The Fish And Aquarium Site

Making microengines one at a time would be prohibitively expensive, so the researchers again followed the lead of computer-chip makers. They make 60 to 100 components on a large wafer that they then (very carefully) cut apart into single units.

First, on a clear, rubbery material the team used a common technique called soft lithography to create a pattern of tiny posts either four or eight millionths of a meter in diameter. On top of these posts, they then deposited several layers of two polymers that together act as the solid electrolyte and battery separator.

In their research, the MIT team altered the virus’s genes so they make protein coats that collect molecules of cobalt oxide, plus gold. The viruses then align themselves on the polymer surface to form ultrathin wires. Each virus, and thus the wire, is only 6 nanometers (6 billionths of a meter) in diameter, and 880 nanometers in length.

Belcher received her PhD in 1997 and came to MIT in 2002. She won a MacArthur “Genius” award in 2004 and was named Researcher of the Year by Scientific American in 2006.

The two test drives thus far have been confined to MIT parking lots, so serious data-gathering is yet to come. In the meantime, Irene Berry, team leader and a graduate student in mechanical engineering and the Technology and Policy Program, has done some performance estimates with a vehicle-modeling computer program. She found that the Porsche should have a top speed of up to 100 miles per hour with an estimated range of 130 miles before the HP laptop battery recharging–a task achieved by plugging it into a wall socket for about five hours. The car should consume about 185 watt-hours per mile of electricity, the equivalent of about 65 miles per gallon of gasoline.

He explained that conventional alternators are designed to optimize current flow only at idle. “At every other speed they’re very suboptimal.” The new technology optimizes current flow at these other operating points resulting in higher output power and also higher efficiency.

In preliminary calculations, the students predicted that a bicyclist should be able to produce up to 75 watts continuously–far more than the 30 watts needed to power the laptop. Indeed, in an initial test drive, team member Figari easily generated 50 watts while checking his e-mail.

Ball’s interest in invention does not stop with his own creations; he dedicates himself to mentoring and advising aspiring inventors. He is also involved as a technical advisor and co-host of “Design Squad,” a new engineering-based reality show for children ages 9 to 13 that will air nationally on PBS beginning this month.

To solve the puzzle of where the voltage comes from, the team had to test a number of theories — many of them exotic. That meant a slew of experiments that showed, among other things, that the electricity was not due to a simple electrochemical redox reaction (the type that powers the ‘potato HP laptop batteries common in high school science labs). The team also ruled out the source as due to coupling to underground power lines, radio waves or other electromagnetic interference.

Chiang and Professor Steven R. Hall of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics led a team that also includes MSE graduate student Timothy E. Chin and postdoctoral associate Yukinori Koyama, aero-astro graduate student Fernando Tubilla and postdoctoral associate Kyung Yeol Song, and three visiting students, Urs Rhyner (from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH-Zurich) and Dimitrios Sapnaras and Georg Baetz (University of Karlsruhe, Germany).

“After the three-idea presentation, our morale was pretty low,” said Mr. Chang, whose team’s three ideas were all thrown out. They had spent nearly two months brainstorming and doing marketing research on a garden wheelchair, a climate-controlled wheelchair and a snowmobile for the elderly. “In retrospect, I guess the ideas weren’t very good.”

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co2 for 120 gallon tank….?

I have 3 questions about better water quality for my plants and freshwater fish.

Here are a couple of links that might help you out. The first link is about how to set up a freshwater planted aquarium and the second is about how to make a homemade CO2 Generator. I am not sure about how many homemade CO2 generators you will need for a 120 gallon tank but it is an inexpensive way to make one instead of buying a whole system that can run you up to $500.00 to set up.

Setting Up A Freshwater Planted Aquarium: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHlGz4oJNU0
Homemade CO2 Generator: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZFM9ZpaqGM

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