Collaborate Disseminate
Asteroids can devastate the planet in an instant – just ask the dinosaurs. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have now demonstrated a proof of concept method to deflect a potential Earthbound asteroid using a blast of X-rays.Continue ReadingCat… Continue reading X-rays could deflect dangerous Earthbound asteroids
Researchers have developed a molecule that, when added to a polymer, increases the material’s durability by making it more like metal in terms of its ability to withstand temperature fluctuations. They say it could increase the durability of everything… Continue reading Game-changing molecule makes polymers more metal-like to up durability
It’s long been assumed that when a metal structure like a bridge or an engine develops a crack, it will only get worse over time. But that might not be the case, based on what researchers have just observed happening in a tiny piece of platinum.Continu… Continue reading Metal found spontaneously healing itself like human skin
Strength and flexibility are two opposites that usually need to be balanced in steel. But now engineers at Purdue University and Sandia National Labs have developed a new treatment that can be applied to steel alloys to make them both stronger and more… Continue reading New treatment makes steel alloys both stronger and more flexible
One factor limiting the output of today’s power stations is the metals used in the blades, bearings and seals of their steam turbines, which tend to soften and elongate well before their melting point. Solve these problems, and you could conceivably ra… Continue reading Heat-loving lightweight superalloy promises higher turbine efficiency
Aeromine says its unique “motionless” rooftop wind generators deliver up to 50% more energy than a solar array of the same price, while taking up just 10% of the roof space and operating more or less silently. In independent tests, they seem legit.Cont… Continue reading Rooftop wind system delivers 150% the energy of solar per dollar
Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories and the Max Planck Institute have developed a way to produce a web of quantum entangled photons using a far more simple setup than usual. The key is a precisely patterned surface 100 times thinner than paper, … Continue reading Ultrathin metasurface produces web of quantum entangled photons
As effective as fossil fuels may be, their impact on the planet cannot be overstated. Now researchers at Berkeley Lab have coaxed bacteria into directly producing a new biofuel with an energy density significantly higher than jet fuel.Continue ReadingC… Continue reading Bacteria-made biofuel packs higher energy density than jet fuel
To keep the lights on in NASA’s Artemis human lunar outpost, Sandia National Laboratories is developing electrical micro-grids to handle the power distribution from the Moon base’s mini nuclear reactors to the various living and support facilities.Cont… Continue reading Sandia developing micro-grids to power future Moon base
Inspired by seashells, scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have engineered a versatile new material that’s incredibly inexpensive, strong, lightweight, and heat resistant. The material could find use in shielding for spacecraft or fusion facilit… Continue reading Seashell-inspired material makes for strong, light spacecraft shielding