Today in Science History March 16th
by Greg on Mar.16, 2009, under Science Life History
In 1960, in New York a car was displayed with a battery recharged by solar cells.
That is now almost 50 years, and we still don’t hvae a viable solar power consumer transportation option. Here is another entry into the line of impressive solar cars you cannot buy:
The oldest solar electric student team in America, MIT’s Solar Electric Vehicle Team, has unveiled their next-gen solar car known as the “Eleanor.” Costing a whopping $243,000, the solar car will compete in the tenth World Solar Challenge, an endurance race covering nearly 2000 miles of Australian outback.
So, you still will not be able to use the most abundant energy source on earth to power your commute, but if you get into a fender bender, science has some good news for your paint job:
A few years down the road, you may be able to get that scratch out of your car’s bumper simply by parking in a sunny spot. Researchers have created a polyurethane coating that heals itself when exposed to ultraviolet light.
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Science, media, art, movies, politics, and what else I find interesting tweeting and reading on the internet. And ITP.
Nasa's Image of the Day
Large X-class Flare Erupts on the Sun
On Jan. 27, 2012, a large X-class flare erupted from an active region near the solar west limb. X-class flares are the most powerful of all solar events. Seen here is an image of the flare captured by the X-ray telescope on Hinode. This image shows an emission from plasma heated to greater than eight million degrees during the energy release process of the flare. Image Credit: JAXA/Hinode
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