• King coal, II: Administration restructures approach to clean coal funding

    DOE restructures FutureGen approach; under the new plan, DOE’s investment would provide funding for no more than the carbon capture and storage (CCS) component of the power plant — not the entire plant construction; the original 2003 FutureGen concept called for the federal government to cover 74 percent of the cost of the entire project; DOE requests $648 million in FY2009 budget for coal research, development, and deployment

  • Modeling and simulation course for newcomers to the field

    Modeling and simulation are growing in importance, and a new certificate program provides training in applying M&S to military and business challenges

  • Researchers develop "whiskered" robots with rat-like tactile sensitivity

    Whiskered robots could be used in a variety of applications — search and rescue, mine-clearing, planetary rovers in space, and domestic applications such as vacuum cleaners

  • Ahura Scientific shows handheld FTIR chemical identification device

    First responders — but also those in charge of chemical clean-ups, quality control, product verification, raw material inspection, pharmaceutical manufacturing, food production, petrochemical processing, and composite analysis — would welcome this small, light chemical identifier

  • King coal, I: U.S. ends FutureGen funding; clean coal future unclear

    The Bush administration, as part of a new approach to producing clean cole, has ended government participation in the FutureGen project; government says that the private sector can now pick up the tab; the administration unfolds new clean cole initiatives

  • Life of U.K. project aiming to halve cost solar panels extended

    U.K. government agency injects £6 million into research aiming to halve the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells; in the first four years of the project, scientists created platform technologies in crystalline silicon, thin film silicon, thin film cadmium telluride, and thin film copper indium diselenide; now they will narrow down the research

  • World's first thermal glider takes off

    The world’s first thermally powered robotic vehicle takes off; the new glider draws its energy for propulsion from the differences in temperature — thermal stratification — between warm surface waters and colder, deeper layers of the ocean

  • Wireless CCTV shows body-worn surveillance service

    U.K. company launches body-worn CCTV aiming to help security agents in the field; the equipment comes in both overt and covert configurations; devices help field agents gather information and evidence — and it also helps supervisors at HQ to monitor the situation in the field

  • Innovative fan design wins Live Edge Electronic Design award

    Ceiling fan combines an electronically commutated motor and controller, and an aerodynamically efficient blade design that reduces fan input power by up to 66 percent of that of a traditional ceiling fan

  • Knee brace acts as charger for cell phones, artificial limbs

    Canadian researcher develops new device which harnesses the energy of a person’s leg as it swings forward during a step; running the generator constantly through the stride generated 7 watts of power

  • Billions spent on airport security, but major security gaps remain

    In the post 9/11 rush to bolster airport security, billions were spent and different technologies and systems were tried, but experts — and government watchdog organizations — say major security gaps remain; Congress, TSA, and the industry are increasingly anxious; the latest hope: Millimeter wave machines, which can see through clothes by analyzing the reflection of radio frequency energy bounced off passengers

  • DOE grants $114 million to small-scale biorefinery projects

    DOE grants $114 million for four small-scale biorefinery projects; these biorefineries will use a wide variety of feedstocks and test novel conversion technologies to provide data necessary to bring online full-size, commercial-scale biorefineries

  • EU and industry launch Clean Sky technology initiative

    The initiative, a joint EU-industry scheme in which $2.3 billion will be invested between 2008 and 2014, aims to speed up technological breakthrough developments and shorten the time to market for new green aviation solutions

  • LAX implements game theory insights for better security

    Game theory algorithm, developed by USC graduate student, improves security by putting police on unpredictable schedules and in unpredictable locations, making it more difficult for terrorists to plan an attack which would exploit observable weaknesses in security routines

  • Hazard protective suits made of new, "breathing" material

    Chemical protection suits can make the wearer hot, sweaty, and extremely uncomfortable, thus limiting the time such suits can be worn; Drexel University researcher develops better material for protective suits: The new material is a new class of polymer membrane incorporating nanopores filled with an ionic polymer that allows water vapor to pass through