Highest Efficiency 1-Sun Solar Cell
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) created a solar cell with a record 39.5% efficiency under 1-sun global illumination. This is the highest efficiency solar cell of any type, measured using standard 1-sun conditions. “The new cell is more efficient and has a simpler design that may be useful […]
Microscopic view on asteroid collisions could help us understand planet formation
A new way of dating collisions between asteroids and planetary bodies throughout our Solar System’s history could help scientists reconstruct how and when planets were born. A team of researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, combined dating and microscopic analysis of the Chelyabinsk meteorite — which fell to Earth and hit the headlines in […]
A spacecraft has ‘touched’ the sun for the first time
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe reached the sun’s extended solar atmosphere, known as the corona, and spent five hours there. The spacecraft is the first to enter the outer boundaries of our sun. “This marks the achievement of the primary objective of the Parker mission and a new era for understanding the physics of the corona,” […]
Astronomers probe layer-cake structure of brown dwarf’s atmosphere
Maunakea, Hawaii — Jupiter may be the bully planet of our solar system because it’s the most massive planet, but it’s actually a runt compared to many of the giant planets found around other stars. These alien worlds, called super-Jupiters, weigh up to 13 times Jupiter’s mass. Astronomers have analyzed the composition of some of […]
Reducing the melting of Greenland ice cap using solar geoengineering?
Injecting sulphur into the stratosphere to reduce solar radiation and stop the Greenland ice cap from melting. An interesting scenario, but not without risks. Climatologists from the University of Liège have looked into the matter and have tested one of the scenarios put forward using the MAR climate model developed at the University of Liège. […]