Skip to main content

Home/ Advanced Concepts Team/ Group items tagged joints

Rss Feed Group items tagged

ESA ACT

Boston Dynamics: The Leader in Lifelike Human Simulation - 0 views

  •  
    Completely crazy robots, including sensors for joint position, joint forces, ground contact...
Luís F. Simões

Shell energy scenarios to 2050 - 6 views

  •  
    just in case you were feeling happy and optimistic
  • ...7 more comments...
  •  
    An energy scenario published by an oil company? Allow me to be sceptical...
  •  
    Indeed, Shell is an energy company, not just oil, for some time now ... The two scenarii are, in their approach, dependant of economic and political situation, which is right now impossible to forecast. Reference to Kyoto is surprising, almost out-dated! But overall, I find it rather optimistic at some stages, and probably the timeline (p37-39) is unlikely with recent events.
  •  
    the report was published in 2008, which explains the reference to Kyoto, as the follow-up to it was much more uncertain at that point. The Blueprint scenario is indeed optimistic, but also quite unlikely I'd say. I don't see humanity suddenly becoming so wise and coordinated. Sadly, I see something closer to the Scramble scenario as much more likely to occur.
  •  
    not an oil company??? please have a look at the percentage of their revenues coming from oil and gas and then compare this with all their other energy activities together and you will see very quickly that it is only window dressing ... they are an oil and gas company ... and nothing more
  •  
    not JUST oil. From a description: "Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies." Of course revenues coming from oil are the biggest, the investment turnover on other energy sources is small for now. Knowing that most of their revenues is from an expendable source, to guarantee their future, they invest elsewhere. They have invested >1b$ in renewable energy, including biofuels. They had the largest wind power business among so-called "oil" companies. Oil only defines what they do "best". As a comparison, some time ago, Apple were selling only computers and now they sell phones. But I would not say Apple is just a phone company.
  •  
    window dressing only ... e.g. Net cash from operating activities (pre-tax) in 2008: 70 Billion$ net income in 2008: 26 Billion revenues in 2008: 88 Billion Their investments and revenues in renewables don't even show up in their annual financial reports since probably they are under the heading of "marketing" which is already 1.7 Billion $ ... this is what they report on their investments: Capital investment, portfolio actions and business development Capital investment in 2009 was $24 billion. This represents a 26% decrease from 2008, which included over $8 billion in acquisitions, primarily relating to Duvernay Oil Corp. Capital investment included exploration expenditure of $4.5 billion (2008: $11.0 billion). In Abu Dhabi, Shell signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to extend the GASCO joint venture for a further 20 years. In Australia, Shell and its partners took the final investment decision (FID) for the Gorgon LNG project (Shell share 25%). Gorgon will supply global gas markets to at least 2050, with a capacity of 15 million tonnes (100% basis) of LNG per year and a major carbon capture and storage scheme. Shell has announced a front-end engineering and design study for a floating LNG (FLNG) project, with the potential to deploy these facilities at the Prelude offshore gas discovery in Australia (Shell share 100%). In Australia, Shell confirmed that it has accepted Woodside Petroleum Ltd.'s entitlement offer of new shares at a total cost of $0.8 billion, maintaining its 34.27% share in the company; $0.4 billion was paid in 2009 with the remainder paid in 2010. In Bolivia and Brazil, Shell sold its share in a gas pipeline and in a thermoelectric power plant and its related assets for a total of around $100 million. In Canada, the Government of Alberta and the national government jointly announced their intent to contribute $0.8 billion of funding towards the Quest carbon capture and sequestration project. Quest, which is at the f
  •  
    thanks for the info :) They still have their 50% share in the wind farm in Noordzee (you can see it from ESTEC on a clear day). Look for Shell International Renewables, other subsidiaries and joint-ventures. I guess, the report is about the oil branch. http://sustainabilityreport.shell.com/2009/servicepages/downloads/files/all_shell_sr09.pdf http://www.noordzeewind.nl/
  •  
    no - its about Shell globally - all Shell .. these participations are just peanuts please read the intro of the CEO in the pdf you linked to: he does not even mention renewables! their entire sustainability strategy is about oil and gas - just making it (look) nicer and environmentally friendlier
  •  
    Fair enough, for me even peanuts are worthy and I am not able to judge. Not all big-profit companies, like Shell, are evil :( Look in the pdf what is in the upstream and downstream you mentionned above. Non-shell sources for examples and more objectivity: http://www.nuon.com/company/Innovative-projects/noordzeewind.jsp http://www.e-energymarket.com/news/single-news/article/ferrari-tops-bahrain-gp-using-shell-biofuel.html thanks.
ESA ACT

