Energy, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2004

End of Oil Could Fuel 'End of Civilization as We Know It'

SAN FRANCISCO -- Opponents in a long-running debate over when the world will run out of oil squared off Tuesday in a crowded room of scientists, reaching only one conclusion: The supply of fossil fuels is fixed and the world economy will eventually have to wean itself from oil. The...

Nov 30, 2004

Personal Power: Bendable Organic Solar Cells

Researchers think new, flexible, lightweight organic solar cells may soon power everything from laptops to iPods. The abundance of solar energy is a tantalizing alternative to the dwindling reserves of fossil fuels. Until recently, the preferred material to harness that power has been solar panels made of silicon crystals. Some...

Oct 31, 2004

'Green' Car Sets Speed Record

The idea that an environmentally friendly automobile has to be small and timid may change as a space-age prototype reaches 196 mph (315 km/h), setting a new record for this type of vehicle. The sleek LeMans prototype-style car ran on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and was lubricated with sunflower oil....

Aug 31, 2005

Scientists Turn Cow Waste into Electricity

Scientists have generated renewable electricity using natural materials that are cheap and plentiful - cow manure and stomach juices. Microbes living in the rumen chamber of a cow's stomach break down cellulose - a tough carbohydrate produced by plants, specifically in the grass cows munch on. This process helps cows...

Jun 30, 2005

Military Mulls Use of 'Star Trek' Weapons

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) -- For years, the U.S. military has explored a new kind of firepower that is instantaneous, precise and virtually inexhaustible: beams of electromagnetic energy. Directed-energy'' pulses can be throttled up or down depending on the situation, much like the phasers on Star Trek'' could be set to...

Dec 31, 2005

Ethanol Fuel More Advantageous Than Thought

Producing a gallon of ethanol gas from corn requires 95 percent less petroleum than producing a gallon from fossil fuels, a new study finds. This method might also slightly reduce the production of greenhouse gases that speed up global warming, but the results on that point are not certain. It...

Nov 30, 2007

Divorce Squanders Earth's Resources

Divorce leaves more than a trail of legal documents, stinging egos and uprooted kids. The split-ups wreak havoc on the environment. A global trend of soaring divorce rates has led to a surge in the number of households with fewer people. The result: We collectively devour more space and gobble...

Oct 31, 2007

10 Ways to Green Your Spending

Fair is Fair Photo (Image credit: www.transfairusa.org)As our parents were only too eager to point out, life isn't fair. Buying fair-trade-certified products, however, helps ensure that impoverished third-world producers pocket their rightful share of the profits, not watch their hard-earned funds get whittled away by predatory middlemen. Coffee and tea...

Oct 31, 2007

Qatar Leads New Research into Cleaner Jet Fuel

Four Qatar-based organizations are partnering with Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Shell International Petroleum to research the potential benefits of using synthetic, cleaner jet fuel in commercial aircraft engines. At this week's Dubai Airshow, Qatar Airways, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Fuel Company and the Qatar Science and Technology Park signed an agreement with...

Sep 30, 2007

UN Expert Calls Biofuel 'Crime Against Humanity'

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- A U.N. expert on Friday called the growing practice of converting food crops into biofuel a crime against humanity,'' saying it is creating food shortages and price jumps that cause millions of poor people to go hungry. Jean Ziegler, who has been the United Nations' independent...

Jul 31, 2007

New Paper Batteries Powered by Blood

Sheets of paper can be made to work like batteries and power electronics, research now reveals. The paper sheets could even get power from sweat or blood and, in the future, energize devices implanted within people, scientists said. “When we get this technology down, we'll basically have the ability to...

Mar 31, 2007

Top 10 Emerging Environmental Technologies

Top 10 Emerging Environmental Technologies The big Blue Marble, Earth, as seen from space. (Image credit: NASA)Wasteful energy policies, overuse of resources, water supply shortages, global climate change, and deforestation are just some of the issues experts say need to be addressed for humans to achieve sustainable living on this...

Feb 28, 2007

Sweet New Battery Runs on Sugar

In the near future, longer-lasting batteries could run on virtually anything sugary, including tree sap or flat soda pop. Scientists say these sweet new batteries could operate three to four times longer than the conventional lithium ion batteries commonly used in cell phones, laptops, MP3 players and many other portable...

Jan 31, 2007

Scientists Generate Electricity in Novel Way

Researchers say they have successfully generated electricity from heat by trapping organic molecules between metal nanoparticles, a finding that could yield cheap refrigerators, not to mention new, more efficient energy sources in general. Currently, about 90 percent of the world's electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels, which creates heat,...

Nov 30, 2008

How Fishy Technology Could Power the Future

Editor's Note: Each Wednesday LiveScience examines the viability of emerging energy technologies — the power of the future. Think like a fish not like a bird, say researchers trying to harvest energy from water currents. Their new fish-inspired power generator can work in slow-moving currents where traditional turbines are less...