Generating Electricity from Wing Waves

Just like wind mills and wind turbines that generate power and electricity from the wind, scientists are now working to generate power from the sea. Stephen Wood, an assistant professor of marine and environmental systems atFlorida Institute of Technology’s College of Engineering is working on this technology for its advance and proper use. This technology will use Wing waves in a very efficient way to generate electricity and power from the sea.

The wing waves technology to produce electricity and power from sea is a project initiated by a renewable energy firm from Tallahassee called the Clean and Green Enterprises. This firm has been working in this area since the past five years.

The use of Wing Waves to produce electricity from the sea
According Wood, about 200,000 houses can be lit with the help of one square miles of wings that produce around 1000 units of electric power. Power is generated by changing elliptical motion wave into mechanical energy after trapping it 30 feet to 60 feet below the sea.

The chief executive with Clean and Green Enterprises Inc., Terence Bolden says that the wings sway 30 degrees from side to side. They take 8 to 10 seconds to complete every arc. In this process, they produce electricity.

Basic requirements to use Wing Waves to produce electricity from the sea
To use Wing waves to produce electricity from the sea, there are two basic requirements: depth of 40 to 50 feet and a sandy bottom. Sea fans are placed on the sandy base. Though, bigger wings can be used to tap water to make electricity but for that the plant to make these wings has to be situated near the ocean. Till then, the fans having trapezoid-shaped wings that are 8 feet tall and 15 feet wide will continue to be used and they will be transported through road. The height and the width of the wings are carefully made so that they can be transported by the road and can be easily placed under the sea.

Advantages of using Wing Waves to produce electricity from the sea
An example of Wind Waves to produce electric power from the sea was showcased when two 8-foot-tall wing flaps moved up and down on the seabed, just a few miles away from the Fort Pierce Fla.

The advantages of Wing waves are:

• It is a clean and green way to generate electric power.
• It is an alternative way to provide power.
• It protects sea life. Wings waves are very environment friendly as they do not cause any danger to the turtles and attract fish.
• The power produced in the sea can be used on land by transferring the electricity from sea to land through cables.
• The wing waves are a treat for the eye to see.
• If these wings are properly maintained, they can be used up to 20 years.
• The wings will operate and generate power even when the sea is a bit calm. The wings will get locked automatically during hurricanes, when the sea is rough.
• Wing wave’s technology can operate in any coastal area.
• Wing Waves also help in desalinizing sea water.

The prototype of Wing Waves technology
The prototype of wing waves that has been working from November 17 off the Florida coast is built with aluminum. It has helped to collect data on wave motion and other relevant matters. The prototype that is going to replace the one used now will be made from composite material that is more resistant to corrosion.

Hopefully, Wing waves will be a revolution in generating power and electricity from the sea.

The New Role of Microbes in Bio-Fuel Production

Currently biofuel is produced from plants as well as microbes. The oils, carbohydrates or fats generated by the microbes or plants are refined to produce biofuel. This is a green and renewable energy that helps in conserving fossil-fuel usage. But a new research has led to a new discovery of getting the microbes to produce fuel from the proteins instead of utilizing the protein for its own growth. The research is being done at the premises of University of California in Los Angeles.

Focus
The focus of the experiment was to induce the microbes under the study to produce a specific kind of proteins rather than what they otherwise might be inclined to produce. This special protein can be refined in to biofuel. The task is to make the microbes produce only this kind of protein rather than utilizing it for their own growth and growth related activities as they otherwise do.

Different from prior practice
This kind of biofuel production is different from the traditional behavior of microbes where they use the protein only for growth. This is like tricking the microbes to deviate from that and produce fats or material that can be converted to biofuel. In the words of UCLApostdoctoral student and lead researcher, Yi-xin Huo -”We have to completely redirect the protein utilization system, which is one of the most highly-regulated systems in the cell.”

First attempt at protein utilization
This has been claimed as the first ever attempt to use the proteins as a source for generating energy. Until now the biofuel-producing algae has not made use of the protein like a carbon supply for biofuel. It was only used for growth. But now the scientists have tampered with usual nitrogen metabolism process and induced biorefining process and altered the metabolizing of nitrogen at the cellular level.

A fringe benefit
By this process, they are letting the cells to retain the nitrogen and take out just the ammonia. Once done with the biofuel production, the residue is a better kind of fertilizer thanks to the low nitrogen levels. This in turn will lessen any greenhouse emissions that happen during the fertilizer production. The new process will reprocess the nitrogen back and will help in maintaining a nitrogen neutral state and less harmful emissions during fertilizer production.

