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Can electric shocks to your brain make you a better gamer?
by Jonathan Strickland | April 19, 2011
As I was scanning the news in the tech world, my eyes caught sight of a story I couldn’t pass up. It was on msnbc.com and it focused on a study conducted by our friends at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). They took a group of willing volunteers, attached some wires to the volunteers’ craniums and then zapped them with two milliamps of electricity. The volunteers played a game used by soldiers to train for combat.
I read a really cool article over at Daily Tech. Harvard researchers presented an interesting idea at the American Chemical Society conference last Sunday. They’ve built a wand that can extinguish fires. No, you don’t wave it around while shouting out mock Latin like Harry Potter. Instead, you use the wand to direct a flow of electricity toward the flames.
How Fusion Power Works -and- where fusion research stands today
by Marshall Brain | December 13, 2010
Human beings already have access to one fusion reactor. The sun is a gigantic fusion reactor that creates nearly all of the energy making life on earth possible. Sunlight provides the warmth that keeps water from freezing, and sunlight lets plants create the food that animals need. What if we could take the fusion principles [...]
Nowadays, batteries are everywhere — but what exactly are they? How do they work? In this podcast, Chris and Jonathan break down the history of batteries, their uses and the chemistry involved.
Coal-fired power plants produce a majority of the electricity in the United States. According to this article: Coal is primarily used to generate electricity. In fact, nine out of every ten tons of coal mined in the United States today is used to generate electricity, and about 56 percent of the electricity used in this [...]
Invention – A new way to lower the cost of solar cells
by Marshall Brain | November 1, 2010
The goal of the solar cell industry is to get the cost of solar panels down to $1 per watt. One way to get there is through basic incremental improvements in the manufacturing process, along with economies of scale as described here: Fun Facts about Solar Panels Another way is to come up with breakthroughs. [...]
You Asked:
What is the working principle of a DC motor? — Sireesha, Tirupathi, India
Marshall Brain Answers…
The strangest battery you will see today – the Kelvin Water Dropper
by Marshall Brain | October 13, 2010
The Kelvin Water Dropper is a battery like no other. Falling water produces 10,000 to 20,000 volts for no apparent reason. In the following video, jump forward to 44:00 and prepare to be amazed: Now I want to entertain you for the last 6 minutes with something amazing. Something truly amazing. It is a form [...]
You Asked:
How can I build a windmill? — John, New York, N.Y.
Marshall Brain Answers…
This would appear to be one of the best homemade coil guns in the world right now. And the creator is nice enough to give you a complete tour of the guts so you can see exactly how it works…
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