Getting Naked To Bring Attention To Global Warming
In an event organized in collaboration with Greenpeace, hundreds of naked people braved the cold on Aug. 18 to highlight the impacts of climate change on the Aletsch Glacier in the Swiss Alps. The nude volunteers posed for renowned installation artist Spencer Tunick in an event that signified and created a symbolic link between people and glaciers which are rapidly retreating as a result of climate change. Greenpeace predicts that if global warming continues at its current rate, most glaciers in Switzerland are expected to have completely disappeared by 2080 with nothing but valleys and slopes remaining in their place. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the world only has eight years remaining to take the urgent action needed to curb catastrophic climate change.
Origami Batteries - Paper Thin Batteries Could Revolutionize Electric Vehicles
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new energy storage device that easily could be mistaken for a simple sheet of black paper.
The nanoengineered battery is lightweight, ultra thin, completely flexible, and geared toward meeting the trickiest design and energy requirements of tomorrow’s gadgets, implantable medical equipment, and transportation vehicles.
Along with its ability to function in temperatures up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and down to 100 below zero (making it potentially suitable for space applications?), the device is completely integrated and can be printed like paper. The device is also unique in that it can function as both a high-energy battery and a high-power supercapacitor, which are generally separate components in most electrical systems. Another key feature is the capability to use human blood or sweat to help power the battery.
Details of the project are outlined in the paper “Flexible Energy Storage Devices Based on Nanocomposite Paper” published Aug. 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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