Wind energy pricing remains attractive to utility and commercial purchasers, according to an annual report released by the U.S. Department of Energy and prepared by the Electricity Markets & Policy Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Prices offered by newly built wind projects are averaging around 2¢/kWh, driven lower by technology advancements and cost reductions.
Tech
When it comes to even the most advanced materials, the adage "if it does not bend, it breaks" is often true. But before that final snap, most materials experience microscopic damage that could be fixed -- but only if you know it's there. In a study published in ACS Central Science, researchers introduce a new technique that detects and illuminates damage in various types of materials.
Los Angeles, CA (August 17, 2016) Despite their extensive national press coverage, campaign visits might not be worth presidential candidates' time and resources. A new study out today finds that voters are largely unaware of and unresponsive to campaign visits. The study was published as part of a special issue of The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (a journal from SAGE Publishing) titled "Elections in America."
In December 2006, the USA regulated sodium permanganate, a chemical essential to the manufacture of cocaine. In March 2007, Mexico, the USA's primary source for methamphetamine, closed a chemical company accused of illicitly importing more than 60 tons of pseudoephedrine, a methamphetamine precursor chemical. A study published today by the scientific journal Addiction found that those two events were associated with large, extended reductions in cocaine users and methamphetamine users in the USA -- impacts that have lasted approximately eight years so far.
Certain varieties of aquatic floating weeds demonstrate an impressive ability to selectively absorb oil from contaminated water. These plants, which are often regarded as a nuisance, could in fact provide an extremely convenient way of cleaning up messy oil spills.
In 2020, NASA plans to launch a new Mars rover that will be tasked with probing a region of the planet scientists believe could hold remnants of ancient microbial life. The rover will collect samples of rocks and soil, and store them on the Martian surface; the samples would be returned to Earth sometime in the distant future so that scientists can meticulously analyze the samples for signs of present or former extraterrestrial life.
Scientists at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have revealed the network infrastructure used by Netflix for its content delivery, by mimicking the film request process from all over the world and analysing the responses.
The study is believed to be the first to map Netflix's physical server distribution all over the world.
HOUSTON - (Aug. 15, 2016) - Traditional subsidized energy prices may be unnecessary for large numbers of residents of the Persian Gulf monarchies like Saudi Arabia, according to a new article from Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Lithium-ion batteries store a lot of energy in a small space, making them the energy source of choice for mobile electronic devices. Today, mobile phones, laptops, e-bikes and electric cars are all powered by such batteries. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now developed a type of battery that, unlike conventional ones, consists entirely of solid chemical compounds and is non-flammable.
Imagine an electronic newspaper that you could roll up and spill your coffee on, even as it updated itself before your eyes.
It's an example of the technological revolution that has been waiting to happen, except for one major problem that, until now, scientists have not been able to resolve.
Researchers at McMaster University have cleared that obstacle by developing a new way to purify carbon nanotubes - the smaller, nimbler semiconductors that are expected to replace silicon within computer chips and a wide array of electronics.
Indoor trampoline park injuries are an "emerging public health concern," warn doctors in the journal Injury Prevention.
The warning comes in the wake of their study, showing that in the space of 6 months, 40 children needed medical treatment at just one trauma centre following a visit to one of these venues.
While most of the injuries sustained were relatively minor, the growing popularity of indoor trampoline parks calls for the implementation of national design and safety standards to ward off a potentially rising injury toll, the authors say.
A new technology harnesses imperfections that typically compromise MRI exams to create images resolved enough to enable consistent diagnoses across populations for the first time. These are findings of a study led by NYU Langone Medical Center and published August 16 in Nature Communications.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- With the sale of sex shifting online, today's pimps are avoiding police detection by using underground websites, social media, mobile apps and even by hiding their ads on mainstream sites such as Craigslist and Backpage.
In a first-of-its-kind study, criminologists from Michigan State University and Loyola University Chicago interviewed 71 pimps in Atlanta and Chicago to determine how their marketing decisions are influenced by police enforcement of online prostitution.
For over two decades, consumers have used the internet to research, shop, make friends, find dates and learn about the world with the click of a mouse or a few keystrokes. But as we've surfed and tweeted, third-party watchers have also been watching -- and learning -- about us.
Nobody said computer programming was easy. But maybe in the future, it could be.
In order to simplify program development, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported project called Expeditions in Computer Augmented Program Engineering (ExCAPE), is developing technology that provides human operators with automated assistance.