steve cross loves music and science

Image via Universe Today

Whew. That was quite an eye-gasm wasn’t it? That was taken on the current space shuttle mission (STS-128) to the International Space Station. The mission is about to come to an end, with a scheduled landing on Thursday. (Via Universe Today)

I also found on UT the final explanation of the Google UFO logo that caused quite a stir yesterday all over the interwebz. The Google tech-nerds were simply showing some love for the Japanese video game Zero Wing, the one with the famous quote “All your base are belong to us” at the beginning. Google also tweeted a mysterious set of numbers. It turns out if you insert the corresponding letters of the alphabet, you get “All your O are belong to us.” No, Google doesn’t know something we don’t. No, it wasn’t a hint that we’ll soon be visited by aliens, or that the government will finally come clean on a huge conspiracy theory. Sorry, Fox Mulder.

Until this morning I’d never heard of EEStor, but this new technology could revolutionize…. everything. But apparently it’s been met with quite a bit of skepticism. Basically it’s a new way of storing electricity, much more efficient than a lithium ion battery, and it would make storage of power generated by wind turbines and solar cell arrays much easier. The problem with power from the wind and sun is that it isn’t constant, therefore you need a way to store that power so that it can be used at all times, even when it’s dark or there’s no wind. That storage has been a big hurdle for the progress of these types of energy. Basically what they’ve done is invent a capacitor capable of storing much more energy than any capacitor before. It was once thought that basic problems with the very laws of physics prevented the development of capacitors with this much storage potential. But apparently this company has managed to convince the Zenn motor company, along with several investors with deep pockets, that they have found a way around those problems. If they’re really on to something it could make 100% green, sustainable power much closer to reality. If you’re a total electronics nerd and want to read the nitty-gritty on this, check out this article. (Via EcoGeek)