SCIENCE IN THE NEWS WEEKLY
Bright Future for Solar Power
Despite the gloom of the world's economy, officials at the Solar Energy Industries Association are declaring a bright new day for their industry. With consumer incentives, the introduction of federal stimulus funds and a propitious political climate, they claim that the future for solar power is more than bright. As an example, some homeowners are expected to be able to quickly recoup savings from their solar systems, a longtime industry goal.
Despite the odds, many cities are racing to entice the biotechnology industry to their neighborhoods. While their manufacturing plants are closing down, these cities see the biotech firms as the rescuers of their economic futures—despite the fact that the industry is highly concentrated in established science and business epicenters such as Boston and it is a relatively tiny industry with a lengthy product-development process.
As early players in 3-D printing, the engineers at Z Corporation are able to load up a schematic of what they want, feed in some plastic, and watch a machine print out a fully formed model—complete with moving parts. The crux of this style of "rapid prototyping" is simple—build an object one cross-section at a time, similar to laying down LEGO bricks to make a larger structure.
Ever since the internal combustion engine was first invented, people have been tinkering with it, attempting to make the technology more powerful and more efficient. Although all of that tweaking has arguably produced engineering excellence, it is still far from perfect, especially in its most common use, the gasoline-powered car. But in comes biophysicist Oded Tour, who has formed a start-up company to develop and promote a modified version, the Tour Engine, which he says can run on almost any kind of fuel with significantly improved energy efficiency and significantly less pollution.
A new household danger is on the rise. The number of acute computer-related injuries—the type that involve accidents, not repetitive stress injuries or eyestrain—increased eightfold from 1994 through 2006, with a total of more than 78,000 individuals suffering such injuries during that time period. The researchers say the findings are significant (and should be followed up) in a world where computers are becoming essential fixtures in homes.
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