Future plans
The Nature Biotechnology Sunday issue has published the team’s findings. The team hopes that their findings will rewrite biofuel production by inundating the field with protein eating microbes which will generate fats and substances that can be converted into biofuel. The microbes will feed on proteins that are not fit for animal consumption and keep producing special proteins for biofuel conversion and later can become a better type if fertilizer with less nitrogen and nil harmful greenhouse emissions.

Artificial Electronic Super Skin – Powered By Stretchable Solar Cells

Zhenan Bao, Stanfordresearcher, is keen to create “Super skin.” Taking her previously created super-sensitive sensor a step ahead, she is now creating a super skin that will be self-powered with renewable clean solar energy. Bao and her team have designed polymer solar cells that are flexible and can be stretched to power the ’super skin’.

Previous sensor
Ms Bao had successfully built a sensor flexible and very sensitive to any pressure. It was able to detect even touch-down pressure of a fly. She had made this over a foundation of a flexible organic transistor made of supple polymers and materials which are carbon based. Touch-sensing is achieved by the fluctuations in the current flow which is caused by an elastic rubber layer shaped like myriad inverted pyramids.

Rationale for sensing
Changing the transistor’s semiconducting material according to the type of material kept on sensor, the sensor can sense whether it is touching a chemical or a biological material. The semiconducting material can be just a nanometer or two layers only thick for the expected detection to occur. By changing the structural characteristics of the transistor as needed, the super skin detects chemicals in liquid or vapour state and bio matters like proteins.

Useful for disease detection
Super skin being able to detect diseases by sensing the biomarker proteins corresponding to individual diseases, this can be taken a step further by fitting robots with super skins and allowing the robots to detect by touch whether a person has s disease-confirming biomarker or robot can test the sweat for drunkenness etc.

Need for power to send the data

When the sensors detect the nature of the materials being tested, they have to send the data to a computer or a researcher. Instead of connecting to a power supply or batteries, incorporating polymer solar cells is a better idea as this will enable the sensors to be portable and less cumbersome and be more eco-friendly.

Stretchable solar cells
Bao’s research papers mention of unidirectional stretchable nature of the solar cells, but Bao maintains that their solar cells are capable of stretching in both axes. Solar cells even in the stretched state generate power for sending the data collected by the sensors. A wavy microstructure is the reason for cells’ stretchable nature. They expand to some 30% excess of their normal length and snap back to original condition.

Use for stretchable solar cells
Stretchable materials are stronger and it can be a very useful and valuable feature in many scenarios. Darren Lipomi, a graduate student & lead author said, “One of the applications where stretchable solar cells would be useful is in fabrics for uniforms and other clothes.” The stretchable solar cells can also be integrated into curved areas like lenses, arches in buildings or car exteriors etc. also.

Eco friendly transistors
Today Bao has managed to make a green savvy version of the transistor made with materials that are biodegradable. Whatever materials go to make the transistor and its parts will not pose a threat to the environment. The super skin is much more than a human skin and now is totally eco-friendly, and will be powered by renewable energy source like solar energy.

Airplane Timeline

Efforts to tackle the engineering problems associated with powered flight began well before the Wright brothers' famous trials at Kitty Hawk. In 1804 an English baronet, Sir George Cayley, launched modern aeronautical engineering by studying the behavior of solid surfaces in a fluid stream and flying the first successful winged aircraft of which we have any detailed record. And of course Otto Lilienthal's aerodynamic tests in the closing years of the 19th century influenced a generation of aeronautical experimenters. In the 20th century, advances in aeronautical engineering soon had us soaring in safety and comfort across all the continents and oceans.

