The hazier the window, the more electricity it will produce.  For efficient buildings it is recommended that windows be placed on the north or south side of a building to minimize direct sunlight.  However, these windows would work the best in direct sunlight.

The application could also apply to cars where the sunroof, windshield, and other windows would also produce electricity for an all electric or hybrid car.

via engadget

However, Michelle Pelletier, a graduate student at the University of Rhode Island, has discovered a way for concrete to heal itself.  Pelletier found that after fracturing concrete mixed with a microencapsulated sodium silicate agent into standard concrete can cause the concrete to regain up to 26 percent of its original strength.  It is speculated that a higher concentration of the sodium silicate will result in a higher rebounding strength.

After the concrete fractures, the sodium silicate particles break apart and mix with calcium hydroxide (a standard agent in concrete).  The mixture then forms calcium-silica-hydrate which fill the cracks.  This simple chemical reaction could lead to less potholes and longer road lifespans, and ultimately leading to saving more natural resources.

The best part about this is unlike most “smart” materials and technology.  This one is very cost effective and means that it could be implemented quickly and efficiently.

via uri.edu

image via imactlab.com

The process involves a chemical bath and a microreactor that would bind the film to various surfaces such as glass, plastic, silicon or aluminum.  The “carpet-like” surface deposited would then be able to absorb more light.

This new film could make eyeglasses lighter, reduce glare, and block ultraviolet light.  Another application of the film is in camera lenses.  So pictures can be taken in dimmer light as the lens would be able to pass more light.

“There’s really a whole range of things this technology may ultimately be useful for,” said Chih-hung Chang, an associate professor in the OSU Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering. “They should be able to make almost any type of solar energy system work more efficiently, and ultimately could be used in cameras or other types of lenses.”

The nanostructure film is patent pending, and the researchers are still working on a faster, less costly, and ultimately more efficient way to apply the film so that it is as consumer-friendly as possible.

via oregonstate.edu and treehugger

Dell Lattitude

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1066FSB

Screen Size: 14.1″

Memory: 4 GB DDR 2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)

Hard Drive: 160 GB Hard Drive 7200 RPM (I don’t download a lot of songs, I listen to them on Pandora or GrooveShark so i just wanted a faster hard drive)

Operating System: Windows XP with Vista Business License (XP is a lighter OS and will be faster than Vista)

Brand New, this laptop would cost $738.  If you go to the Dell Outlet, it is $521.  You could save ~$200, and reuse a computer that someone else either didn’t want, or was refurbished.  Now I know what you are thinking, “I don’t want a refurbished computer.”  Let me put your mind at ease.  For example, Dell categorizes its used computers into 4 categories certified refurbished, previously ordered new, scratch and dent, and off lease.  Click on the link above to see the detailed description of each.  Other computer manufacturers have similar outlets like Lenovo and HP.

Out of all those categories, I would stick with certified refurbished and previously ordered new.  The reason is b/c computers that were previously ordered new have not been powered on and have no blemishes.  They were probably a laptop that was shipped to the wrong place and got sent back.  Basically they are brand new computers being sold at a discount.

Certified refurbished computers may have been turned on, and may have minor cosmetic damages, but in my mind, those things are going to happen to laptops anyway.  Everything is in perfect working order and both certified refurbished and previously ordered new come with the same warranty as a new computer in case something does go wrong and has a 21 day return policy if you are not happy with your computer.

Another way to save money on these is to look for coupon codes on sites like BensBargains, Slickdeals, and TechDealDigger.

(A) Heating one side of a conductive rod causes heated electrons to move to the other end, creating a voltage. (B) Heating one side of a magnetized nickel-iron rod creates a “spin voltage,” with spin-up and spin-down electrons on opposite ends. Image credit: (c)2008 Nature.

Eiji Saitoh a physicist at Keio University in Yokohama, Japan, and his colleagues have published their results in a recent issue of Nature. As they explain, the term “spin Seebeck effect” comes from the original Seebeck effect, which is a thermoelectric phenomenon discovered by Thomas Johann Seebeck in the 1800s. The Seebeck effect states that, heating one side of a conducting rod causes electrons at that end to heat up and move toward the cooler side, creating a voltage.

The spin Seebeck effect is similar, but affects electron spin, which is the quantum physics equivalent of north-south magnetic alignment. When heating a magnetized metal, such as the nickel-iron rod, the researchers found that electrons with up spins (aligned with the rod´s magnetic field) congregated on the warmer side, while electrons with down spins (unaligned) preferred the cooler side.

Essentially, this spin-segregated rod now has two electrodes and serves as the basis for a new kind of battery that produces “spin voltage,” or magnetic currents, which have been difficult to produce. With this tool, physicists can work toward developing more kinds of spintronics devices that store information magnetically.

Magnetic information storage is inherently more efficient than storing information electronically because there is no waste heat. Unlike electrons that constantly bump into each other, flipping electron spins doesn´t generate heat. Reducing waste heat could lead to computer chip miniaturization, and would also mean lower power consumption and faster operational speeds.

