Health, Science and Technology

A new catalyst could help speed development of inexpensive home-brewed solar energy systems for powering homes and plug-in cars during the day (left) and for producing electricity from a fuel cell at night (right).

An electricity-generating fuel-cell system known as the Bloom Box sparked a huge buzz in the energy debate six months ago - and since then, still more ventures have surfaced to promise better living through chemistry. Will future fuel cells make good on those promises? We should know in the next couple of years.

One of the concepts, detailed today at an American Chemical Society meeting in Boston, combines the environmental friendliness of solar power with the 24/7 capability of fuel-cell generation. When the sun shines, electricity from solar panels would feed into a personal power grid, and also split water into hydrogen and oxygen. When the sun isn’t out, the hydrogen and oxygen can be recombined to keep the electricity flowing, producing pure water in the process.

By John Roach

Breakthroughs in energy storage technologies are on the horizon that could turn vast swathes of the world’s sun-soaked deserts and windy plains into sources of clean, renewable energy, according to experts focused on our energy future.

No one technology — ranging from storing a portion of the sun’s energy collected during the day in molten salt to run solar thermal generators at night to banks of lithium-ion batteries scattered around neighborhoods — will be the solution.

Rather, “there is going to be a portfolio of energy storage” options, Bruce Dunn, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of California at Los Angeles, told me Thursday. 

By John Roach

The U.S. government is giving a nearly half-million dollar grant to a beer maker in Alaska that aims to install a first-of-its-kind boiler that is fueled entirely by spent grain.

All brewers are confronted with mountains of spent grains — mostly barley. Many get rid of the waste by routing it to farmers for animal feed, a noble service that can help grow a steak to accompany your fine ale.

For the Alaskan Brewing Co. in Juneau, this has involved an added step, since the closest market for its grains is a long-distance, boat-ride away in Seattle.

Rather than risk life and limb against the crushing masses on Black Friday, millions of us will opt instead to shop online on Cyber Monday from what we think is the relative safety of our homes. But there too, danger lurks. It’s not as obvious — but it may be even more bruising, especially to your finances.

By now, consumers should know not to use any of the 25 worst passwords of 2011, nor should they be placing orders on anything but a secure browser connection (look for “https” in the Web address). But security experts have other tips, too, to try to keep you safe and not unnecessarily parted with your money.

By Gary Merson and Geoff Morrison

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about 3-D HDTV. However, the poor roll-out and competing viewing formats have made 3-D one of the most confusing features ever.

This guide will help you decide which 3-D-equipped HDTV is right for you.

Within the framework of the skull is very soft, which is characteristic of children ayear.

The discovery of two mummified skull length in Peru that has a different size with a normal size human skull can answer the existence of aliens.

The first mummy, the head of the skull that has a larger size 50 cm (20 inches). This discovery is one of the two previous discoveries in the city of Andahuaylillas, southern Quispicanchi, Peru.

With the application ’weatherman’ is, you need not fear the rain soaked street.

About to leave for work or home on a motorbike? Make sure you have an application ’weatherman’ on this one. Because the weather is often fickle erratic.Bright flash, a flash heavy rains flushed.

Applications ’weatherman’ is called Dark Sky. Dark Sky will tell you weather the next hour. Special, Dark Sky prediction claimed to be very accurate. With this application, you only need 5 minutes to find heavy rain will fall, so you have enoughtime to prepare.

The robot then act and play the basic ingredient in glass bottles.

Android is known as a flexible operating system for applications both insamrtphone, tablets, and digital television. But now, android also ogled to run arobot bartender to mix cocktails.

Is Nick Johnson, who had an idea to make a robot bartender who later was named iZac. 

Conversely, malware attacks on BlackBerry operating system is decreasing.

McAfee releases latest mention, throughout the third quarter of this year, the androidoperating system became the main target of malware attacks on mobile devices.

Based on these reports, the amount of malware targeting Android devices jumped nearly 37 percent. This was at once ordained in 2011 as the year’s busiest in the history of malware. According to McAfee, as reported by techcrunch.com, almost allnew mobile malware in the third quarter, targeting Android.

McAfee explained, the owner of malware exploit the popularity of android devices.One form of malware most poluler in the third quarter of this in the form of SMS sending Trojan. This malware can steal personal information collection, and evensteal money the owner of the mobile phone berperangkat android.

Playing video games can indeed create noticeably faster time passes. However, should you limit such activities. Sitting in the same position for too long can lead to blood clots and inflammation of the veins.

One of the victims of blood clots or deep vein thrombosis / DVT is a 20-year-old game player who died after a marathon playing games. According to the autopsy report he died of clogged arteries in the lungs.

The main danger of thrombosis in the veins in the body is to release some blood clots that come up and the bloodstream and lodge in blood vessels in the lungs called pulmonary embolism. Blood clots can be life threatening if lodged in the brain because it will trigger a stroke.