Comment Re:Based on recent history... (Score 0) 199

by The Late BP Helium on Tuesday July 07, 2009 @12:47AM (#28604059) Attached to: Nanopillar Solar May Cost 10x Less Than Silicon

The technology in TFA, while a big breakthrough in PV efficiency from patterned nanowires, will not be able to compete on cost with Nanosolar and First Solar. Nanosolar uses roll-to-roll printing, with the semiconductor spray-printed into place onto the substrate (which is quick and easy). This new technique requires hours of anodization, a half-hour reaction, and then more time for deposition of the CdTe and top contact. There's simply too much processing of the substrate for it to be economical to the same extent spray-printing is. This technology may still be promising if it can get very high efficiencies ( >20%) and be used with solar concentrating mirrors.

Comment Re:Dr Gaius Baltar (Score 0) 860

by The Late BP Helium on Thursday June 18, 2009 @02:25PM (#28377385) Attached to: Who is your favorite fictional doctor?

YES! I can't believe no one mentioned Gaius before now!

Barack Obama Wins US Presidency 3709

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:30AM from the enough-of-that-now-this dept.

Last night, around 11pm, all the major networks announced that Senator Barack Obama had won the election. Soon after, Senator McCain conceded. There were no crazy partisan court hearings, just a simple election. This is your chance to talk about it and what it means for the future of our nation.

New "MP3 100% Compatible" Logo For DRM-Free Music 263

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 04, 2008 @11:29PM from the plays-for-sure-this-time-we-really-mean-it dept.

Sockatume writes "A coalition of seven UK digital music stores have created a logo for DRM-free, MP3 music. The 'MP3: 100% Compatible' logo allows the stores to emphasize the advantages of the format, namely that MP3 files will run on any device and won't keel over and die as DRM-laden files are wont to. The BPI — the UK equivalent of the RIAA — is backing the scheme, emphasizing that it will also allow users to identify legitimate stores."

Comment Bad new for Diebold (Score -1, Troll) 252

by The Late BP Helium on Tuesday November 04, 2008 @04:57PM (#25632489) Attached to: Suit Claims Diebold Voting Machines Violate GPL

This a major blow to Diebold. They'll have to make the election results public this year.

Nanowires of Unlimited Length 111

Posted by kdawson on Monday February 11, 2008 @02:43AM from the eat-your-heart-out-spiderman dept.

StCredZero writes with word of a research team from the University of Illinois who have developed a way to manufacture nanowires of any length from various materials. Not, unfortunately, carbon nanotubes, or we would be looking for news on space elevators soon. The process is analogous to drawing with a fountain pen — as liquid is drawn from a reservoir, a solvent (water or an organic) evaporates and the solute precipitates onto a substrate. The researchers have demonstrated a way to spin and wind a nanowire onto a spool; they have produced a coil of microfiber 850 nm in diameter and 40 cm long. Here's the abstract from the journal Advanced Materials.