“The spin Seebeck effect allows us to pass a pure spin current, a flow of electron spins without electric currents, over a long distance,” the authors wrote in their study. “These innovative capabilities will invigorate spintronics research.”

via sciencenews, physorg

• Reconnect offers consumers free recycling for any brand of computer equipment in any condition. Consumers can find a drop-off location at www.reconnectpartnership.com.
• Each of the seven members of the Virginia Goodwill Network is participating, with the combined territories covering Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metro area.
• Program goals are to divert over 2.7 million pounds of used computers and computer equipment from area landfills over the next year; and provide consumer education on the importance of environmentally-responsible computer disposal. Reconnect can also help create job opportunities for individuals who have barriers to employment or independence.
• Consumers can drop off used computers at any of 134 Goodwill donation centers across the region. Goodwill will accept and sort the donated computer equipment and Dell’s product recovery partner will recycle and remarket the recycled materials. Consumers are responsible for removing data from hard drives and other storage media before donating to Goodwill. Consumers can also request a Goodwill receipt at time of donation.
• Other Reconnect programs currently exist in Austin, Texas (15 counties in Central Texas), San Francisco (Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties), San Antonio (23 counties in Central and South Texas), Houston (15 counties), North Carolina (49 counties), San Diego County, Pittsburgh, the State of New Jersey and City of Philadelphia, Northwest Ohio, Western New York State, the greater Rochester area, and throughout the state of Michigan. With today’s launch Reconnect offers 567 drop-off locations for free computer recycling to consumers in several U.S. markets.
• Dell provides consumers worldwide free computer recycling. In 2007 the company collected 102 million pounds of IT equipment from customers, a 20 percent increase over 2006.

via businesswire

“Imagine if your computer, iPhone, TV, radio and thermostat could all communicate with you when you walked in a room just by flipping the wall light switch and without the usual cluster of wires,” said BU Engineering Professor Thomas Little. “This could be done with an LED-based communications network that also provides light – all over existing power lines with low power consumption, high reliability and no electromagnetic interference. Ultimately, the system is expected to be applicable from existing illumination devices, like swapping light bulbs for LEDs.”

Boston University researches will focus on developing computer networking applications, notably the solid state optical technology that will form the network’s backbone.

“This is a unique opportunity to create a transcendent technology that not only enables energy efficient lighting, but also creates the next generation of secure wireless communications,” Little added. “As we switch from incandescent and compact florescent lighting to LEDs in the coming years, we can simultaneously build a faster and more secure communications infrastructure at a modest cost along with new and unexpected applications.”

Little envisions indoor optical wireless communications systems that use white LED lighting within a room – akin to the television remote control device – to provide Internet connections to computers, personal digital assistants, television and radio reception, telephone connections and thermostat temperature control.

With widespread LED lighting, a vast network of light-based communication is possible, Little noted. A wireless device within sight of an enabled LED could send and receive data though the air – initially at speeds in the 1 to 10 megabit per second range – with each LED serving as an access point to the network. Such a network would have the potential to offer users greater bandwidth than current RF technology.

Moreover, since this white light does not penetrate opaque surfaces such as walls, there is a higher level of security, as eavesdropping is not possible. LED lights also consume far less energy than RF technology, offering the opportunity to build a communication network without added energy costs and reducing carbon emissions over the long term.

The ability to rapidly turn LED lights on and off – so fast the change is imperceptible to the human eye – is key to the technology. Flickering light in patterns enables data transmission without any noticeable change in room lighting. And the technology is not limited to indoor lights; its first real test may very well come outdoors, in the automotive industry.

via cellular-news

The graph below shows that our Google-designed data centers use considerably less energy – both for the servers and the facility itself – than a typical data center. As a result, the energy used per Google search is minimal. In fact, in the time it takes to do a Google search, your own personal computer will use more energy than we will use to answer your query.

But sustainability is about more than electricity, so we’ve gone beyond just reducing our energy consumption. Before the end of 2008 two of our facilities will run on 100% recycled water, and by 2010 we expect recycled water to provide 80% of our total water consumption. We also carefully manage the retirement of our servers to ensure that 100% of this material is either reused or recycled. Finally, we are engaging our users and peers to help build a clean and efficient energy future. This broader impact could be significant; if all data centers operated at the same efficiency as ours, the U.S. alone would save enough electricity to power every household within the city limits of Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

Sustainability is good for the environment, but it makes good business sense too. Most of our work is focused on saving resources such as electricity and water and, more often than not, we find that these actions lead to reduced operating costs. Being “green” is essential to keeping our business competitive. It is this economic advantage that makes our efforts truly sustainable.

via google

The company hopes to use the technology to commercialize as early as 2010 LED lighting capable of replacing fluorescent lighting.

Today’s UV LEDs are not efficient enough for use in white LEDs, so such devices are now made by coating phosphors on a blue LED. However, because the red color component is weak, red objects look dark when illuminated under these kinds of white LEDs.

As a result, currently available white LEDs are not suited for lighting places like supermarkets and clothing stores.

Toshiba increased the efficiency of its UV LED by placing a thin layer of aluminum nitride between the sapphire substrate and the light-emitting layer of gallium nitride. This reduces boundary defects more than tenfold and helps prevent fissures that lower efficiency.

Toshiba’s prototype LED emits UV light in wavelengths of 383 nanometers. At a current of 20 milliamperes, the device emits light with a brightness of 23 milliwatts, compared with a maximum of 15 milliwatts for conventional UV LEDs.

Coated with green, red and blue phosphors, the UV LED generates white light.

via tradingmarkets

“Rarely is a processing advance so elegantly simple that rapid commercialisation seems possible, and rarely does such an advance so quickly enable diverse application demonstrations”, says Dr Ray H. Baughman of the NanoTech Institute.

Carbon Nanotubes are like steel but reportedly five times stronger than steel for equal weight. They are also lighter, can conduct electricity, are thermally conductive, and are also transparent. The applications of this ground-breaking material range across many industries including housing, transportation, and textiles.

via physorg.com