Technology, Science and the Environment.

[davieG]

Climate change: 'Sand battery' could solve green energy's big problem

 

Finnish researchers have installed the world's first fully working "sand battery" which can store green power for months at a time.

The developers say this could solve the problem of year-round supply, a major issue for green energy.

Using low-grade sand, the device is charged up with heat made from cheap electricity from solar or wind.

The sand stores the heat at around 500C, which can then warm homes in winter when energy is more expensive.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61996520

[leicsmac]

1 hour ago, davieG said:

Climate change: 'Sand battery' could solve green energy's big problem

 

Finnish researchers have installed the world's first fully working "sand battery" which can store green power for months at a time.

The developers say this could solve the problem of year-round supply, a major issue for green energy.

Using low-grade sand, the device is charged up with heat made from cheap electricity from solar or wind.

The sand stores the heat at around 500C, which can then warm homes in winter when energy is more expensive.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61996520

Innovation of this type can guarantee the future....

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/spain-and-portugal-s-dryness-unprecedented-in-1-200-years

 

And it needs to do it soon. This is just the beginning.

[leicsmac]

A preview of what is coming from the James Webb Telescope from July 12th. Amazing.

[leicsmac]

 

This is stupidity.

[marbles]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/us-produces-more-power-from-wind-and-solar-than-nuclear-for-first-time/ar-AAZmdb6

[leicsmac]

26 minutes ago, marbles said:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/us-produces-more-power-from-wind-and-solar-than-nuclear-for-first-time/ar-AAZmdb6

Good, but we're going to need both.

[FoxesDeb]

Does anyone here have experience of living without mains electricity? 

 

We've just bought our next home and it's completely solar powered, with the help of a wind turbine. There is a back up generator, but supposedly it's never needed.

 

I'm both incredibly excited and also very nervous of being off grid.

[The Bear]

That sounds pretty cool if a little scary. I'm sure you'll get used to it though. Do you have the ability to sell back to the grid? 

[FoxesDeb]

21 minutes ago, The Bear said:

That sounds pretty cool if a little scary. I'm sure you'll get used to it though. Do you have the ability to sell back to the grid? 

Yeah I'm hoping we won't be able to tell any difference!

 

No option to sell back to the grid as far as I know. It would be a bonus though so it's something for us to look into. 

 

The monthly savings on the bills will obviously be great, not so much the cost when something inevitably goes wrong though 

[The Bear]

I think you can buy battery units that go on the exterior wall, or something like that. Tesla have one called Powerwall which is connected to the solar panels. That saves a certain amount of power at all times. I assume something like that could be used in emergencies. 

 

And you'll always be sitting pretty if everyone else around you has any power cuts. 

Edited 11 July 2022 by The Bear

[ozleicester]

@leicsmac

Any thoughts on this?
https://bgr.com/science/mit-scientists-think-theyve-discovered-how-to-fully-reverse-climate-change/

[leicsmac]

2 hours ago, ozleicester said:

@leicsmac

Any thoughts on this?
https://bgr.com/science/mit-scientists-think-theyve-discovered-how-to-fully-reverse-climate-change/

Ah, a Salarian-Shroud-on-Tuchanka style solution, but not quite using so advanced tech.

 

It's a possibility that has a lot of variables to me and as such while it's an interesting thought experiment, like the scientists involved I wouldn't want to rely on it as a solution unless it were absolutely necessary.

[SpacedX]

2 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Ah, a Salarian-Shroud-on-Tuchanka style solution, but not quite using so advanced tech.

 

It's a possibility that has a lot of variables to me and as such while it's an interesting thought experiment, like the scientists involved I wouldn't want to rely on it as a solution unless it were absolutely necessary.

I guess that's why it is being touted as a last ditch 'backup' solution. much like Stratospheric Aerosol Injection. However, the risks and the environmental unknowns associated with the latter make it a far more dangerous proposition, which is one of the reasons that it will never become a reality - coupled with the impossibility of international governance. 

[The Bear]

Sounds like a nonsense idea. Just concentrate on not acting like gatecrashers at a party and sort it out at ground level. 

[Zear0]

Didn't Mr. Burns try this? 

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62122859

 

 

 

Looking 4.6 billion light years away, and 4.6 billion light years into the past. That means we're seeing those galaxies now as they were at the time the Earth first formed. And this is just the first image.

