Neighbors of a four-block inner city park in Baltimore, MD, are revitalizing this previously vibrant
area by founding Friends of Mount Vernon Place. Citizens organized clean-up days, a flower
market and a book festival. Through their efforts, the place is now referred to as the “heart of Baltimore.” They have redirected green efforts of global awareness and pointed it back into the
local community.

The efforts are found throughout the country, from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. These changes are also taking effect throughout the world. So the mantra of the environmental movement, “think globally, act locally” is finding a new twist as communities are now thinking, as well as acting,
locally. Pride is instilled back into neighborhoods that were once dangerous and defunct through
small changes such as what the residents of the Baltimore area have made. Revitalization is at
hand, and that is a good thing.

© Paul Burns/Getty.
Read more about it on www.emagazine.com

Stanford engineers have built upon the work of German physicist Gustav Mie over a century after
his mathematical derivations that explain why colors in stained glass exhibit brilliancy when placed under sunlight. The Stanford team has determined how to improve light absorption efficiency in nanowires made of germanium semiconductors. This may in turn prove to be an effective
component for future solar cells. Furthermore, because of the compatibility of germanium with computer chips, this process may have applications in improving data communications.

The center of the Stanford team’s discovery is that varying sizes of wires will absorb different frequencies of light with great efficiency. With this method, alternating sizes of the germanium nanowires may be used to produce optimal solar panels. Their next goal is to construct a solar
cell prototype using germanium nanowire technology.

© Imec.
Read more on www.ddj.com

A group of German firms has collaborated to launch what is to be the largest solar energy
project of its kind. The project, termed Desertec, aims to construct several solar thermal electric
power plants throughout North Africa and parts of the Middle East. Ultimately, the project will
supply electricity to European households using energy generated from the Sahara.

Electricity will be generated in power plants using parabolic mirrors, which creates enough heat
to produce the steam needed to drive turbines and electricity generators. High voltage lines will
carry electricity to Europe, supplying 15 percent of the continent’s electricity requirements.

Other parts of the world using this method of electricity generation span from the Mojave Desert
in California to the Andalusia region in the south of Spain.

© Inhabitat.
Solar parabola in action: The Desertec project could provide up to 20 percent of Europe’s energy needs by 2050.

Read more on this subject on www.germany.info

In just a few short years, homeowners will have the ability to power their entire home with the
use of solar panel systems. Solar energy will also be able to produce both hydrogen and oxygen
from water, thus powering household fuel cells. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
is currently looking for marketplace acceptance of this new process. If successful in their market-
place pursuit, conventional electricity generation will be a thing of the past.

Learn more on www.solarpowerwindenergy.org

Solar technology has been advancing since its widespread use starting in the 1960’s. But other technologies and materials have also been breaking ground as we progress into the future.

Demonstration of magnetic behavior of ferrofluid.

A ferrofluid is a stable colloidal suspension of sub-domain magnetic particles in a liquid carrier.
The particles, which have an average size of about 100Å (10 nm), are coated with a stabilizing dispersing agent (surfactant) which prevents particle agglomeration even when a strong magnetic field gradient is applied to the ferrofluid.
Ferrofluid technology is well established and capable of solving a wide variety of technical problems. There are many successful applications of this engineering material and there is immense future potential.
In many applications, ferrofluid is an active component that contributes towards the enhanced performance of the device.
These devices are either mechanical (e.g., seals, bearings and dampers) or electromechanical (e.g., loudspeakers, stepper motors and sensors) in nature.
In other cases, ferrofluid is employed simply as a material for nondestructive testing of other components such as magnetic tapes, stainless steels and turbine blades.
When correctly applied, Ferrofluid can produce dramatic improvements in a products’ performance;
or achieve a level of performance unattainable by any other technology or product.

Aerogel is the lightest solid material on the planet.

It looks like frozen smoke. And it’s the lightest solid material on the planet.
Aerogel insulates space suits, makes tennis rackets stronger and could be used one day
to clean up oil spills.

Properties of a non-Newtonian fluid.

A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid whose viscosity is variable based on applied stress.
The most commonly known non-Newtonian fluid is cornstarch dissolved in water.
Contrast with Newtonian fluids like water, whose behavior can be described exclusively by temperature and pressure, not the forces acting on it from second to second.
Non-Newtonian fluids are fascinating substances that can be used to help us understand physics
in more detail, in an exciting, hands-on way.
In the video above a pool is filled with a mix of cornstarch and water made on a concrete mixer
truck. It becomes a non-newtonian fluid. When stress is applied to the liquid it exhibits properties
of a solid.

See some of those new materials that hint of the things from science fiction HERE.