

A new massive research from SMU’s Geothermal Laboratory, funded by a grant from Google.org has documented significant geothermal resources across the US (especially in the West), a resource that has the potential, with today’s technology, to produce over three million megawatts of green power – that’s 10 times more than coal plants currently produce. Sophisticated […]

Read More
– 201110thailand ruins

What you are looking at are the archaeological remains of Ayutthaya, a city once known for trading and hospitality. Now, these ruins are all that remain from it, and due to the awful recent floods in Thailand, this is how the area looks like now. Click it for full size – it’s worth it I […]

Read More
– 201110pheonix 4 thumb 550xauto 74163

Satellite deployments make up most of the space launches in any given year, however it’s also a highly risky operation. Every satellite launch costs around $10,000 per pound, and basically it’s fairly common for the total cost of a satellite to jump in the tens of millions of dollars range. Currently, in the geosynchronous orbit there […]

Read More
– 201110Wanglr

At the nano scale, even the slightest of motions can be harnessed and transformed into useful work. Material science researchers  at the University of Wisconsin, for instance, have developed a very thin plastic belt capable of vibrating from low velocity fluid flow, such as one’s breath. Made out of  polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), the microbelt not only […]

Read More
– 201110COPE OFETs 250

Scientists at Northwestern University have developed a new nanomaterial of exciting properties, which will allow for the computer of the future to rewrite and rewire its circuitry, and in the process become an entirely different device.  Thus, a single device could rewire itself to become resistor, a rectifier, a diode or a transistor simply based on signals. […]

Read More
– 201110Myrdalsjokull glacier in Iceland. Image Chris 73 Wikimedia Commons

A dramatic overnight increase in seismic activity near the Katla volcano in southern Iceland has brought fears of a dramatic eruption, one that would make last year’s massive air-traffic disruption seem like a walk in the park. “It is definitely showing signs of restlessness,” commented Pall Einarsson, a professor of geophysics at the University of […]

Read More
– 2011102009.07.21cloned

Just 6 years after the first cloned canine by scientists from South Korea, ironically a country which has dog on the menu, the practice has evolved tremendously and has already provided important results. Some animal specimens are immensily separable from the rest of its kind, whether their smarter, stronger or more productive, so why not […]

Read More
– 201110pic 12119040007033

Humans, as well as most mammals, have only two sets of teeth to make with during their entire lifetime. However, a new research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which studied the dental structure of mole rats has shown that the species is an exception to this rule. In fact, […]

Read More