::Bioenergie, Die Zukunft ist jetzt!

Der Markt für Energie aus Biomasse hat sich in den vergangenen Jahren zu einem bedeutenden Wirtschaftszweig in Deutschland entwickelt. Laut Bundesumweltministerium konnten die erneuerbaren Energien 2009 ihren Anteil am gesamten Energieverbrauch auf 10,1 Prozent (2008: 9,3 Prozent) ausbauen. Davon leistete die Bioenergie einen großen Anteil: Mehr als die Hälfte der gesamten Endenergien aus erneuerbaren Quellen entstammt der Biomasse.

Strom
Die Stromerzeugung aus den Energieträgern Biomasse und Biogas stieg im Jahr 2009 auf 30,5 Milliarden Kilowattstunden. Das sind rund neun Prozent mehr als im Vorjahr.

Wärme
Mit einem Anteil von 91 Prozent am Wärmemarkt bei den Erneuerbaren Energien leistet Biomasse einen wesentlichen Beitrag zu einer umweltfreundlichen Wärmeversorgung. 2009 konnten mehr als 100 Milliarden Kilowattstunden Wärme aus Biomasse gewonnen werden.

Biokraftstoffe
2008 ging der Verbrauch von Biokraftstoffen leicht zurück. 2009 fiel der gesamte Biokraftstoffverbrauch leicht auf 3,5 Millionen Tonnen (2008: 3,7 Millionen Tonnen). Für das Jahr 2010 wird aufgrund des Biokraftstoffquotengesetzes ein starker Anstieg der Biokraftsstoffnachfrage erwartet.

Weiterführende Literatur und Informationszuvorkommenheit: Mein Gehirn, Fraunhofer.

this post was in Deutsche, please use relevant translator, if u do not understand Deutsche.

::ReGrowing Joints?

Biomedical engineers at Columbia University Medical Center have implanted a joint-shaped scaffold infused with a growth factor protein that allowed rabbits to begin using their injured forelimbs again in one month. At two months, the animals moved almost as well as similarly aged healthy rabbits. The study is the first to show that an entire joint can be repaired while being used. In the study, the researchers first imaged the damaged forelimb joint and then created a three-dimensional picture of it. They used a bio printer to "print out" a precisely accurate, three-dimensional copy of the joint, but criss-crossed it with tiny interconnecting micro channels to serve as a scaffold for new bone and cartilage growth.

The approach has several advantages. It's impossible to re-create in a dish the array of signaling chemicals the body uses to generate the diverse cell types in different tissue, and it's much easier to get approval from regulatory agencies to implant a scaffold than whole tissue.



Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, KurzweilAI.

::Through The Wormhole, Universe Explored.

Hosted by Morgan Freeman, Through the Wormhole explores the deepest mysteries of existence — the questions that have puzzled mankind for eternity.

What are we made of? What was there before the beginning? Are we really alone? These questions have been pondered by the most brilliant minds in history. Now, modern science may be able to provide us with answers.

HIGHLY RECOMENDED, 5 OUT OF 5 STARS SHOW.

FOR THOSE WHO DON'T GET SCIENCE HD ON CABLE OR SATELLITE TV, PLEASE DOWNLOAD FROM TORRENTS OR BUY DVD, IT IS AN AWE INSPIRING SHOW.

Further Watching and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Science HD.

::Strongest Pseudo Magnetic Field.

Putting the right kind of strain on a patch of graphene can make super-strong pseudo-magnetic fields, a new study says. The finding sheds new light on the properties of electromagnetism, not to mention the odd properties of graphene.

When graphene is stretched to form "nanobubbles," the stress causes electrons to behave as if they were subject to huge magnetic fields, the size of which have never been seen in a lab before. The study is published today in the journal Science.

Michael Crommie, a senior scientist in the Materials Sciences Division at Berkeley Lab and a physics professor at the University of California-Berkeley, says this is a completely new effect that has no counterpart in any other condensed matter system.

Since scientists began studying magnetic fields more than 100 years ago, no one has been able to sustain big magnetic fields for very long. The record is 85 tesla — a measurement of electromagnetism named for Nikola Tesla — and it only lasted a few thousandths of a second. Make it stronger than that, and the magnets blow themselves apart.

But in Crommie's study, electrons inside carbon atoms behaved as if they were subjected to 300 tesla. It has to do with the way graphene is constructed, which leaves one out of every four valence electrons free to hop around. The other three electrons form tight hexagonal chains. When graphene sheets are strained — for instance, when they're rolled up into carbon nanotubes or stretched into nanobubbles — the bond lengths between atoms change, and electrons hop differently.

