Tag Archives: caltech

Hydrogen Fuel from Sunlight

By Guest PostSeptember 13, 2013Sciencealexandra krawicz, artificial photosynthesis, berkeley lab, caltech, carbohydrate sugars, carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide reduction, earth abundant elements, eitan anzenberg, free electrons, gallium phosphide, gary moore, generate electricity, green sustainable energy, hydrogen fuel, hydrogen ions, hydrogen producing catalysts, ian sharp, jinhui yang, junko yano, non photoactive substrates, photoelectrochemical operations, protons, sunlight

Berkeley Lab Researchers at Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis Make Unique Semiconductor/Catalyst Construct

In the search for clean, green sustainable energy sources to meet human needs for generations to come, perhaps no technology matches the ultimate potential of artificial photosynthesis. Bionic leaves that could produce energy-dense fuels from nothing more than sunlight, water and atmosphere-warming carbon dioxide, with no byproducts other than oxygen, represent an ideal alternative to fossil fuels but also pose numerous scientific challenges. A major step toward meeting at least one of these challenges has been achieved by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) working at the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP).

“We’ve developed a method by which molecular hydrogen-producing catalysts can be interfaced with a semiconductor that absorbs visible light,” says Gary Moore, a chemist with Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division and principal investigator for JCAP. “Our experimental results indicate that the catalyst and the light-absorber are interfaced structurally as well as functionally.” (more…)

Testing Artificial Photosynthesis

By Guest PostJuly 3, 2013Scienceanode, artificial photosynthesis, atmospheric carbon dioxide, berkeley lab, caltech, camilo diaz botia, cathode, charge carriers, diesel, earth abundant elements, energy conversion, fossil fuel energy, gasoline, h2, hydrocarbon, hydrogen, jcap, jcap north, jcap south, joel ager, mean concentration, membrane cap, micro scale, microfluidic test bed, miguel modestino, o2, optimization, rachel segalman, rafael gomez sjoberg, sophia haussener

Berkeley Lab Researchers Develop Fully Integrated Microfluidic Test-bed for Solar-driven Electrochemical Energy Conversion Systems

With the daily mean concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide having reached 400 parts-per-million for the first time in human history, the need for carbon-neutral alternatives to fossil fuel energy has never been more compelling. With enough energy in one hour’s worth of global sunlight to meet all human needs for a year, solar technologies are an ideal solution. However, a major challenge is to develop efficient ways to convert solar energy into electrochemical energy on a massive-scale. A key to meeting this challenge may lie in the ability to test such energy conversion schemes on the micro-scale.

Berkeley Lab researchers, working at the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), have developed the first fully integrated microfluidic test-bed for evaluating and optimizing solar-driven electrochemical energy conversion systems. This test-bed system has already been used to study schemes for photovoltaic electrolysis of water, and can be readily adapted to study proposed artificial photosynthesis and fuel cell technologies. (more…)

New analysis suggests wind, not water, formed mound on Mars

By Guest PostMay 9, 2013Sciencealaska, california, caltech, claire newman, clay, dawn sumner, dusty atmosphere, dynamic, earth like, edwin kite, evidence, gale crater, geology, habitability, hirise camera, institute of technology, kevin lewis, lakebed silt, layer, mars rover curiosity, mars science laboratory, martian climate, martian climate history, martian mound, martian surface, models, mount sharp, mt mckinley, NASA, organic compounds, princeton university, red planet, sediment, sedimentary mounds, sedimentary records, slope winds, soil analyses, steep topographic slopes, topographical details, understanding mars past, water molecules, wind deposition

A roughly 3.5-mile high Martian mound that scientists suspect preserves evidence of a massive lake might actually have formed as a result of the Red Planet’s famously dusty atmosphere, an analysis of the mound’s features suggests. If correct, the research could dilute expectations that the mound holds evidence of a large body of water, which would have important implications for understanding Mars’ past habitability.

