Planetary Gear

Lemelson-MIT prize goes to man of many talents

This year's Lemelson-MIT Student Prize has gone to a man who has his intellectual fingers in the pots of biotechnology, genetics, sensor technology, applied mathematics, and even evolutionary linguistics.

Erez Lieberman-Aiden, graduate student at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, has been awarded the 2010 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize. His body of work to date includes inventing a 3D mapping tool and using it to discover new info about the inner workings of the human genome, developing a sensor-laden sneaker to assist the elderly, and co-developing a mathematical method for tracking widespread and complex evolutionary changes in things more

Porsche revs up 911 hybrid

It'll be fast, and it'll be green.

High-performance automaker Porsche plans to unveil a hybrid version of its 911 GT3 R race car at the Geneva Motor Show in March--and then enter it in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring race this May.

Curious about how Porsche plans to get Porsche-like performance out of a green machine? To pique your interest, the company on Thursday issued a press release explaining roughly how the gas-electric hybrid system will work, and showing off some artist's renderings of the car.

In addition to a 480-bhp 4-liter engine powering the rear axle, more

Robonaut 2: The offspring of GM and NASA

This is not your average assembly line worker.

But Robonaut 2 is expected to be an exemplary co-worker. General Motors and NASA on Thursday introduced Robonaut 2, a humanoid robot being jointly developed at the Johnson Space Center in Houston for use in both the automotive and aerospace industries.

Robonaut 2 is stronger, more dexterous, and more technologically advanced than the original Robonaut, according to NASA. Robonaut, which was developed 10 years ago by NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, was intended--as its name implies--for use as a robot astronaut.

Robonaut 2, nicknamed R2, seems more destined for more

Measuring the smart-grid effect

Good old-fashioned guilt and frugality might go a long way toward helping the U.S. reduce its carbon footprint.

Converting the U.S. electricity grid to a series of smart grids would have a significant impact on carbon emissions from utilities mainly because the shift would tend to change people's usage habits, according to a report released last week by the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

Researchers at PNNL's Electricity Infrastructure Operations Center (EIOC) used real-time U.S. electric grid data, advanced software, modeling computation, and data from existing smart-grid projects to determine whether,

Ferrari set to unveil hybrid

Ferrari will unveil a hybrid at the Geneva Motor Show in March, the company's chairman confirmed Thursday.

Rumors of a hybrid Ferrari prototype based on the Ferrari 599 GTB, which debuted at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, have long been making the rounds.

Ferrari filings with the European Patent Office for a "4WD system with hybrid propulsion" were reported in June. At the time, Ferrari confirmed it was developing hybrid technology and hinted at a release within the year, but did not specify when.

Since then, there has been much speculation (and outrage by some purists) about a hybrid more

Think City EV promises 80 percent charge in 15 min.

Think announced Monday that EnerDel will be the exclusive supplier of lithium ion batteries for Think City's U.S. cars and for 60 percent of its cars sold in Europe.

The company also announced that AeroVironment will be partnering with Think in the U.S. to build a series of "very-fast-charge stations."

The result of the fast-charging stations, combined with EnerDel's lithium ion batteries in Think City cars, will be electric cars that take only 15 minutes to charge from zero capacity to 80 percent capacity, according to Think.

As previously reported, the Think City all-electric car will more

Generator maker sees used motor oil potential

An inventor and a generator manufacturer have come up with a new use for used motor oil.

Cyclone Power Technologies signed a deal with Phoenix Power Group on Thursday to develop an external combustion engine that runs on waste oil. The deal signs over waste-oil-related rights to Cyclone's Mark V external combustion engine to the Phoenix Power, which plans to use the engine in its new Phoenix 5-Series Generator.

"Cyclone still retains rights for the Mark V with other fuels," a Cyclone representative noted in an e-mail. "Phoenix Power only holds exclusive rights for generators running on waste oil." more

Ethanol alternative gains ground with new plant

Fuel tech start-up Cobalt Biofuels launched a California plant on Tuesday that will produce biobutanol from forestry byproducts.

Biobutanol, butanol made from biomass as opposed to fossil fuels, already has approval for use in fuel blends for vehicles under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

Cobalt and others have claimed that biobutanol has an advantage over ethanol, which has been known to have corrosion issues in some older fuel systems and pipelines and is conventionally used in fuel blends and in newer cars with ethanol-ready engines. Biobutanol can be used as a standalone fuel even in conventional gasoline car engines, more

Auto industry focused on hybrids, survey says

Biodiesel technology is low on the list of priorities for auto industry research, according to a global survey of 200 senior auto executives conducted by KPMG that was released Thursday.

When asked to rate which were the most important alternative fuel technologies to the auto industry over the next five years, hybrid systems were ranked first followed by battery electric power, fuel cell electric power, and biodiesel, respectively.

Fuel efficiency was ranked as the feature auto executives believed makes the biggest impact on customers' purchasing decisions, while "environmental friendliness" was second followed by safety innovation in third.

A car's more

Tesla, Panasonic collaborate on EV batteries

It seems that when Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo said in December that his company would invest $1 billion in green technologies for the home, he may already have had a deal in the works for the garage.

Panasonic will be collaborating with Tesla Motors to develop next-generation nickel-based lithium ion battery cells for electric vehicles, both companies announced Thursday.

"Combining Tesla's rigorous cell testing and understanding of EV requirements with Panasonic's cutting-edge battery technology will result in custom cells optimized for use in EVs," JB Straubel, Tesla's chief technology officer, said in a statement.

The deal should more