Photographer James Balog shares new image sequences from the Extreme Ice Survey, a network of time-lapse cameras recording glaciers receding at an alarming rate, some of the most vivid evidence yet of climate change.
The aerocraft, with its 150-meter-long Z-type wing, can adjust its posture to absorb as much solar energy as possible. When flying in darkness, it will adjust the wing into a more aerodynamic position driving the plane with energy stored in the solar panels.
With the designed flight altitude of about 60,000 to 90,000 feet, the aerocraft can play a special role in military reconnaissance, communication and environmental monitoring while dealing with upper-atmosphere observation without pollution.
The unpiloted aerocarft was developed in the “vulture” plan by Aurora Flight Sciences, an American company. The plan was supported by BAE Systems, CS Draper Laboratory and the Sierra Nevada Corporation.
Currently, they have exhibited the first scale sized sample; and they would like to make a half sized sample before finishing the whole plane in 5 years.
A new type of solar panel using human hair could provide the world with cheap, green electricity, believes its teenage inventor.
Milan Karki, 18, who comes from a village in rural Nepal, believes he has found the solution to the developing world's energy needs.
The young inventor says hair is easy to use as a conductor in solar panels and could revolutionise renewable energy.
In addition to generating power, the Solar Road Panels contain embedded LED lights that "paint" the road lines from beneath. Image credit: Solar RoadwaysThe 12- x 12-foot panels, which each cost $6,900, are designed to be embedded into roads. When shined upon, each panel generates an estimated 7.6 kilowatt hours of power each day. If this electricity could be pumped into the grid, the company predicts that a four-lane, one-mile stretch of road with panels could generate enough power for 500 homes. Although it would be expensive, covering the entire US interstate highway system with the panels could theoretically fulfill the country's total energy needs. The company estimates that this would take 5 billion panels, but could "produce three times more power than we've ever used as a nation - almost enough to power the entire world."
