World of science roundup

A shirt that can generate electricity

Georgia Tech engineers claim to have invented a microfiber shirt that can generate electricity. Yes, but how much is a shirt with gold microfiber threads going to cost?

Bat evolution: Flight first, then ecolocation

The fossil of a 52-million-year-old bat answer the debate conclusively on this chicken-or-egg question. The fossil shows none of the echolocation-specific features of modern bat skeletons.

Titan has more energy than Earth fossil fuels

That’s what the latest analysis of Saturn’s largest moon says. Cool to a science junkie, perhaps, but also pretty much a no-brainer finding. And, as the story points out, totally irrelevant to Peak Oil here on Tellus Mater.

Fuel from air?

That’s what our nation’s top science think tank, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, claims. LANL scientists claim they can harvest CO2 and water vapor for raw materials from the air.


Oh, there’s a catch or two. One, it would take massive amounts of electricity. Two, in a no-duh thought, LANL proposes to use nuclear power for this. (Columbia University scientists claim to have a similar plan, but using solar/thermal power for the juice.) Also, there’s a question about, LANL claims to the contrary, just how well this can be scaled up.

For more on the current nonlikelihood of capturing CO2 from coal-fired power plants, etc., That’s what our nation’s top science think tank, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, see here.