Researchers based at Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology suggest that the mound, known as Mount Sharp, most likely emerged as strong winds carried dust and sand into the 96-mile-wide crater in which the mound sits. They report in the journal Geology that air likely rises out of the massive Gale Crater when the Martian surface warms during the day, then sweeps back down its steep walls at night. Though strong along the Gale Crater walls, these “slope winds” would have died down at the crater’s center where the fine dust in the air settled and accumulated to eventually form Mount Sharp, which is close in size to Alaska’s Mt. McKinley. (more…)

Shot Away from its Companion, Giant Star Makes Waves

By Guest PostDecember 23, 2012Sciencebow shock, caltech, giant star, infrared light, infrared portrait, jet propulsion laboratory, NASA, pasadena, sonic boom, Space, spitzer space telescope, survey explorer, visible colors, wise, zeta ophiuchi

Like a ship plowing through still waters, the giant star Zeta Ophiuchi is speeding through space, making waves in the dust ahead. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has captured a dramatic, infrared portrait of these glowing waves, also known as a bow shock.

Astronomers theorize that this star was once sitting pretty next to a companion star even heftier than itself. But when that star exploded, Zeta Ophiuchi was kicked away and sent flying. Zeta Ophiuchi, which is 20 times more massive and 80,000 times brighter than our sun, is racing along at about 54,000 mph (24 kilometers per second). (more…)

Grand Canyon as Old as the Dinosaurs, Suggests New Study Led by CU-Boulder

By Guest PostDecember 6, 2012Scienceapatite, apatite crystals, arizona, atom, bottom, caltech, colorado boulder, colorado river, detect, earth, evolution, grand canyon, helium atom, hydrology, kenneth farley, landscape, mineral grains, phosphate mineral, radioactive decay, rebecca flowers, surface, tectonics, thermal structure, thorium, topography, university, uranium, variation, western

An analysis of mineral grains from the bottom of the western Grand Canyon indicates it was largely carved out by about 70 million years ago — a time when dinosaurs were around and may have even peeked over the rim, says a study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

The new research pushes back the conventionally accepted date for the formation of the Grand Canyon in Arizona by more than 60 million years, said CU-Boulder Assistant Professor Rebecca Flowers. The team used a dating method that exploits the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium atoms to helium atoms in a phosphate mineral known as apatite, said Flowers, a faculty member in CU-Boulder’s geological sciences department. (more…)

Researchers Develop New Amp to Study the Universe

By Guest PostJuly 23, 2012Scienceamplifier, black holes, byeong ho eom, caltech, electric current, electrical signal, jonas zmuidzinas, NASA, peter day, quantum computer, quantum world, radio wave, wavelengths, xrays, zero resistance

Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology, both in Pasadena, have developed a new type of amplifier for boosting electrical signals. The device can be used for everything from studying stars, galaxies and black holes to exploring the quantum world and developing quantum computers.

“This amplifier will redefine what it is possible to measure,” said Jonas Zmuidzinas, chief technologist at JPL, who is Caltech’s Merle Kingsley Professor of Physics and a member of the research team. (more…)

Meet a Face Behind the MIRI

By Guest PostJuly 21, 2012Scienceall sky survey, asteroid, caltech, cosmos, galaxy formation, hawaii, infrared bright galaxies, infrared telescope, james webb, jpl, mauna kea, mid infrared instrument, mike ressler, miri, NASA, palomar, san diego, space telescope, star formation, wise

This summer welcomed the delivery of the James Webb Space Telescope’s first flight instrument, the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). The instrument will peer out into the farthest depths of the cosmos and capture light showcasing star and galaxy formation.

MIRI’s design, assembly and journey were made possible because of a collaboration between a European consortium of institutes that developed the instrument in a partnership with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., working with the European Space Agency, University of Arizona and NASA. (more…)

The Flowing Sands of Mars

By Guest PostMay 13, 2012ScienceAntarctica, caltech, craters, digital terrain model, doug mccuistion, dtm, earth, flowing sands, geological processes, gullies, high speed winds, hirise camera, jean philippe avouac, mars, martian equator, martian landscape, martian surface, mro, NASA, nathan bridges, nili patera, red planet, rocks on mars, sand dunes, sarah mattson, valleys

Sand dunes on Mars move not unlike those on Earth, despite a much thinner atmosphere and weaker winds, as revealed by images taken with the UA-led HiRISE camera.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO, has revealed that movement in sand dune fields on the Red Planet occurs on a surprisingly large scale, about the same as in dune fields on Earth.

This is unexpected because Mars has a much thinner atmosphere than Earth is only about 1 percent as dense, and its high-speed winds are less frequent and weaker than Earth’s.

For years, researchers debated whether or not sand dunes observed on Mars were mostly fossil features related to past climate, rather than currently active. In the past two years, researchers using images from MRO’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, camera have detected and reported sand movement. (more…)