Category: Engineering

tiny house, off-grid living, Nice Architects Engineering Environment New Technologies 

Egg-Shaped Tiny House to Revolutionize Off-Grid Living

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By Jonathan Trinastic If you spot Nice Architects’ Ecocapsule while hiking through the woods or turning the corner from your campsite, you may think you’ve come upon an alien spacecraft or advanced military technology. Deep blue solar cells pattern its sleek surface, glistening in the sun. A curving wind turbine stretches toward the sky. This lustrous, egg-shaped capsule is no military secret, but could be a revolutionary solution to self-sufficient housing powered by renewable energy. A Tiny Friend of the Earth Surprise is usually the first reaction to the Ecocapsule’s…

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Batteries: Image: MotorBlog.com Engineering New Technologies Physics 

Small Step for Batteries, Giant Leap for Electric Cars

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By Jonathan Trinastic @jptrinastic Solving the Silicon Swelling Problem in Batteries The dream of an electric transportation revolution—recharging stations dotting rural highways, noiseless sedans gliding across pavement—lives in the minds of many who hope to move beyond oil dependence. But the reality of this transformation will elude us until battery technology improves. Expensive and overweight, current lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology cannot support long car trips and would require lower costs to be commercially viable. Now, the ignition for such a revolution may be arriving in the form of silicon. New…

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Peggy Matson, Electrical Engineer Engineering Science Videos 

This Electrical Engineer Invents the Future

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By Chantal Brine With several patents to her name, electrical engineer Peggy Matson loves her work, and loves inventing the future. In this interviews, she explains what she enjoys most about her career, and what you can do to head toward your own career in electrical engineering. Women in Tech, Women in Action Techsploration’s Women In Action series delivers a quick overview of over forty careers in sciences, technology, trades, and engineering. The series features short clips of various female role models who share “the best thing” about their careers. The series…

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Women in STEM Careers, Women in Action Engineering Get to Know a Scientist Science Videos 

Women in STEM Careers, Women in Action

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By Chantal Brine We have teamed up with Techsploration to bring you the Women in Action video series featuring women working in STEM careers. In this, the first video of many, meet hydrogeologist Nora Donald and learn about the important work she does. Techsploration’s Women In Action series delivers a quick overview of over forty careers in sciences, technology, trades, and engineering. The series features short clips of various female role models who share “the best thing” about their careers. The series introduces young women to careers in which females…

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People walked over the Hongo River in Fukuyama City, Japan on the MB4.0 temporary bridge. (Photo courtesy of Hiroshima University, Japan Construction Method and Machinery Research Institute, Hoshikei-kinzoku Industry Co.,Ltd., Akashin Co.,Ltd., Sankyo Tateyama, Inc., and Yokoyama Kisokouji Co.,Ltd.) Engineering 

Temporary Bridge for Emergency Evacuation

Science Connected

By Kate Stone Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and landslides, and other natural disasters can damage infrastructure, such as bridges. What can be done to aid the rapid evacuation of survivors and delivery of aid? Enter the Mobile Bridge® Version 4.0 (MB4.0), a new concept in temporary bridge construction. In the aftermath of a natural disaster, rapid repair of infrastructure is crucial. Expanding in just five minutes and capable of carrying automobiles, MB4.0 is being hailed as the world’s fastest, largest, strongest, and lightest expanding temporary bridge. It’s a new type of…

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Truly transparent solar energy Engineering Environment New Technologies Physics 

Solar Energy that Doesn’t Block the View

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A company is making completely see-through solar energy panels for our phones and tablets. Next, for our car and home windows. By Kate Stone A team of researchers at Michigan State University has developed a new type of solar concentrator that, when placed over a window, creates solar energy while still allowing people to see through the window. It is called a “transparent luminescent solar concentrator” and it can be used on buildings, cell phones, and anything else that has a clear surface. According to Richard Lunt of MSU’s College…

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The UT Arlington team developed a new solar cell that is more efficient and can store solar energy even at night. (UT Arlington) Engineering New Technologies 

New Solar Energy Storage Works at Night

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By Kate S. Most solar energy systems rely on using sunlight as an immediate power source, but can’t function at night or in cloudy weather. So, what if a solar cell could store solar energy and release it for use after the sun goes down? That’s the technology a materials science and engineering team from the University of Texas at Arlington has developed. They have successfully built a new energy cell that can store large-scale solar energy, even when it’s dark. The prototype is an “all-vanadium photo-electrochemical flow cell” that…

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