The effect is so strong that it works at room temperature. Berkeley Lab's news site has a more detailed description here.

The finding could lead to better electronic and magnetic devices, Crommie says. Controlling where electrons exist and how they move is an essential feature of all electronic devices, he notes.

"New types of control allow us to create new devices, and so our demonstration of strain engineering in graphene provides an entirely new way for mechanically controlling electronic structure in graphene," he says.

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Popular Science.

::Wanna Go To Space For Next Vacations? Only $95,000....!

Privatized space travel isn’t a thing of the future anymore. At least, not as far into the future as it used to be. With air/spacecraft going up into the stratosphere whenever we want them to, soon it won’t be just about where you want to fly to, but where in space you want to launch to. (Now we just need destinations up there. Where’s our floating islands?) Unfortunately, it’s still super expensive to get it done. Even if you take Xtraordinary Adventure’s deal.

The cost will come around $ 95,000, courtesy of their very own spacecraft. It’s called the Lynx, and they’ve labeled it as a reusable space vehicle. We don’t mind the whole “space vehicle” part, but that “reusable” part makes us think it can have the potential to not be reusable one time, and that’s not good for the psyche at all. The company is booking space flights right now, but you won’t be able to take part in it until 2012.

Also, you’ll need to toss down a cool $20,000 for the deposit to hold your place in line. But, if you hand over all the money necessary to get your seat on the Lynx, then you’ll also need to take a four day training course, plus a two day briefing before the flight actually launches. A lot of money, and a lot of hard work, but we imagine for the idea of flying into space, it would all be worth it. And, it’s better than $200,000 ( Virgin Galactic).

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Technabob.

::Devon, Bulletproof Wristwatch, Be Ready to Shell Out $15k.

The last time we saw the Devon Works Tread 1 wristwatch it existed only in digital form, rendered and swirling about with respect neither mass nor volume. Now it has come to reside in the physical plane, and aBlogtoRead has managed to get one of its belt-driven manifestations to test out. Naturally it's a little less pristine looking than the computer-generated version and, pictured next to a fleshy hand, we can now see just how big the thing is -- its crown actually large enough to wear on your head. For $15k you at least know you're getting your money's worth when it comes to raw materials, but whether you agree that this is a "novel timepiece that will make a satisfying addition to any collector's treasure trove" depends on your sense of taste, depth of pockets, and desire to make your forearms look meek and feeble. 




Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, aBlogtoRead.

::IBM Researchers Make the Most Detailed Map of the Brain a Reality

In a paper published earlier this week, IBM researchers made huge strides in mapping the architecture of the brain, charting three times as many connections as any previous study. Where does such a map lead? The future of cognitive computing.

Specifically, the study traced long-distance connections in the brain of a Macaque monkey, the "interstate highways" which transmit information between distant areas of the brain. Said one of the researchers:

We can now gain unprecedented insight into how information travels and is processed across the brain...a stepping stone to both fundamental and applied research in neuroscience and cognitive computing.

Their map depicts 6,602 long-distance connections between 383 different regions of the brain, allowing researchers to grasp how and where the brain sends information better than ever before.

Such data will allow scientists to more accurately perform theoretical analysis—the same type of projections that optimize search engines or track social networks—which will be essential in developing computer chips that can keep up with our brain's immense computational power and navigate its complex architecture.

And of course it's fairly mindblowing to remind yourself that all of this work is being done to chart the vast, mysterious region existing inside your noggin right now. 

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, KurzweilAI.

::This Will Kill The Famed Segway! Ewee-PT!

If you’ve wanted a Segway, but thought it looked too “flashy” for you, then here’s what you’ve been waiting for. It’s the “little sister” of the Segway, and you should take that title to heart. Because, as you can see from the image, there isn’t much here that actually looks like a Segway. Other than that curved middle-section and handlebars, it’s missing that familiar over-sized base, plus all the plastic you’d want to show off.

The PT is manufactured by a company in Germany called Ewee, and they designed it to take all of the unnecessary elements of the Segway out of the equation, and just scale it down to the bare-bones needed to function. So, you’ll be holding onto nothing but those skinny handlebars, and your hopes and dreams as you propel yourself down the sidewalk in this mechanical contraption.

