| Invert your thinking: Squeezing more power out of your solar panels Editor's Note: Scientific American 's George Musser will be chronicling his experiences installing solar panels and taking other steps to save energy in 60-Second Solar . Read his introduction here and see all posts here . When people talk about improving the efficiency of solar energy production, they usually talk about the panels themselves. What fraction of sunlight do they convert into electricity? Most solar cells today are made of crystalline silicon , but could cleverer designs or advanced materials such as thin films , organic polymers , layered semiconductors , and phosphorescent dyes do better? Probably, but that’s only half the story. The auxiliary equipment that connects the panels to your household wiring or the electrical grid is just as important. [More] rss.sciam.com |
IUCN Red List update: 17,291 species are threatened with extinction The 2009 edition of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species was released today, and the news isn't good: 17,291 species out of 47,677 assessed species, or 36 percent, are threatened with extinction. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Despite Gains, One Third of the World's Marine Mammals Seen at Greater Risk Dear EarthTalk: What is the current status of whales? How effective is the International Whaling Commission and which countries are involved in illegal whaling? --Jonathan Wingate, Yulee, Fla. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Keeping Coal Mines from Exploding Mining is the second most dangerous profession in the U.S., averaging 27 deaths for every 100,000 workers per year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That safety record is now blown. On April 5th, 25 of the roughly 20,000 miners in West Virginia died in a tragic incident at the Upper Big Branch mine. Four remained missing as of Friday. The explosion appears to have been caused by a buildup of methane . An odorless, colorless, tasteless gas that you know as natural gas. It explodes at concentrations in the air of as little as 5 percent. The incident also could have been caused or exacerbated by coal dust, which is equally combustible. That's why we burn it to make electricity. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Carbon Dioxide from Cars, Part 2 [More] Carbon - Environment - Carbon Cycle - Carbon Management - Carbon dioxide rss.sciam.com |