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Tayside and Central | Scientists to build robot society - 0 views

  •  
    Intersting 4 years UK joint project on abserving for 4 years the behavior of robots that are programmed to imitate each other somehow. kind of mirror neurons? who knows..
Friederike Sontag

DESERTEC Foundation: 091030-01 Formation DII GmbH - 4 views

  •  
    Desertec becomes real... joint venture has just been founded.
  •  
    ... and including still all the big names ... wish them good luck!
Beniamino Abis

Quantum Physics and Game Theory - 1 views

  •  
    Players with access to quantum resources can outperform classical ones. This will lead to novel joint strategies, impossible to achieve classically. Moreover, some of these strategies represent equilibrium points, leading to the notion of quantum/no-signalling Nash equilibrium.
Aurelie Heritier

Have Harvard Scientists Created A Real Lightsaber? Kind Of. - 0 views

  •  
    A joint Harvard-MIT research program led by Harvard Professor of Physics Mikhail Lukin and MIT Professor of Physics Vladan Vuletic has created a new state of matter the two describe as extremely similar to the lightsabers seen in "Star Wars."
  •  
    "Photonic molecules"? Intriguing..
Thijs Versloot

Vibrational free cooling systems for sensors - 1 views

  •  
    The system is based on two liquids which are adsorbed. As the sensor generates heat, the liquids desorb and the pressure builds up, it can then move to an expansion vessel which is held at a cooler temperature and the liquid then adsorb together again. This technique requires no mechanical compression and there are less vibration, leading to less wear and tear of components. It is being developed in a joint collaboration between UTwente and Dutch Space.
Ma Ru

The latest Nikon equipment to be used in the Russian segment of the International Space... - 1 views

  •  
    Just right for joint space-photography geeks like me...
Juxi Leitner

Pentagon's Shape-Shifting Bot Folds Into Boat, Plane | Danger Room | Wired.com - 0 views

  • Darpa-backed electrical engineers at the two schools released the stunning results: a shape-shifting sheet of rigid tiles and elastomer joints that can fold itself into a little plane or a boat on demand.
  • In Darpa’s dreams, this work will eventually lead to everything from morphing aircraft to self-styling uniforms to a “universal spare part.”
  •  
    haha! is this a joke...?
  •  
    well i guess the news headline is a bit too much trying to be attractive :)
Joris _

Japan plans to send a robot to the moon | The Australian - 1 views

  • the little android's oil bearings and ultrasonic sensors will not work in the lunar vacuum
  • The one-sixth gravity presents problems for stable movement, and Moon dust clogs joints.
  • the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa), the country's space agency. It runs the rockets needed to deliver their robot to the Moon and, so far, has been distinctly cool on the idea.
  •  
    Interesting! I like the quote "Maybe China would allow that to be a one-way trip but, in Japan, it would have to be a return ticket" talking about a human mission ....
ESA ACT

Elsevier has an entire division dedicated to publishing fake advertorial "peer-reviewed... - 1 views

  • Elsevier has an entire division dedicated to publishing fake advertorial "peer-reviewed" journals
    • ESA ACT
       
      trying the sticky notes
  •  
    "Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine" LOL!!!
  •  
    very strange indeed!
1 - 13 of 13
Showing 20 items per page