The Northeast Blackout of 2003 that forced the shut-down of over 100 power plants and affected 55M people - the largest black-out in US history - was precipitated by a single overloaded transmission line, in Ohio, sagging and touching overgrown vegetation.

Nice animation to summarize the current over fishing problem. For example, I never knew that farm raised fish (like salmon) actually are carnivorous and 5kg of fish is needed to produce 1kg of this 'higher quality' fish.

Test cell reaches 500Wh/kg and about a 1000 cycles. Graphene is excellent to use as it can handle the thermal expansion during charge cycles which normally destroy the cathodes and thereby degrade performance over time.

Pulsed device providing an Isp=20.000 with thrust of 40kN. There is an onboard fission reactor including shielding. Roundtrip to Mars in 30 days requires 350Mt of propellant, equivalent to delta_v=93200m/s

Some hilarious dances in between.. Especially the "Sperm competition between brothers and female choice" is brilliant (Made in Oxford btw)

Funny idea.. Maybe we should install it on the coke machine downstairs? :)

My daily read, a collection of blog posts related mostly to energy by UCSD prof Tom Murphy. Especially his experiments into home energy storage and his "do the math" attitude towards renewables are insightful and if not, then sometimes just plain funny.

By reactivating a dormant gene called Lin28a, which is active in embryonic stem cells, researchers were able to regrow hair and repair cartilage, bone, skin and other soft tissues in a mouse model.

Thousands of cycling accidents were re-enacted using stunt riders and crash-test dummies to collect the specific movement patterns of cyclists in accidents. In parallel, normal cycling data has been collected using test cyclists wearing Hövding in everyday cycling. Based on this collected data, they have developed an algorithm that can distinguish normal cycling from accidents. As you don't want the 399GBP device to inflate when taking a sharp corner...

One of the feats: "The SKA will be so sensitive that it will be able to detect an airport radar on a planet tens of light years away"

After exploring the shrews' swampy palm forests habitat, the researchers also have a new guess about why the spine evolved: They suggest that the creatures might wedge themselves between the trunk of a palm tree and the base of its leaves, then use the strength and flexion of their muscular spine to force open this crevice, revealing insect larvae-a food source that other animals can't access. However, no hero shrew has yet been observed busting its back for a snack.

A must see video, very surreal filming technique and especially around 1.36 is hilarious

The researchers have created two-dimensional computer models of the flying snakes, but they've also done real-world simulations - using 3D printed components in water tunnels. Both show that snake-shaped objects would get a special aerodynamic pop should they tilt their bodies at 35 degrees as they drop from tree branches.

UK researchers say they have achieved data transmission speeds of 10Gbit/s via "li-fi" - wireless internet connectivity using light. The researchers used a micro-LED light bulb to transmit 3.5Gbit/s via each of the three primary colours - red, green, blue - that make up white light. This means over 10Gbit/s is possible.

Recharge in seconds and efficiently store power for weeks between charges. Added bonus is the cheap and abundant components needed. One of the applications they foresee is to attach such a super-capacitor to the back of solar panels to store the power and discharge this during the night

Oct. 22, 2013 NASA Laser Communication System Sets Record with Data Transmissions to and from Moon NASA's Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) has made history using a pulsed laser beam to transmit data over the 239,000 miles between the moon and Earth at a record-breaking download rate of 622 megabits per second (Mbps).