Next generation clean fuel

Because the energy industry dictates our lives

Trade freely, free of liability THE Indian government's efforts to limit the accident liability of nuclear power plants show a disregard to the principles it swears by (the principles themselves are questionable, but that's for another day). The apparent motive is to increase India's power production, though there can be no mistaking it is an effort to ease the entry into India of US nuclear power companies

Science & Technology - Briefs

evolution First blood

Phone's dead? Keep dialling

Nano generators connecting the fingers and the phone's battery recharge the device

Radical material for solar cells

Captures all the sunlight, more efficient at making electricity

Science & Technology - Briefs

biological sciences Water bears in space Life for a certain kind of tiny invertebrates is possible in space. About 1.5 mm long water bears were found to survive there, a European Space Agency (esa) experiment showed. This makes the eight-legged invertebrates, also called tardigrade, the first animals known to survive the harsh combination of low pressure and intense radiation.

Science & Technology - Briefs

biological sciences Frog, out of the well

Better cells

Using mercury nanotubes india may be able to produce solar cells with a greater capacity to absorb solar energy. The secret behind this extra capacity lies in mercury compound nanotubes, scientists at iit Delhi have found out. Nanotubes, because of their structure, exhibit electrical and optical properties, which help in the absorption of solar energy and its conversion to electrical energy. Researchers have long dabbled with nanotube research to find an effective absorption material.

Sunny days

inorganic solar cells used today are also quite bulky. Initial costs also seem to be a major deterrent in the spread of solar energy. A us-Austrian team led by 2001 Nobel laureate Alan Heeger has gone some way in mending matters.

Cheaper natural gas from oilfields

some microbes have been breaking down petroleum into methane deep within the earth for ages. But we do not know the bacteria or how they do it. A recent study has revealed the answers, with scientists producing methane from petroleum in the laboratory by feeding these microbes.