batteries
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No joke: This is the biggest battery breakthrough ever
A pioneer in battery research who already successfully launched a $350 million company to supply batteries to the likes of GE and Chrysler has done it again — only this time, "it" represents the complete reinvention of battery technology as we know it. This technology is in the research phase, but if it can be […]
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Charge your phone by yelling at it
As if cell phones don't already encourage enough annoying, disruptive public noise, researchers at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul have developed a phone battery that you charge by yelling at it. The battery has zinc oxide wires running between two electrodes; sound vibrates the wires, and that creates electricity. Right now, it only works with sounds […]
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Texas to install world’s largest wind energy storage system
The Notrees wind farm.Photo: Duke EnergyThey like to do things big in Texas, so it’s no surprise that the Lone Star state will launch the world’s largest wind battery storage project. Duke Energy is not a Texas company, but it owns the aptly named Notrees wind farm in the Texas panhandle. The North Carolina power […]
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In five years, you could charge your iPod with a snap of your fingers
Yeah, sure, if nanotechnology gets out of control it could lead to a scenario where the entire world turns into gray goo. But if it DOESN’T get out of control, it could lead to a scenario where you can charge your iPod by snapping your fingers — or even just with your heartbeat. WORTH IT […]
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Google-backed startup claims energy efficiency breakthrough
Photo: Marcin WicharyOn Wednesday I joined a cadre of other reporters who had been summoned to the Googleplex in Silicon Valley for what was billed as the launch of a clean tech startup that has developed a revolutionary new technology. The big reveal came as we sat around a conference table at Google Ventures, the […]
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GE plugs into Better Place, Sharp buys California solar developer
General Electric and Sharp just hooked up with two green tech startups: Better Place and Recurrent Energy.
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Mystery island, magical bikes, and 8 other green stories to keep you in the loop
Here's some under-the-radar items that will provide some snappy repartee fodder for your weekend social soirees.
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Afghanistan sitting on a motherlode
Mountains in Afghanistan.Photo courtesy Paolo Alfieri via FlickrNothing like the revelation of precious metals in a far off land to get the hyperbole flowing — and stir up the cynics. And so it goes in the wake of James Risen’s New York Times report that the U.S. has identified nearly a trillion dollars in mineral […]
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Ask Umbra on the word “green,” DIY laundry detergent, and computer batteries
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, Whenever I read the word “green” in quotation marks, I get the same sensation as when I hear nails on a chalkboard. Can you help me understand how this practice came about and what differentiates something as being “green” vs. just plain old green (sans quotation marks)? […]