	1901		First successful flying model propelled by an internal combustion engine Samuel Pierpont Langley builds a gasoline-powered version of his tandem-winged "Aerodromes." the first successful flying model to be propelled by an internal combustion engine.  As early as 1896 he launches steam-propelled models with wingspans of up to 15 feet on flights of more than half a mile.
	1903		First sustained flight with a powered, controlled airplane Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, complete the first four sustained flights with a powered, controlled airplane at Kill Devil Hills, 4 miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On their best flight of the day, Wilbur covers 852 feet over the ground in 59 seconds. In 1905 they introduce the Flyer, the world’s first practical airplane.
	1904		Concept of a fixed "boundary layer" described in paper by Ludwig Prandtl German professor Ludwig Prandtl presents one of the most important papers in the history of aerodynamics, an eight-page document describing the concept of a fixed "boundary layer," the molecular layer of air on the surface of an aircraft wing. Over the next 20 years Prandtl and his graduate students pioneer theoretical aerodynamics.
	1910		First take off from a ship Eugene Ely pilots a Curtiss biplane on the first flight to take off from a ship. In November he departs from the deck of a cruiser anchored in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and lands onshore. In January 1911 he takes off from shore and lands on a ship anchored off the coast of California. Hooks attached to the plane's landing gear, a primitive version of the system of arresting gear and safety barriers used on modern aircraft carriers.
	1914		Automatic gyrostabilizer leads to first automatic pilot Lawrence Sperry demonstrates an automatic gyrostabilizer at Lake Keuka, Hammondsport, New York.  A gyroscope linked to sensors keeps the craft level and traveling in a straight line without aid from the human pilot. Two years later Sperry and his inventor father, Elmer, add a steering gyroscope to the stabilizer gyro and demonstrate the first "automatic pilot."
	1914-1918		Dramatic improvements in structures and control and propulsion systems During World War I, the requirements of higher speed, higher altitude, and greater maneuverability drive dramatic improvements in aerodynamics, structures, and control and propulsion system design.
	1915		National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Congress charters the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, a federal agency to spearhead advanced aeronautical research in the United States.
	1917		The Junkers J4, an all-metal airplane, introduced  Hugo Junkers, a German professor of mechanics introduces the Junkers J4, an all-metal airplane built largely of a relatively lightweight aluminum alloy called duralumin.
	1918		Airmail service inaugurated The U. S. Postal Service inaugurates airmail service from Polo Grounds in Washington, D.C., on May 15. Two years later, on February 22, 1920, the first transcontinental airmail service arrives in New York from San Francisco in 33 hours and 20 minutes, nearly 3 days faster than mail delivery by train.
	1919		U.S. Navy aviators make the first airplane crossing of the North Atlantic U.S. Navy aviators in Curtiss NC-4 flying boats, led Lt. Cdr. Albert C. Read, make the first airplane crossing of the North Atlantic, flying from Newfoundland to London with stops in the Azores and Lisbon. A few months later British Capt. John Alcock and Lt. Albert Brown make the first nonstop transatlantic flight, from Newfoundland to Ireland.
	1919		Passenger service across the English Channel introduced Britain and France introduce passenger service across the English Channel, flying initially between London and Paris. 1919 the first nonstop transatlantic flight, from Newfoundland to Ireland.
	1925-1926		Introduction of lightweight, air-cooled radial engines The introduction of a new generation of lightweight, air-cooled radial engines revolutionizes aeronautics, making bigger, faster planes possible.
	1927		First nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic On May 21, Charles Lindbergh completes the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, traveling 3,600 miles from New York to Paris in a Ryan monoplane named the Spirit of St. Louis. On June 29, Albert Hegenberger and Lester Maitland complete the first flight from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii. At 2,400 miles it is the longest open-sea flight to date.
	1928		First electromechanical flight simulator Edwin A. Link introduces the Link Trainer, the first electromechanical flight simulator. Mounted on a base that allows the cockpit to pitch, roll, and yaw, these ground-based pilot trainers have closed hoods that force a pilot to rely on instruments. The flight simulator is used for virtually all U.S. pilot training during WWII.
	1933		Douglas introduces the 12-passenger twinengine DC-1 In that summer Douglas introduces the 12-passenger twin-engine DC-1, designed by aeronautical engineer Arthur Raymond for a contract with TWA. A key requirement is that the plane can take off, fully loaded, if one engine goes out. In September the DC-1 joins the TWA fleet, followed 2 years later by the DC-3, the first passenger airliner capable of making a profit for its operator without a postal subsidy. The DC-3’s range of nearly 1,500 miles is more than double that of the Boeing 247. As the C-47 it becomes the workhorse of WWII.
	1933		First modern commercial airliner In February, Boeing introduces the 247, a twin-engine 10-passenger monoplane that is the first modern commercial airliner. With variable-pitch propellers, it has an economical cruising speed and excellent takeoff. Retractable landing gear reduces drag during flight.
	1935		First practical radar British scientist Sir Robert Watson-Watt patents the first practical radar (for radio detection and ranging) system for meteorological applications. During World War II radar is successfully used in Great Britain to detect incoming aircraft and provide information to intercept bombers.