Movement is handled much the same way as the Segway, though. You move forward by leaning forward, and if you want to stop, you simply straighten yourself out. Steering, though, is handled by a joystick of sorts. Or be comfortable. The Ewee-PT is available for preorder right now, all for a low cost of €799, or about $1,039. Check out the video below before you whip out your credit card, though.


Further Reading, Buying and Information Courtesy:My Brain, Ewee-PT.

:: What Do You Think This Is? A Gun.....!

This cube may look like hell's version of Jenga, but it's actually an elaborate, 125-piece puzzle. The solution? A single-shot 45-caliber muzzle-loading pistol called the Intimidator. No, seriously. See for yourself.

The Intimidator puzzle, by machinist GarE Maxton, comprises six different kinds of metal: aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, magnesium, and steel. When disassembled, it's an impressive array of pieces:

Not all of those go into the weapon itself, of course. Because the Intimidator's way more than just a gun:

"[It's] a customized set of tools, all necessary hardware, 45 caliber bullets, a standard sight, a laser sight, a canister containing black powder pellets, a secure storage area for 209 shotgun primers, a spent primer removal tool and a ramrod for loading the bullets."

And if you're having a hard time visualizing all of that stuff amidst those parts, here's the finished product for you:

Thats right its a golden gun too! 

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Maxton.

360 deg 3D display systems from SONY, Siggraph 2010.

Sony talked up its cylindrical no-glasses 3D 360-degree prototype display last fall, and now it's showing off the tech, dubbed RayModeler 3D, on US soil at SIGGRAPH 2010 through tomorrow. A major bonus of that showcase is an English language video -- embedded after the break, plus a hands on including a game of Pong Breakout from Core77, showing how it all works, including the eight-camera rig and turntable that capture objects in 45-degree separations before they are interpolated to create a continuous 360-degree motion image. Sony claims this is the first of its type capable of high quality images, full color and interactive live motion -- check it out and imagine keeping a tiny 3D pet or floating, disembodied head on your bedside table, where it can respond and react to your every gesture. We wouldn't want our blip-verts any other way.




Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Core77, SonyStyle blog.

::Minority Report Tech is Here!!!!

Motion controlled computers aren’t as fresh or new as they were a year ago, but that doesn’t mean that when we see cool technology being demonstrated, we still don’t get a bit weak in the knees. This time around, we get a brief glimpse into the future, thanks to Hitachi and their new motion-controlled interface. There are a few moments in the demo that doesn’t seem to translate well between user and system, but in the end it looks like a great way for us to navigate our User Interfaces in the future.

And, truth be told, it still looks amazing. Watching as the user navigates through a Google Maps-like layout, zooming in and out of a particular location in Japan, and then making his way through a crowded street, all the while just using hand gestures to make it happen. You can see in the video that the actions and results are not instantaneous at all times, but the more we watch the video, we’re leaning more towards the fact that whoever is using the contraption keeps moving his hand out of the camera’s field of vision. That would explain the double actions.

The demo showcases swiping to turn the camera around, and it also shows how, after the user enters a store, you can use your hands to navigate a quadrant of pop-up menus. Even the menus look great, especially as he navigates them. And then he accesses an advertisement, and suddenly he’s playing around with an X-ray of a human brain. The potential here is pretty great, and it’s even better to see that we will be able to do all of this without actually having to touch anything.

Unfortunately, Hitachi says that this technology isn’t ready for the prime time. They’re guess? Some time by mid-2011. So, while we find ourselves somewhere in the mid-2010, we’re already wishing for the future to catch up with the present. Hopefully Hitachi will continue to show off this technology over the coming moths, so we can watch with them as it improves.

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Akihabaranews.

::Quantum Mechanics, Location Based Encryption.

Imagine a form of encrypted communication so secure that it's physically impossible to access it unless you're actually at the location where you're supposed to hear it. Quantum mechanics makes location-based cryptography possible - without any pesky codes or keys.

The basic idea is simple - create an encrypted communication where your actual physical location is the only key required to gain access to the hidden information. It would eliminate any need to create and store decryption keys, which is disproportionately the most complex and time-intensive task in cryptography. You could encrypt a secure line so that the only people who could ever hear would have to be at, say, two secure military bases, eliminating any chance of someone listening in from a third location.

And now computer scientists at UCLA have figured out how to do it. The big problem holding back location-based cryptography was that triangulation, the classical method of verifying the receiver's location is the correct one, can be forged if enemies work together to provide just the right combination of wrong information. But that's just classical physics - quantum mechanics has that problem solved. The solution lies in the no-cloning theorem, an outgrowth of the uncertainty principle that basically states it's impossible to create an exact replica of a quantum state.

