SCIENCE IN THE NEWS WEEKLY
Technology: Auto Industry Looks to Electrics
Electric cars were all the rage at the recent Paris Motor Show. The French carmaker Renault announced plans to build an electric version of the Fluence, a mid-size sedan, and sell as many as 40,000 in 2011. That could make the company the largest producer of electric cars.
In related news, researchers said a new generation of hydrogen fuel tanks that store gas inside solids or liquids could represent a breakthrough for the future of hydrogen-powered vehicles.
The world's first computer network protected by unbreakable quantum encryption was unveiled at a scientific conference in Vienna. Using the laws of quantum theory, quantum cryptography is completely different from the standard security schemes used on computer networks today.
The energy crisis has revived a debate from the 1970s on whether we should take the "soft path" of energy conservation and power from the sun, wind and plants, or the "hard path" of nuclear power. The old lessons are as good a guide as any to the future, according to author William Tucker.
And a study released by the Michigan State University Land Policy Institute found that 100,000 wind turbines in the Great Lakes off Michigan's coasts could produce enough electricity for the entire Upper Midwest. But the cost and environmental considerations make such an approach unlikely, researchers concluded.
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