 

I do hope seeing what is to come from the JWST might give some people a little terrestrial perspective.

[leicsmac]

 

[WigstonWanderer]

3 hours ago, leicsmac said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62122859

 

 

 

Looking 4.6 billion light years away, and 4.6 billion light years into the past. That means we're seeing those galaxies now as they were at the time the Earth first formed. And this is just the first image.

 

I do hope seeing what is to come from the JWST might give some people a little terrestrial perspective.

In the Guardian they're reporting that some of the galaxies seen are 13 billion light years away, and are some of the earliest. I think they're the ones shown in orange which I assume is a representation of infra-red observations. I could be wrong of course.

[leicsmac]

9 minutes ago, WigstonWanderer said:

In the Guardian they're reporting that some of the galaxies seen are 13 billion light years away, and are some of the earliest. I think they're the ones shown in orange which I assume is a representation of infra-red observations. I could be wrong of course.

There are indeed galaxies in this picture that are that old. The main galaxy cluster in the image is 4.6 billion years old and using their gravity as a lens, we can "see" the much fainter galaxies much further away.

[The Bear]

Love the lensing effect that spaghetti does a few of them. Incredible fidelity. 

[Zear0]

Streaming currently with some discussion and further piccies at 3.30.

[Zear0]

"Some stars save the best for last.

The dimmer star at the centre of this scene has been sending out rings of gas and dust for thousands of years in all directions, and NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed for the first time that this star is cloaked in dust.

Two cameras aboard Webb captured the latest image of this planetary nebula, catalogued as NGC 3132, and known informally as the Southern Ring Nebula. It is approximately 2,500 light-years away."

 

"In Webb’s image of Stephan’s Quintet, we see 5 galaxies, 4 of which interact. (The left galaxy is actually in the foreground!) These colliding galaxies are pulling and stretching each other in a gravitational dance. Webb will revolutionize our knowledge of star formation and gas interactions within: nasa.gov/webbfirstimages/

 

Here’s Stephan’s Quintet as taken by Webb’s MIRI instrument. In the mid-infrared, Webb pierces through dust, giving new insight into how interactions like these may have driven galaxy evolution in the early universe.

 

This image contains one more MIRI filter than was used in the NIRCam-MIRI composite picture. The image processing specialists at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore opted to use all three MIRI filters and the colors red, green and blue to most clearly differentiate the galaxy features from each other and the shock waves between the galaxies. In this image, red denotes dusty, star-forming regions, as well as extremely distant, early galaxies and galaxies enshrouded in thick dust. Blue point sources show stars or star clusters without dust. Diffuse areas of blue indicate dust that has a significant amount of large hydrocarbon molecules. For small background galaxies scattered throughout the image, the green and yellow colors represent more distant, earlier galaxies that are rich in these hydro carbons as well."

"Behind the curtain of dust and gas in these “Cosmic Cliffs” are previously hidden baby stars, now uncovered by Webb. We know — this is a show-stopper. Just take a second to admire the Carina Nebula in all its glory: nasa.gov/webbfirstimages/

 

Webb’s new view gives us a rare peek into stars in their earliest, rapid stages of formation. For an individual star, this period only lasts about 50,000 to 100,000 years.

 

Image Description:

The image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. The smallest of these are small, distant, and faint points of light. The largest of these appear larger, closer, brighter, and more fully resolved with 8-point diffraction spikes. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The stars vary in color, the majority of which have a blue or orange hue. The cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys – an appearance very similar to a mountain range. Three long diffraction spikes from the top right edge of the image suggest the presence of a large star just out of view."

Edited 12 July 2022 by Zear0
Extra text/images

[ThurmastonFox]

1 hour ago, Zear0 said:

Streaming currently with some discussion and further piccies at 3.30.

They can get detailed pictures from millions of years ago but can’t get a decent stream to Canada…

[Zear0]

Just now, ThurmastonFox said:

They can get detailed pictures from millions of years ago but can’t get a decent stream to Canada…

Dreadful isn't it.

[leicsmac]

Water vapour spectroscopic signature on an exoplanet.

 

The pictures are gorgeous, but the discoveries like that one are the key facet of the JWST. The next one we find water vapour on might be a more habitable temperature.

 

 

Edited 12 July 2022 by leicsmac