Better Turbine Spacing for Large Wind Farms

wind turbines

Large wind farms are being built around the world as a cleaner way to generate electricity, but operators are still searching for the most efficient way to arrange the massive turbines that turn moving air into power. To help steer wind farm owners in the right direction, Charles Meneveau, a Johns Hopkins fluid mechanics … Continue reading

The Potential of Wave Power

Experts have been attempting to harness the power of the wave since the late 19th century. As the wind passes over the ocean, it produces waves. There is a direct correlation between the power of the wind and the power of the wave. Wave energy is produced when electricity generators are placed on the surface of the … Continue reading

Sunlight Trap Could Lead to New Generation of Solar Devices

The design for trapping sunlight using two elliptical mirrors, with M1 collecting sunlight and M2 (the zozzaroid) focusing sunlight back to the vertex of M1 and into the blackbody. (Right) The mirrors used in a scheme for steam generation. Image credit: De Luca and Fedullo.

In the Greek legend of Dionysius' ear, Dionysius made a cave shaped like an ellipse in order to hear the words whispered by a prisoner in one of the foci of the cave. Some science museums today feature a similar exhibit, where two people at opposite ends of a room can whisper into giant ellipses and distinctly hear each … Continue reading

Small wind turbine works at low wind speeds

Honneywell Turbine

Homeowners this fall will be able to buy a wind turbine at hardware stores that tackles the small wind industry's bete noire: slow wind. WindTronics, based in Muskegon, Mich., has developed a wind turbine sized for individual homes that it says can operate at speeds as low as 2 miles an hour. It will be sold for … Continue reading