Let the light pierce through the darkness Close all old accounts, turn a new leaf Re-learn that old lesson of friendship Kill nor be killed, settle for lessening Amidst us of this fossilized hatred
Technology Update
Perhaps that time has not come yet when our, Gods would listen to the beats in our hearts, peace and happiness spread their glow, perhaps we would have to force Mother Time?.
Great Things Come in Small Packages: Nanotechnology and Energy
Denise Palmer asked:
If current news is any indication, Nanotechnology is poised to play a significant role in the development of clean, less expensive energy. The potential of nanotechnology for solving some of today’s greatest energy challenges is vast.
Nanotechnology refers broadly to a field of applied science and technology whose unifying theme is the control of matter on the molecular level in scales smaller than one micrometer, normally 1 to 100 nanometers, and the fabrication of devices within that size range. For scale, a single virus particle is about 100 nanometers in width.
Encompassing nanoscale science, engineering and technology, nanotechnology involves imaging, measuring, modeling, and manipulating matter at this length scale.”
At this size dimension, the physical, chemical, and biological properties of materials differ in fundamental and valuable ways from the properties of individual atoms, molecules, or bulk matter. The properties displayed at the nanoscale create a host of potential innovative uses for nanomaterials. One of these uses includes the creation of exciting and revolutionary energy applications. These potential nanoscale energy applications apply to a host of different sources of energy, including hydrogen, geothermal, unconventional natural gas, fission, and solar energy.
While hydrogen is an energy storage medium, it is not a primary energy source. Therefore, full realization of hydrogen as an alternative energy source is frustrated by gaps in technology, which do not precipitate the efficient and cost-effective storage and transport of hydrogen. Nanoscience provides new approaches to basic questions about the interaction of hydrogen with materials to enable the efficient and cost-effective storage and transport of hydrogen.
Applying nanotechnology to geothermal energy increases the opportunities to develop geothermal resources by enhancing thermal conductivity or aiding in the development of noncorrosive materials that could be used for geothermal energy production.
The recovery of unconventional sources of natural gas is yet another potential application of nanotechnology. Unconventional sources of natural gas include tight sandstones, shale gas, and coal bed methane. Nanotechnology applications may prove useful in accessing or exploiting these unconventional natural gas sources. For instance, nanocatalysts and nanoscale membranes may prove useful in assisting in Gas to Liquids production. Furthermore, certain nanostructured materials may assist in compressed natural gas transport.
Nanotechnology may also prove useful in solving the waste problems of the nuclear energy industry. For instance, certain nano-engineered barriers may prove useful in preventing the migration of or containing nuclear waste products.
Nanotechnology applications may assist in making solar energy more economical. Nanoscience can be utilized to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells, creating cost-efficient conversion systems, effective solar power storage systems or even the generation of solar energy on a larger scale. For instance, “nanopatterning” can artificially change the optical properties of materials to allow light to be trapped in solar cells.
Nanotechnology might someday allow for more powerful, more efficient and less expensive energy generation, storage transmission and distribution. Nanotechnology is being used to optimize production from existing energy sources and to exploit new sources such as geothermal, liquefied natural gas, nuclear and solar energy. Nanotechnology is also improving and opening new possibilities for the transmission and storage of energy, especially electricity and possibly hydrogen in the future. Nanotechnologies have the potential to reduce energy consumption by making it possible to manufacture lighter and/or more energy efficient cards and appliances. Even though nanotechnology is a relatively young field, the potential for future nanotechnology applications within the energy industry could turn out to be one of the most important technological developments of our time.
If current news is any indication, Nanotechnology is poised to play a significant role in the development of clean, less expensive energy. The potential of nanotechnology for solving some of today’s greatest energy challenges is vast.
Nanotechnology refers broadly to a field of applied science and technology whose unifying theme is the control of matter on the molecular level in scales smaller than one micrometer, normally 1 to 100 nanometers, and the fabrication of devices within that size range. For scale, a single virus particle is about 100 nanometers in width.
Encompassing nanoscale science, engineering and technology, nanotechnology involves imaging, measuring, modeling, and manipulating matter at this length scale.”
At this size dimension, the physical, chemical, and biological properties of materials differ in fundamental and valuable ways from the properties of individual atoms, molecules, or bulk matter. The properties displayed at the nanoscale create a host of potential innovative uses for nanomaterials. One of these uses includes the creation of exciting and revolutionary energy applications. These potential nanoscale energy applications apply to a host of different sources of energy, including hydrogen, geothermal, unconventional natural gas, fission, and solar energy.
While hydrogen is an energy storage medium, it is not a primary energy source. Therefore, full realization of hydrogen as an alternative energy source is frustrated by gaps in technology, which do not precipitate the efficient and cost-effective storage and transport of hydrogen. Nanoscience provides new approaches to basic questions about the interaction of hydrogen with materials to enable the efficient and cost-effective storage and transport of hydrogen.