This means that, when the secure transmitter sends out multiple quantum bits, or qubits, the intended receiver is the only device that can verify the information and confirm they are who they say they are. If an adversary was trying to listen in, they'd still need multiple transmitters to mimic the supposed location, but that's now physically impossible because the first adversary would need to both store the qubit's state and send it on to the next confederate, and quantum mechanics says that's impossible.

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, arxiv.

::Higgs Boson: Explanation for the Masses.

Last month rumors swirled that scientists at the Large Hadron Collider found the Higgs Boson particle. Those reports were untrue, but we have made significant progress towards finding the elusive particle. Why is this such an important discovery?

What is the Higgs Boson?

Explanation, Simple

The Higgs is one of the five bosonic elementary particles, each of which acts as a carrier of a fundamental property of nature. The other four bosons, known as the gauge bosons, are the carriers of the fundamental forces - photons carry electromagnetism, the W and Z bosons both carry the weak nuclear force, and gluons carry the strong nuclear force. (There's also another hypothetical gauge boson, the graviton, which unsurprisingly carries the gravitational force, but that one remains undiscovered.)

Higgs Boson Simulation

Now, the Higgs Boson is the carrier of mass in the universe. It does this by helping to form a Higgs field, a quantum structure through which all the other elementary particles pass. According to the Standard Model of physics, certain particles - such as the photon - pass through the field unaffected and remain massless, while others - such as the W and Z bosons - bring part of the field with them, giving them mass. This subatomic interaction with the Higgs field is what accounts for the existence of all the mass in the universe - at least, if the theory is correct. And the only way to confirm it is to find the Higgs Boson.

Why is the Higgs Boson so difficult to find?

It's a relatively massive subatomic particle, thought to be over a hundred times the mass of a proton. The problem is that the Higgs Boson is thought to exist at extremely high energy levels - so high that only the newly built Large Hadron Collider is thought to be capable of achieving them. And then it only survives for a few seconds before decaying into other particles. Then there's the fact that, despite some rather ingenious deductions of its nature using indirect evidence, we still don't really know exactly where we should be looking for the Higgs Boson.

Today we're getting closer to knowing the Higgs Boson mass

Scientists at Fermilab, home of the world's most powerful particle accelerator that isn't the LHC, have been able to significantly narrow down the possible masses of the Higgs.

Physicists use the unit of measurement GeV/c^2, or Gigaelectronvolts divided by the speed of light squared, to measure the mass of subatomic particles. An electronvolt is the amount of energy of, you guessed it, a single electron. Because of Einstein's iconic equation E=mc^2, dividing the electronvolt by the speed of light squared makes it a unit of mass. And because most subatomic particles are much, much bigger than the tiny electron, we have to bump up the unit of measurement we use from electronvolts to gigaelectronvolts, or a billion electronvolts. Protons have a mass of about one GeV/c^2.

Here's what the Fermilab scientists found - their experiments with the Tevatron particle accelerator have conclusively ruled out a Higgs Boson with a mass between 158 and 175 GeV/c^2. Since the previously known range extends from 114 to 185 GeV/c^2, that means nearly a quarter of the possible masses have been eliminated.

Those remaining higher masses may be soon to fall as well, says physicist Dmitri Denisov:

We are close to completely ruling out a Higgs boson with a large mass. Three years ago, we would not have thought that this would be possible. With more data coming in, our experiments are beginning to be sensitive to a low-mass Higgs boson.

But where is the Higgs Boson?

If the Higgs does exist, it's running out of possible hiding spots, says University of Manchester physicist Stefan Söldner-Rembold:

"Our latest result is based on about twice as much data as a year and a half ago. As we continue to collect and analyze data, the Tevatron experiments will either exclude the Standard Model Higgs boson in the entire allowed mass range or see first hints of its existence."

It was thought until recently that the Large Hadron Collider held the only practical hope of discovering the Higgs Boson, but now it looks as though Fermilab's Tevatron accelerator is back in the hunt as well. As Fermilab spokespeople point out, creating high energy environments may actually be less important than simply creating as huge an amount of collisions as possible. We haven't found the Higgs Boson yet, but we're fast approaching the moment of truth: either we will discover it and confirm the Standard Model in the process, or we will have to reluctantly head back to the drawing board and start building a Higgs-less universe. 


Further Reading and Information Courtesy: io9, Fermilab.