	1935		First transpacific mail service Pan American inaugurates the first transpacific mail service, between San Francisco and Manila, on November 22, and the first transpacific passenger service in October the following year. Four years later, in 1939, Pan Am and Britain’s Imperial Airways begin scheduled transatlantic passenger service.
	1937		Jet engines designed Jet engines designed independently by Britain’s Frank Whittle and Germany’s Hans von Ohain make their first test runs. (Seven years earlier, Whittle, a young Royal Air Force officer, filed a patent for a gas turbine engine to power an aircraft, but the Royal Air Ministry was not interested in developing the idea at the time. Meanwhile, German doctoral student Von Ohain was developing his own design.) Two years later, on August 27, the first jet aircraft, the Heinkel HE 178, takes off, powered by von Ohain’s HE S-3 engine.
	1939		First practical singlerotor helicopters Russian emigre Igor Sikorsky develops the VS-300 helicopter for the U.S. Army, one of the first practical singlerotor helicopters.
	1939-1945		World War II spurs innovation A world war again spurs innovation. The British develop airplane-detecting radar just in time for the Battle of Britain. At the same time the Germans develop radiowave navigation techniques. The both sides develop airborne radar, useful for attacking aircraft at night. German engineers produce the first practical jet fighter, the twin-engine ME 262, which flies at 540 miles per hour, and the Boeing Company modifies its B-17 into the high-altitude Flying Fortress. Later it makes the 141-foot-wingspan long-range B-29 Superfortress. In Britain the Instrument Landing System (ILS) for landing in bad weather is put into use in 1944.
	1947		Sound barrior broken U.S. Air Force pilot Captain Charles "Chuck" Yeager becomes the fastest man alive when he pilots the Bell X-1 faster than sound for the first time on October 14 over the town of Victorville, California.
	1949		First jet-powered commercial aircraft The prototype De Havilland Comet makes its first flight on July 27. Three years later the Comet starts regular passenger service as the first jet-powered commercial aircraft, flying between London and South Africa.
	1950s		B-52 bomber Boeing makes the B-52 bomber. It has eight turbojet engines, intercontinental range, and a capacity of 500,000 pounds.
	1952		Discovery of the area rule of aircraft design Richard Whitcomb, an engineer at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, discovers and experimentally verifies an aircraft design concept known as the area rule. A revolutionary method of designing aircraft to reduce drag and increase speed without additional power, the area rule is incorporated into the development of almost every American supersonic aircraft. He later invents winglets, which increase the lift-to-drag ratio of transport airplanes and other vehicles.
	1963		First small jet aircraft to enter mass production The prototype Learjet 23 makes its first flight on October 7. Powered by two GE CJ610 turbojet engines, it is 43 feet long, with a wingspan of 35.5 feet, and can carry seven passengers (including two pilots) in a fully pressurized cabin. It becomes the first small jet aircraft to enter mass production, with more than 100 sold by the end of 1965.
	1969		Boeing 747 Boeing conducts the first flight of a wide-body, turbofan-powered commercial airliner, the 747, one of the most successful aircraft ever produced.
	1976		Concorde SST introduced into commercial airline service The Concorde SST is introduced into commercial airline service by both Great Britain and France on January 21. It carries a hundred passengers at 55,000 feet and twice the speed of sound, making the London to New York run in 3.5 hours—half the time of subsonic carriers. But the cost per passenger-mile is high, ensuring that flights remain the privilege of the wealthy. After a Concorde accident kills everyone on board in July 2000, the planes are grounded for more than a year. Flights resume in November 2001, but with passenger revenue falling and maintenance costs rising, British Airways and Air France announce they will decommission the Concorde in October 2003.
	1986		Voyager circumnavigates the globe (26,000 miles) nonstop in 9 days Using a carbon-composite material, aircraft designer Burt Rutan crafts Voyager for flying around the world nonstop on a single load of fuel. Voyager has two centerline engines, one fore and one aft, and weighs less than 2,000 pounds (fuel for the flight adds another 5,000 pounds). It is piloted by Jeana Yeager (no relation to test pilot Chuck Yeager) and Burt’s brother Dick Rutan, who circumnavigate the globe (26,000 miles) nonstop in 9 days.
	1990s		B-2 bomber developed Northrop Grumman develops the B-2 bomber, with a "flying wing" design. Made of composite materials rather than metal, it cannot be detected by conventional radar. At about the same time, Lockheed designs the F-117 stealth fighter, also difficult to detect by radar.
	1995		First aircraft produced through computer-aided design and engineering Boeing debuts the twin-engine 777, the biggest two-engine jet ever to fly and the first aircraft produced through computer-aided design and engineering. Only a nose mockup was actually built before the vehicle was assembled—and the assembly was only 0.03 mm out of alignment when a wing was attached.
	1996-1998		Joint research program to develop second-generation supersonic airliner NASA teams with American and Russian aerospace industries in a joint research program to develop a second-generation supersonic airliner for the 21st century. The centerpiece is the Tu-144LL, a first-generation Russian supersonic jetliner modified into a flying laboratory. It conducts supersonic research comparing flight data with results from wind tunnels and computer modeling.