Applying nanotechnology to geothermal energy increases the opportunities to develop geothermal resources by enhancing thermal conductivity or aiding in the development of noncorrosive materials that could be used for geothermal energy production.
The recovery of unconventional sources of natural gas is yet another potential application of nanotechnology. Unconventional sources of natural gas include tight sandstones, shale gas, and coal bed methane. Nanotechnology applications may prove useful in accessing or exploiting these unconventional natural gas sources. For instance, nanocatalysts and nanoscale membranes may prove useful in assisting in Gas to Liquids production. Furthermore, certain nanostructured materials may assist in compressed natural gas transport.
Nanotechnology may also prove useful in solving the waste problems of the nuclear energy industry. For instance, certain nano-engineered barriers may prove useful in preventing the migration of or containing nuclear waste products.
Nanotechnology applications may assist in making solar energy more economical. Nanoscience can be utilized to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells, creating cost-efficient conversion systems, effective solar power storage systems or even the generation of solar energy on a larger scale. For instance, “nanopatterning” can artificially change the optical properties of materials to allow light to be trapped in solar cells.
Nanotechnology might someday allow for more powerful, more efficient and less expensive energy generation, storage transmission and distribution. Nanotechnology is being used to optimize production from existing energy sources and to exploit new sources such as geothermal, liquefied natural gas, nuclear and solar energy. Nanotechnology is also improving and opening new possibilities for the transmission and storage of energy, especially electricity and possibly hydrogen in the future. Nanotechnologies have the potential to reduce energy consumption by making it possible to manufacture lighter and/or more energy efficient cards and appliances. Even though nanotechnology is a relatively young field, the potential for future nanotechnology applications within the energy industry could turn out to be one of the most important technological developments of our time.
A Brief History of Victorian Erotic Photography
ij_forde@yahoo.co.uk asked:
The exposure of the body through images of the nude was one of the most controversial issues in Victorian art.
Nudes were presented not only in painting and sculpture, but also popular illustration, and photography, fuelling intense debates about the relationship between art and public morals.
Pictures of nude women prior to 1835 generally consisted of paintings and drawings which were displayed in all respectability on the walls of art galleries and in country houses.
When the new technology of photography appeared around 1835 it was quickly taken up by artists, eager for new ways to illustrate the undraped feminine form.In the moral climate of the 19th century the only officially sanctioned photography of the body was for the production of artist’s studies.
Erotica in the 19th and early 20th century took the form of literature, photography, sculpture and paintings, which dealt substantively with erotically stimulating or arousing descriptions.
Some photographers often hired burlesque actresses as models for nude and semi-nude photographs. The French did a roaring trade selling erotic ‘postcards’ to American tourists. These would now be termed soft-core, but they were quite shocking for the time.
The Victorian pornographic tradition in Britain had three main elements: French photographs, erotic prints (sold in shops in Holywell Street, a long vanished London thoroughfare, swept away by the Aldwych), and printed literature.
The ability to reproduce photographs in bulk assisted the rise of a new business individual, the porn dealer. Many of these dealers took advantage of the postal system to send out photographic cards in plain wrappings to their subscribers.
Later on publications masquerading as “art magazines” celebrated the new cult of naturism, with titles such as Photo Bits, Body in Art, Figure Photography, Nude Living and Modern Art for Men.
In truth,these Victorian photographic images of nudes are beautiful and have an innocence about them which could not really be claimed of today’s Playboy centre-fold.
The exposure of the body through images of the nude was one of the most controversial issues in Victorian art.
Nudes were presented not only in painting and sculpture, but also popular illustration, and photography, fuelling intense debates about the relationship between art and public morals.
Pictures of nude women prior to 1835 generally consisted of paintings and drawings which were displayed in all respectability on the walls of art galleries and in country houses.
When the new technology of photography appeared around 1835 it was quickly taken up by artists, eager for new ways to illustrate the undraped feminine form.In the moral climate of the 19th century the only officially sanctioned photography of the body was for the production of artist’s studies.
Erotica in the 19th and early 20th century took the form of literature, photography, sculpture and paintings, which dealt substantively with erotically stimulating or arousing descriptions.
Some photographers often hired burlesque actresses as models for nude and semi-nude photographs. The French did a roaring trade selling erotic ‘postcards’ to American tourists. These would now be termed soft-core, but they were quite shocking for the time.
The Victorian pornographic tradition in Britain had three main elements: French photographs, erotic prints (sold in shops in Holywell Street, a long vanished London thoroughfare, swept away by the Aldwych), and printed literature.
The ability to reproduce photographs in bulk assisted the rise of a new business individual, the porn dealer. Many of these dealers took advantage of the postal system to send out photographic cards in plain wrappings to their subscribers.
Later on publications masquerading as “art magazines” celebrated the new cult of naturism, with titles such as Photo Bits, Body in Art, Figure Photography, Nude Living and Modern Art for Men.
In truth,these Victorian photographic images of nudes are beautiful and have an innocence about them which could not really be claimed of today’s Playboy centre-fold.