News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Dust drastically lowers the output of solar panels, but applying an electric field to the panels can make dust particles repel each other and disperse Technology 11 March 2022 By Chen Ly Illustration of dust removal from a solar panel using static electricity Sreedath Panat and Kripa Varanasi Static electricity could remove dust from desert … Read more
Chernobyl’s nuclear power plant and all the facilities in the Chernobyl exclusion zone have been completely disconnected and are now without electricity, Ukraine’s state energy company has announced. Russian forces attacked the defunct nuclear facility on the very first day of the invasion (Feb. 24), seizing it after heavy fighting and taking its roughly 210 staff hostage, Live Science … Read more
The system uses day-night temperature differences to extract water from the air while slightly increasing electricity generation by cooling solar panels Environment 1 March 2022 By Michael Le Page A prototype of the water-harvesting device Renyuan Li A three-month trial in Saudi Arabia has shown that a solar panel add-on system can harvest water without … Read more
A slow-moving low-pressure system has dropped 790 millimetres of rain on Brisbane in one week, causing floods that have claimed eight lives Environment 28 February 2022 By Alice Klein A flooded street in Milton, a suburb of Brisbane PATRICK HAMILTON/AFP/AFP via Getty Images Record-breaking rain on the east coast of Australia over the past week … Read more
Frustrated with the Australian government’s inaction on climate change, software king Mike Cannon-Brookes is trying to buy several big coal plants so he can shut them down in favour of renewables Environment | Analysis 22 February 2022 By Alice Klein Open-cast coal mining in Hunter Valley, Australia PETER HARRISON/Getty Images Mike Cannon-Brookes, the third-richest person … Read more
There’s a major catch to the world’s need for solar panels, a new analysis suggests. The booming solar panel market – which is critical for a clean energy future – could demand close to half the world’s aluminum by 2050. Thankfully, there are ways we can mitigate this. Unlike more precious metals, such as … Read more
The underwater Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption has already triggered a tsunami, a sonic boom and thousands of lightning bolts, and could now lead to acid rain Earth 17 January 2022 By Alice Klein Satellite photo of the eruption CIRA/NOAA/Handout via REUTERS The massive explosion of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in Tonga on Saturday was its … Read more
A study suggests that a small device powered by wind and rain can boost crop yield, but other researchers have cast doubt on the findings Life 13 January 2022 By Adam Vaughan Pea plants growing in a greenhouse Andreeshcheva Katerina/Shutterstock A team of researchers claims to have shown that a high-voltage electric field generated using … Read more
A device that delivers electric current to the knees could help combat osteoarthritis, a painful condition caused by worn cartilage, after successful tests in rabbits Health 12 January 2022 By Clare Wilson Coloured X-ray of the knees of an 87-year old man with severe osteoarthritis SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Knee implants that generate a tiny electrical … Read more
Ethereum is using almost as much electricity as Ecuador, according to a new analysis, and a long-awaited upgrade to slash its energy use has been delayed once again Technology 15 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes A coal-fired power plant in Germany Hans Blossey/Alamy A long-awaited upgrade to the Ethereum network which developers promise will slash … Read more