Affordable Renewal Energy

Site Archives

Solar Cells of the Future with Nano Flakes


A new material, nano flakes, may revolutionise the transformation of solar energy to electricity. If so, even ordinary households can benefit from solar electricity and save money in the future.

If researcher Martin Aagesen’s future solar cells meet the expectations, both your economy and the environment will benefit from the research. Less than 1 per cent of the world’s electricity comes from the sun because it is difficult to transform solar energy to electricity. But Martin Aagesen’s discovery may be a huge step towards boosting the exploitation of solar energy.

Cholesterol fine-tunes hearing


HOUSTON – Levels of cholesterol in the membranes of hair cells in the inner ear can affect your hearing, said a consortium of researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University and Purdue University in a report in today’s print edition of The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Barcoding An Entire Ecosystem


BERKELEY — In the middle of the South Pacific, about 12 miles west of Tahiti, is a tropical island that soon will emerge as a model ecosystem, thanks to the efforts of a U.S.-French research team led by University of California, Berkeley, biologists.

Traditional medicine plants disappearing as demand rises


Johannesburg – A dwindling supply of wild medicinal plants is threatening South Africa’s traditional medicine industry, according to new research. In a paper published by the nongovernmental organisation Health Systems Trust this month, researchers found that the demand for traditional medicine is higher than ever — stimulated by HIV/AIDS, unemployment and rapid urbanisation.

Ancient pyramid found in central Mexico City


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Archeologists have discovered the ruins of an 800-year-old Aztec pyramid in the heart of the Mexican capital that could show the ancient city is at least a century older than previously thought.

Mexican archeologists found the ruins, which are about 36 feet high, in the central Tlatelolco area, once a major religious and political centre for the Aztec elite.

Got fleas? Get the vacuum


WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Vacuum cleaners kill fleas just as well as any poison, surprised researchers said on Tuesday. They said a standard vacuum cleaner abuses the fleas so much it kills 96 percent of adult fleas and 100 percent of younger fleas. So no need to worry that a vacuum cleaner bag may turn into a fleabag breeding ground for the pesky, biting creatures, said Glen Needham, associate professor of entomology at Ohio State University. Needham studied the cat flea, or Ctenocephalides felis, the most common type of flea found in households.

Survey: Coal-Fired Power Plant Freeze Favored


DES MOINES, Iowa – Sending a clear message to state officials and presidential candidates, nearly four out of five Iowans (79 percent) — including 69 percent of Republicans, 86 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of Independents — think that “Iowa should focus on increased (energy) conservation steps and more fuel efficiency to reduce demand for electricity before it constructs new coal-fired power plants,” according to a major new Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) survey commissioned by Iowa Interfaith Power & Light, Iowa Farmers Union and Plains Justice.

Oil prices set for highest annual gain this decade


Filed under: ,

Well, it’s not like we need to tell you that $3 gas is pretty much the new black. While the price of a barrel of oil hasn’t broken the $100 barrier yet, it is sitting pretty at around $96 these days and the AP is saying that the high prices mean that the price of oil is set “for its biggest annual gain this decade as dwindling fuel stocks and growing concern over political turmoil offset the impact of a softening U.S. economy.” You hear that, SUV drivers?

At the beginning of 2007, the price of a barrel of oil was $61, which makes the annual jump almost 58 percent. As the AP so gently reminds us, “Oil’s rally is entering its seventh year, more than quadrupling its market value of below $20 at the start of 2002.” The average price for 2007 is going to be about $72.30, a nine percent jump from 2006 and way higher than analysts’ predictions of a $63.23 average. For 2008, a “consensus forecast” sees an average of $77.62 a barrel next year. Wonder how right/wrong that’ll look in 12 months.

Oh, and Happy New Year!

[Source: AP]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Wild Chimps Skip Menopause


Boston – A pioneering study of wild chimpanzees has found that these close human relatives do not routinely experience menopause, rebutting previous studies of captive individuals which had postulated that female chimpanzees reach reproductive senescence at 35 to 40 years of age.

More young diabetics being hospitalized


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – There has been a significant increase in the number of young adults hospitalized with diabetes-related conditions in the United States over the last decade or so, according to a new study. “Studies indicate that the burden of diabetes, type 1 and type 2, is substantial and rising among U.S. children,” Dr. Joyce Lee, of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues write in the medical journal Diabetes Care. “We wished to evaluate national trends in hospitalizations associated with diabetes for children and young adults.”

The researchers found a 38 percent increase from 1993 to 2004 in the number of hospital stays for people between the ages of 0 and 29 years with a diabetes diagnosis.

The trend seemed to be age-dependent. There were significant increases in annual hospitalization rates among patients aged 20 to 29 years, but not among younger subjects.