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Spinning straw into liquid gold
Download the audio version.Get my science column weekly as a podcast.Rumplestiltskin, in the famous fairy-tale, has the knack of spinning straw into gold.We can’t do that--but we are learning to spin straw into something just about as valuable: biofuel.Sure, you can make ethanol out of corn or wheat, but in a hungry world, wouldn’t it be better to keep our food crops for food and find another source of plant material to use as a biofuel feedstock?That’s where straw comes in.It’s not like there’s any shortage of it: between 1994 and 2003, the three prairie provinces alone produced, on average, 37.347 million tonnes of straw annually....Making fuel from air and water
Download the audio version.Get my science column weekly as a podcast.We can and do recycle all sorts of things. Paper, plastic, glass (OK, that last one not so much right now), Christmas fruitcakes...the list goes on and on.Wouldn’t it be great if we could also recycle the hydrocarbons we burn as fuel? Imagine if you could somehow take the carbon dioxide out of the air, recombine it with hydrogen, and produce new fuels. You could lessen the need for oil and slow the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the same time.It sounds like wishful thinking—but scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory say they can do it....What did I do on my summer vacation?
I toured a nuclear power plant under refurbishment, a tour which included a rare visit (for anyone) inside the vault of a reactor. Those would be the fuel tubes, currently being replaced, in the background. That's my lovely wife Margaret Anne beside me.The reactor is at the Bruce Power plant near Kincardine, Ontario. This is the first time a CANDU-style reactor has been refurbished anywhere in the world. It was a deeply cool (albeit stiflingly hot, temperature-wise--we're sweating under those overalls) tour.Total radiation dose, for our 45 minutes or so in the decontaminated vault: roughly equivalent to one 10th ...WiTricity? Why not?
Unless it's your smoke alarm saving your life, mysterious electronic beeping in the middle of the night is highly annoying.It certainly annoyed Marin Soljacic a few years ago when he found himself standing in his kitchen in his pajamas in the middle of the night for about the sixth time in a month, staring at his cell phone, beeping to tell him he'd forgotten to plug it in.Most of us would probably either plug the thing in or stuff it under a pillow and go back to bed. Most of us, however, aren't assistant professors of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)."It occurred to me," he said, "that it would be so ...Turning waste heat into sound…
...and then into energy:Symko expects the devices could be used within two years as an alternative to photovoltaic cells for converting sunlight into electricity. The heat engines also could be used to cool laptop and other computers that generate more heat as their electronics grow more complex. And Symko foresees using the devices to generate electricity from heat that now is released from nuclear power plant cooling towers.Cool! Er...hot!Forget your hybrids…
...how about a car that runs on compressed air?Most importantly, it is incredibly cost-efficient to run – according to the designers, it costs less than one Euro per 100Km (about a tenth that of a petrol car). Its mileage is about double that of the most advanced electric car (200 to 300 km or 10 hours of driving), a factor which makes a perfect choice in cities where the 80% of motorists drive at less than 60Km. The car has a top speed of 68 mph. Refilling the car will, once the market develops, take place at adapted petrol stations to administer compressed air. In two or three minutes, and at a cost of approximately ...Rotating skyscrapers
Not just a great name for a rock band, rotating skyscrapers (that's a video link, by the way) are an interesting new form of architecture that would drastically change the skyline of any city where they were built (because each floor can be slowly rotated independently) and improve that city's energy efficiency (because the wind turbines and solar cells the building sports are sufficient for its needs and might even provide extra for other nearby buildings).From Technovelgy.com:A series of rotating skyscrapers based on Dynamic Architecture will be built around the world, starting in Dubai, U.A.E. The Dynamic Architecture concept was introduced by Florentine architect David Fisher. Rotating skyscrapers get their power ...A big step toward the hydrogen economy?
It sounds promising, at least:A Purdue University engineer has developed a method that uses an aluminum alloy to extract hydrogen from water for running fuel cells or internal combustion engines, and the technique could be used to replace gasoline.The method makes it unnecessary to store or transport hydrogen - two major challenges in creating a hydrogen economy, said Jerry Woodall, a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue who invented the process.SCORE one for efficiency
This being hockey playoff season, everyone is talking about scores. In the hope I might be taken as something other than a science geek, I thought I would, too.So let me tell you what the score is regarding SCORE--the Stove for Cooking, Refrigeration and Electricity.SCORE is a joint research project by four U.K. universities, numerous universities in Asia and Africa, the international charity Practical Action, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the U.S., and the multi-national company GP Acoustics.It’s the name of that last unlikely seeming partner that actually gives a hint as to the science that make it possible to talk about a stove for refrigeration without getting funny looks. SCORE, you ...Remember cold fusion?
Remember how it became a joke? How there was nothing to it at all?Think again:However, a recently published academic paper from the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR) in San Diego throws cold water on skeptics of cold fusion. Appearing in the respected journal Naturwissenschaften, which counts Albert Einstein among its distinguished authors, the article claims that Spawar scientists Stanislaw Szpak and Pamela Mosier-Boss have achieved a low energy nuclear reaction (LENR) that can be replicated and verified by the scientific community.
Edward Willett is a Subscribe to my weekly science column for free!
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Magebane
“Spectacular” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evil wizards, multi-level conspiracies, hidden kingdoms…Lee Arthur Chane…has done a marvelous job…Magebane is a very entertaining book and well worth the time.” – A.M. Donovan, Night Owl Reviews
I happily recommend Magebane and I’ll certainly give Chane’s next novel a try based on this one.” —Bill Capossere, Fantasy Literature
“…an original and delightful tale of epic fantasy and magic, steampunk science, adventure, tragedy, and love…” – Errant Dreams Reviews
Eight centuries ago, the world changed. A devastating war swept the lands, and the MageLords, who had long ruled by virtue of their spell powers, were driven to a distant place, separated from those they had ruled by a magical Barrier. With magic banished from the rest of the world, the MageLords became mere legend and people turned to science to improve their lives. But if one man has his way, all that is about to change….
Written as Lee Arthur Chane (the middle names of my older brothers, Jimmy Lee and Dwight Arthur, and myself, Edward Chane Willett).
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
When country music legend Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom State Prison in 1968, he solidified the public’s perception of him as a rebel who followed his own path. Born in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Cash endured poverty, the death of his older brother, and a difficult relationship with his father. He turned to gospel and country music to express the pain, and after many years of struggling, his songs of hardship and hope would finally reach the ears of those waiting for an artist who represented them, ordinary people fighting to survive.
Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“Paintings are too hard. Machines have less problems…” In the 1960s, Andy Warhol became the most famous creator of a new style of art called pop art, which transformed mass-produced items of popular culture into fine works of art. From Campbell’s Soup cans to photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s willingness to use anything and everything from the mass media in his work expanded the range of subject matter available to artists. His avant-garde films, artistic usage of American icons, and unconventional social life made him a controversial figure, both greatly admired and deeply reviled. A trendsetter rather than a trend-follower, a dispassionate observer of both the seamy and celebrity sides of life, Warhol was a true American rebel.
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
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