GE Unveils Super-Efficient White OLED Lights

High-efficiency organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lighting is closer than ever to commercialization, and recently GE scientists announced that they have devised a new way to make high-efficiency,

Breakthrough in Solar Cell Science Points to Increased Efficiency

The indium/galluim puzzle has long been confusing scientists and researchers trying to make solar cells more efficient. The numbers say that the ratio of indium to gallium in thin film solar cells should

MIT Develops New Multifunctional Fibers with Piezoelectric Sensitivity

MIT labs just unveiled its latest technological breakthrough -- a brand new kind of material that combines optical fiber technology and piezoelectrics, meaning it can actually sense pressure changes

Army Testing Hydrogen Fuel Cell-Powered Tanks

Photo by Nevada Tumbleweed We’ve all heard by now that the army is trying to reduce its “carbon bootprint” with everything from solar panels to hybrid aircraft. The military’s

New Type of Light Matter Interaction Could Advance Energy Efficiency

Researchers at the University of Maryland have taken a huge step forward toward significantly enhancing energy efficiency and conversion. Using a unique hybrid nanostructure they have discovered a

New Quantum Dot Photovoltaics Could Double Solar Cell Efficiency

Today's solar cells make use of just under a third of the energy hitting them, overheating to create "hot electrons" that escape before they can be converted into electricity. A study published in this

LCD Televisions Transformed Into Infection-Fighting Medicine

Scientists at the University of York have made a discovery that seems almost too amazing to be true -- waste from LCD televisions can be used to treat infections. A team of researchers at the Department

Breakthrough Process Increases Efficiency in Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars

Researchers at Purdue University have discovered a new highly efficient technique for making hydrogen fuel cells for vehicles. Dubbed hydrothermolysis, the new process uses a high hydrogen-content

Breakthrough Stealth Toilet Cuts Water Use Nearly in Half

Toilet technology is one of the most underappreciated yet important aspects of green building. Niagara Conservation's revolutionary Stealth Toilet features a vacuum assist that steeply reduces the water

Artificial Life: Scientists Create First Synthetic Living Cell

In a breakthrough for artificial life, scientists have created a single cell of yeast with a complete set of artificial DNA that functions and looks exactly like a natural cell of yeast. Spearheaded by

Scientists Turn the Everyday T-Shirt into Resilient Body Armor

You don't have to be the out-of-this-world kin of the Kents' in order to slip into the wearable armor made for the red-caped crusader. By splicing the carbon in cotton with boron, researchers at the

Cheap Carbon-Based Solar Cells Could Replace Silicon Cells

Forget silicon -- the next major light-absorbing material in solar cells could be carbon. Chemists at Indiana University Bloomington have figured out how to effectively create big sheets of carbon that

Solar Origami: MIT Working on Super Efficient Folded Solar Panels

Standard flat solar panels are only optimized to capture sunlight at one point of the sun's trajectory -- otherwise they need automated tracking systems to follow the sun. MIT power engineering professor

LA Business Council Releases Breakthrough Solar Feed-In Tariff Study

Due to its sheer size and sunny climate, the City of Los Angeles has great potential to become a world leader in renewable energy resources. As the city currently wages a debate over funding for future

Scientists Grow Human Bones from Liposuctioned Fat

Growing plants can be tricky enough, but growing bones seems altogether impossible. Yet that's exactly what scientists at Columbia University recently accomplished. A group led by Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic

Cobra Energy Plans Massive $1 Billion Solar Thermal Plant for Australia

We've seen our fair share of giant renewable energy projects, but we're particularly intrigued by Cobra Energy's plan to construct a $1 billion, 250 MW solar plant in Australia. The power plant won't be

Philips Lumiblade Reflections OLED Mirrorwall Now Available

Lumiblade tiles use OLED technology, which allows for a very homogenous surface light. Unlike LEDs, this light will never have those pesky hot spots. OLEDs work by passing low levels of electricity

Start-Up Makes Solar Cells Cheap Enough to Compete with Fossil Fuels

The most efficient solar tech on the market today is the silicon solar cell. There's just one drawback--implementing the tech costs up to $4 per watt, almost four times the cost of fossil fuel-derived

The Wood-Eating Gribble May Hold the Key to Biofuel Production

What's a Gribble? It's a tiny marine shrimp found on the southern coast of Britain -- and its ability to digest wood may provide a breakthrough in efficient biofuel production. Researchers are studying

Windbelt: Innovative Generator to Bring Cheap Wind Power to Third World

Within the next few months, we hope to start seeing more about an intriguing small-scale wind power technology that was first announced a few years ago. The Windbelt was devised as a wind power generator

Thermopower Waves:MIT Scientists Discover New Way to Produce Electricity

We've written about the possibilities that carbon nanotubes can unlock before, and now, an intrepid team of MIT scientists have discovered a never before known phenomenon using the tubes, which are

GREENER GADGETS LIVEBLOG: Inhabitat Reports Live From Greener Gadgets!

The 3rd annual Greener Gadgets Conference came to New York City yesterday to examine how we can make our gadgets and consumer electronics cleaner and greener. This annual conference is always chock full

Colonies of Bacteria Could Be Used To Harvest Energy

Scientists and researchers have known for some time that bacteria has the potential to generate energy in salt water, but were never really able to figure out quite how it works. Now research out of the

Bloom Box “Miracle” Micro Power Plant Officially Unveiled

Members of the media gathered at eBay's San Jose headquarters just a few hours ago (in fact, they are still there as we write this) to see Bloom Energy founder K.R. Sridhar officially unveil the Bloom

Bloom Energy Set to Unveil “Miraculous” Micro Power Plant

The news wires are buzzing today with hype surrounding the Bloom Box, a “revolutionary” micro power plant that is purported to produce a steady supply of clean, cheap, and efficient energy.

New Sugar-Based Plastics Could Be Composted Right At Home

New research from scientists at the Imperial College of London has led to a breakthrough in plastics that could be composted right at home! Even though there are already plastics made from corn that do

HP Invents a Central Nervous System for the Earth

HP has just unveiled an incredibly ambitious project to create a “Central Nervous System for the Earth” (CeNSE) composed of billions of super sensitive, cheap, and tough sensors. The project

Chemists Develop Ultra-Efficient Carbon Capturing Crystals

Here at Inhabitat we've seen technologies that capture carbon dioxide in everything from concrete to artificial trees to DVDs. Now chemists at UCLA have developed a new type of synthetic crystal this is

IBM Releases Cheaper, 40% More Efficient Thin-Film Solar Cell

IBM has announced the development of a thin film solar cell with an efficiency of 9.6% - a whopping 40% increase from its previous prototypes. An efficiency of 9.6% isn't terribly impressive compared to

GMO Tomatoes Could Stay Fresh For Over a Month

Many of us invested in the success of sustainable agriculture have a knee-jerk response against genetically-modified foods, and for good reason -- they often come with patent protection, pesticides, and

results for "breakthrough"

Read Inhabitat

Search Categories

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Browse by Keyword

get the free Inhabitat newsletter

get the free Inhabitat newsletter

follow inhabitat on: