Directly converting electrical power to heat is easy. It regularly happens in your toaster, that is, if you make toast regularly. The opposite, converting heat into electrical power, isn’t so easy. Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories have developed a tiny silicon-based device that can harness what was previously called waste heat and turn it into […]
New Fractal-Like Concentrating Solar Power Receivers are Better at Absorbing Sunlight
Sandia National Laboratories engineers have developed new fractal-like, concentrating solar power receivers for small- to medium-scale use that are up to 20 percent more effective at absorbing sunlight than current technology. The receivers were designed and studied as part of a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project and are also being applied to Sandia’s work […]
Sandia Develops Math Techniques To Improve Computational Efficiency In Quantum Chemistry
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed new mathematical techniques to advance the study of molecules at the quantum level. Mathematical and algorithmic developments along these lines are necessary for enabling the detailed study of complex hydrocarbon molecules that are relevant in engine combustion. Existing methods to approximate potential energy functions at the quantum scale […]
Diamonds Aren’t Forever: Sandia, Harvard Team Create First Quantum Computer Bridge
By forcefully embedding two silicon atoms in a diamond matrix, Sandia researchers have demonstrated for the first time on a single chip all the components needed to create a quantum bridge to link quantum computers together. “People have already built small quantum computers,” says Sandia researcher Ryan Camacho. “Maybe the first useful one won’t be […]
Enormous Blades Could Lead To More Offshore Energy In US
A new design for gigantic blades longer than two football fields could help bring offshore 50-megawatt (MW) wind turbines to the United States and the world. Sandia National Laboratories’ research on the extreme-scale Segmented Ultralight Morphing Rotor (SUMR) is funded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program. The challenge: Design a […]
Dirt-Cheap Catalyst May Lower Fuel Costs For Hydrogen-Powered Cars
Sandia National Laboratories researchers seeking to make hydrogen a less expensive fuel for cars have upgraded a catalyst nearly as cheap as dirt — molybdenum disulfide, “molly” for short — to stand in for platinum, a rare element with the moonlike price of $1,500 a gram. Sandia-induced changes elevate the plentiful, 37-cents-a-gram molly from being […]
Magnetized Fusion Technique Produces Significant Results
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine have produced a significant output of fusion neutrons, using a method fully functioning for only little more than a year. The experimental work is described in a paper to be published in the Sept. 24 Physical Review Letters online. A theoretical PRL paper to be published on the […]
Prototype electrolyte sensor to provide immediate read-outs
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Patients trying to navigate today’s complex medical system with its costly laboratory analyses might prefer a pain-free home diagnostic device, worn on the wrist, that can analyze, continuously record and immediately remedy low electrolyte levels. Runners, athletes in other strenuous sports and soldiers on long missions also might prefer immediate knowledge of […]
Planting the ‘SEEDS’ of Solar Technology in the Home
Data-rich predictive models help determine which consumers buy solar equipment and why In an effort to better understand what persuades people to buy photovoltaic (PV) systems for their homes, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are gathering data on consumer motivations that can feed sophisticated computer models and thus lead to greater use of solar […]
Planting the ‘SEEDS’ of Solar Tech in the Home
In an effort to better understand what persuades people to buy photovoltaic (PV) systems for their homes, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are gathering data on consumer motivations that can feed sophisticated computer models and thus lead to greater use of solar energy. A primary goal of the project is to help increase the nation’s […]