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Power

Submission + - Printable, Roll-Up Solar Panels Developed (technologyreview.com)

Submitted by
Al
Al writes: "A startup based in Toledo, Ohio, has developed a way to make large, flexible solar panels using a roll-to-roll manufacturing technique. Thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells are formed on thin sheets of stainless steel and each solar module is about one meter wide and five-and-a-half meters long. Conventional silicon solar panels are bulky and rigid, but these lightweight, flexible sheets could easily be integrated into roofs and building facades. They could even be rolled up and carried in a backpack, says the company's cofounder and president, Xunming Deng. "You could take it with you and charge your laptop battery," he says."
Power

World's First Battery Fueled By Air 205

Posted by CmdrTaco from the i-produce-tons-of-hot-air dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "The Telegraph reports on the revolutionary 'STAIR' (St Andrews Air) battery could now pave the way for a new generation of electric cars, laptops and mobile phones. The cells are charged in a traditional way but as power is used an open mesh section of battery draws in oxygen from the surrounding air that reacts with a porous carbon component inside the battery, which creates more energy and helps to continually 'charge' the cell as it is being discharged. The battery has a greater storage capacity than other similar-sized cells and can emit power up to 10 times longer. 'The key is to use oxygen in the air as a re-agent, rather than carry the necessary chemicals around inside the battery,' says Professor Peter Bruce of the Chemistry Department at the University of St Andrews. 'Our target is to get a five to ten fold increase in storage capacity, which is beyond the horizon of current lithium batteries.'"
Space

The 10-Year Satellite Forecast 73

Posted by samzenpus from the bigger-is-better dept.
coondoggie writes "When it comes to satellites sometimes less is more. In the next ten years the government expects to see fewer but ever larger satellites flung into space. Specifically, the folks who monitor such things, the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC), said in a draft report today that an average 20.8 satellites could be launched from 2009 through 2018, a decrease of one satellite when compared to the 2008 forecast of 21.8 and the 2007 forecast of 21.0 satellites per year. Actual launches per year were above 20 for the first time since 2002 and the highest total since 2000, with 23 satellites launched in 2008. As for the weight, the group said there has been steady growth in satellite mass since 1993 and the trend will continues as satellite mass is expected to remain near or slightly above 100,000 kilograms (220,400 lbs) forecast for the coming years with an all-time high of nearly 116,500 kg (257,000lbs) in 2009, the COMSTAC report stated."
Data Storage

Submission + - Samsung Announces The Fastest 64GB SSD (xuecast.com)

Submitted by
XueCast
XueCast writes: "his new Solid State Drive ( SSD ) from Samsung can write data at 100 MB/s and read data at 120 MB/s which can easily out perform most current SDDs in the market that can only write at 45 MB/s and read at 65 MB/s. This new SSD will come in two form factors which are : 2.5 and 3.5, and will be running on SATA II standard, and also it will only consume 50% less power than most current SSDs in the market. There is no information yet about how much this new SSD will cost to buy."
Television

TV Viewing Linked to Attention Problems 301

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the tired-of-being-told-to-go-play-outside dept.
oDDmON oUT writes "While your mother may have told you that sitting too close to the TV was bad for your eyes, the folks over at New Scientist are reporting that too much television may be linked to a bad attention span 'The study is not proof that TV viewing causes attention problems, Landhuis notes, because it may be that children prone to attention problems may be drawn to watching television. "However, our results show that the net effect of television seems to be adverse."'"

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