Progress in science in technology is driven by many things -- money, infrastructure, as well as popular and political support, but the arguably the most important factor in innovation is people.
Recently Nanotech BC has had the opportunity to work with some of the members of the University of British Columbia's MiNa -- Micro-systems and Nanotechnology, group. They are a research group of scientists working on projects applying micro and nanotechnology to everything from bio-medical devices to energy to fabrication.
BC deserves credit for the huge investment it has made in nanotechnology researcher, but it's even more important to keep our eyes on the people behind the machines and MiNa is one of the teams that is making nanotechnology a reality.
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
Monday, November 26, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: The More Things Change...
Maybe Charles Babbage was onto something...
Computers have become so integrated into our lives that it's sometimes easy to forget how much energy is required to keep them going. Silicon chips use a lot of power and Nanowerk has a great article today on the consequences of that energy use:
Maybe we can find the way forward by looking backwards.
Dr. Robert Blick at the University of Wisconsin is developing nanomechanical computational devices -- chips that sacrifice a degree of speed but in return are vastly superior to silicon in terms of energy consumption and robustness. Soft Machines adds to the discussion and distinguishes Dr. Blick's work from Eric Drexler's rod logic.
Computers have become so integrated into our lives that it's sometimes easy to forget how much energy is required to keep them going. Silicon chips use a lot of power and Nanowerk has a great article today on the consequences of that energy use:
...about 200 billion kWh of electricity a year used by computers.... That means that generating the electricity for using 1 billion computers will release some 128 million tonnes of CO2 (280 billion pounds) into the air.
Maybe we can find the way forward by looking backwards.
Dr. Robert Blick at the University of Wisconsin is developing nanomechanical computational devices -- chips that sacrifice a degree of speed but in return are vastly superior to silicon in terms of energy consumption and robustness. Soft Machines adds to the discussion and distinguishes Dr. Blick's work from Eric Drexler's rod logic.
Friday, July 13, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: Cool(er) Runnings
Hydrogen fuel cells seem to be one of those technologies that's perpetually just about to change the world. It's such a simple idea -- hydrogen + oxygen = energy, with no waste product more harmful than water. Of course fuel cells aren't primary power sources, but with every car on the street running off of them, it would sure be a lot easer to breath deeply in the middle of rush-hour.
Unfortunately there are a few serious stumbling blocks to producing viable hydrogen fuel cells. One problem is the necessity of platinum as a catalyst. Another is the heat of the reaction -- up to 1,800 degrees Celsius and enough to burn out the cell's materials in short order.
Now it looks like there might be a solution at hand to the heat problem and it comes, not surprisingly, from nanotechnology. Researchers at UC Davis have been able to create nano-scale cubic zirconia. As with so many materials, the properties of cubic zirconia are different at the nano-level than they are at the macro -- being much more conductive to electricity. This translates into cooler temperatures for fuel cells; perhaps as low as 50 degrees Celsius.
BC has a lot going on with regards to fuel cells -- Ballard and the NRC-IFCI in particular. It'll be interesting to see how this development impacts their work.
Unfortunately there are a few serious stumbling blocks to producing viable hydrogen fuel cells. One problem is the necessity of platinum as a catalyst. Another is the heat of the reaction -- up to 1,800 degrees Celsius and enough to burn out the cell's materials in short order.
Now it looks like there might be a solution at hand to the heat problem and it comes, not surprisingly, from nanotechnology. Researchers at UC Davis have been able to create nano-scale cubic zirconia. As with so many materials, the properties of cubic zirconia are different at the nano-level than they are at the macro -- being much more conductive to electricity. This translates into cooler temperatures for fuel cells; perhaps as low as 50 degrees Celsius.
BC has a lot going on with regards to fuel cells -- Ballard and the NRC-IFCI in particular. It'll be interesting to see how this development impacts their work.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: 3 Views of the Nanotech Mountain
Long View:
Nanoscale memory devices made of quantum dots and viruses -- could lead to disease treating nanorobots.
Short View:
Simple magnet can control the color of a liquid through affecting nano-particles of iron oxide -- could lead to new display screens and electronic paper and ink.
Panoramic View:
NanoArt -- science, technology, photography and sculpture; beautiful snapshots of the nanoworld.
Nanoscale memory devices made of quantum dots and viruses -- could lead to disease treating nanorobots.
Short View:
Simple magnet can control the color of a liquid through affecting nano-particles of iron oxide -- could lead to new display screens and electronic paper and ink.
Panoramic View:
NanoArt -- science, technology, photography and sculpture; beautiful snapshots of the nanoworld.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: Long Carbon Nanotubes and the Desert Bloom
It's easy to think technological progress follows an incremental and predictable path -- that research leads to development, then to commercialization and finally to the consumer.
Take a trip to a desert in spring and you'll see evidence of a different model for growth. One day the landscape is dry and bleak, and the next it explodes into plants and flowers. Years of invisible preparation have been taking place and the result is a change so swift and complete that the landscape becomes an entirely different place.
Right now the desert of nanotechnology looks dry. Billions of dollars are being invested and thousands of researchers are working all over the world on countless different issues, but we've yet to see any single, revolutionary advance. Even so, the groundwork is being laid, and every day nanotech moves forward.
One of the most exciting new developments is the production by UC engineering researchers of arrays of 18mm carbon nanotubes. That might not seem like much, but it's a huge increase in length over past efforts and is an important step towards producing a material that is stronger and more conductive than anything now in use.
What will come of this achievement? A replacement for copper wire? Energy independence? A space elevator? Nobody can say for sure because so much more work remains to be done before carbon nanotubes fulfill their promise. Even so, one thing seems certain -- we're getting closer and closer to the day the desert will bloom.
Take a trip to a desert in spring and you'll see evidence of a different model for growth. One day the landscape is dry and bleak, and the next it explodes into plants and flowers. Years of invisible preparation have been taking place and the result is a change so swift and complete that the landscape becomes an entirely different place.
Right now the desert of nanotechnology looks dry. Billions of dollars are being invested and thousands of researchers are working all over the world on countless different issues, but we've yet to see any single, revolutionary advance. Even so, the groundwork is being laid, and every day nanotech moves forward.
One of the most exciting new developments is the production by UC engineering researchers of arrays of 18mm carbon nanotubes. That might not seem like much, but it's a huge increase in length over past efforts and is an important step towards producing a material that is stronger and more conductive than anything now in use.
What will come of this achievement? A replacement for copper wire? Energy independence? A space elevator? Nobody can say for sure because so much more work remains to be done before carbon nanotubes fulfill their promise. Even so, one thing seems certain -- we're getting closer and closer to the day the desert will bloom.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: The Power of a 100 Suns!
This is a few days old, but Phys.org has reported on the development of 40% efficient solar cells. That can't be anything but good news.
For anybody interested in solar power research in British Columbia, Mike Wolf is working at UBC on Energy Storing and Energy Harvesting and Karim Karim is at Simon Fraser Universtity concentrating on Mechanically Flexible Solar Cells using Thin Film Silicon Technology.
For anybody interested in solar power research in British Columbia, Mike Wolf is working at UBC on Energy Storing and Energy Harvesting and Karim Karim is at Simon Fraser Universtity concentrating on Mechanically Flexible Solar Cells using Thin Film Silicon Technology.
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