The energy storage devices, more conventionally known to all as 'batteries', especially those able to provide high power, have many applications in everyday life, from laptops, to mobile phones, up to the hybrid vehicles and well as in renewable energy.

For this reason, a team of scientists from the National Institute of Science and Technology of Ulsan (UNIST), Korea, has been working for some time to the development of a lithium-ion battery with charging capability in a very short time: according to the first experimental data, the new battery is ricaricherebbe from 30 to 120 times faster than the lithium-ion battery 'traditional' already in circulation on the market.

The problem of wind and solar - while increasing efficiency - is always the same, the lack of continuity. In fact, the blades of a wind turbine can not run all day, if there is not enough wind or solar panels can store energy in a truly satisfactory if it is cloudy.

To still have energy continuously, even when the system is not fully operational (missing the sun or the wind so to speak), all the energy produced in excess in times of "good" and should be able to be accumulated for this research has been directed toward the improvement of the capacity of batteries and accumulators, however, that in most cases operate at high temperatures and makes its use uneconomical.

A recent article by Lawrence Berkely is literally titled "Pull the plug and extend the life of your laptop." The researcher Venkat Srinivasan describes the batteries and the chemistry that feeds them, and explains how the batteries will fail. Suggests keeping the pc unplugged to prolong the battery life and I confess to have pulled the plug on mine as soon as I finished reading the article, they were so convincing arguments.

Basically, if you charge the battery and then disconnect immediately from the power the battery will have a voltage drop that will allow it to last longer, while it remains attached will have to undergo several changes that will compromise its resistance to time. So the best thing to do is to charge the laptop (or cell phone, camera, etc.) and once it has reached its charged, pull the plug. The battery will thank you for it.

LASER is an acronym of the English language, translated, stands for Controlled Emission of Radiation of Light. The diode laser is a laser in which the active component is a semiconductor similar to those employed in the production of LED (Light Emitting Diode).

A diode laser is defined as "a laser formed from a tube inside which there are two mirrors. Introducing the whole of the cavity, with a certain energy, photons of coherent light, these are reflected from one mirror to another, gaining energy at each reflection. Being one of the semitransparent mirrors, let the light beam only when this exceeds a certain level of energy.

Provide electricity to the home using a system powered by hydrogen fuel cells. It is not science fiction, but pure reality, already tested in the homes of countries such as Japan. The size of a suitcase. the system is placed in the immediate vicinity of a tank that serves as a boiler. In the process of production of electrical energy fuel cells emanate heat and this is sufficient to heat the water for the whole house.

The oxygen used by the fuel cells comes from the air, while the hydrogen is extracted from natural gas through a device. But one of the byproducts of combustion is very poisonous and notorious for the tragic accident that resulted in: carbon monoxide.

Thus the system is able to extract new oxygen which, together with carbon monoxide, serves to create carbon dioxide, contributing to global warming, and without being highly dangerous if inhaled. 

When you think of solar panels, comes to mind blacks extension of rectangles that cover the surfaces, obscuring everything that lies below. These, however, are the traditional photovoltaic cells. Now, however, there are due to advances in technology in this area, even the "photovoltaic glass."

It is true transparent panels because they use the glass as a base, thus leaving the light pass through and being able to cover surfaces such as glass skylights, roofs and facades. The building will gain in savings in energy and natural lighting manufacturer and will become "self" and independently of energy!

We speak of the Internet Economy, the most flourishing productive sector of the moment, the productive sector that has changed our daily habits and greatly expanded our ability to interact. In the last two decades new actors have appeared on the scene, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Oracle, companies trading in electronic equipment, trade in "byte" which are light years away from heavy metals, oil and derivatives that have instead marked the economic history of the twentieth century.

The digital tools are less bulky than the old, heavy and bloated industrial machines. Many argue that they are also significantly less polluting, a position that now, however, is refuted by a survey conducted by the New York Times in collaboration with the consulting firm McKinsey. A year of research have brought the head to argue accusations decided against companies engaged in the computer industry. Companies that burn huge amounts of energy to transfer data to millions of users, about 30 billion watts of electricity worldwide, as the energy produced by 30 nuclear power plants.

A viable future alternative to traditional-and-polluting batteries may soon become the direct methanol fuel cells. Not only more efficient but also able to charge an electric car as a laptop.

Innovation is 'signed' University of California in collaboration with NASA. To explain how we think will work the manufacturer, the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Corporation, which for the moment is concerned with disposable cartridges manufactured right with methanol.

An argument that burns that of boiler maintenance, so necessary for some, for others as useless and wasteful. To clear up any doubt comes a handbook published by the Ministry of Economic Development.

Important checks

The boilers up to 8 years of seniority, says the handbook, should be checked every 4 years, while those older than 8 years should be checked every 2 years. The fitness certification must be issued by a qualified technician, who will be obliged to draw up and sign a report that will be delivered technical control, as well as to the applicant to the competent authority that is delegated the conduct of investigations and inspections . 

This innovative technology of cooking, by the generation of an electromagnetic field, has resulted in an improvement in performance, a reduction in consumption, a total absence of heat loss, and an increased safety in the kitchen. Suffice it to say that the induction cooktops make the most of the absorbed energy with an efficiency of 90% while traditional stoves, by the nature of their operating principle, make only 40-60% dispersing about half 'of energy into the surrounding environment.