Bio-Luminescence lamps made from dead Jellyfish

U.S. firm The Amazing Jellyfish (theamazingjellyfish.com) take the bioluminescent bodies of creatures that have died of natural causes and encase them in resin, thus preserving not just their bodies, but also their incredible glow-in-the-dark properties.

Thanks to the phosphur proteins in their bodies - part of the defence mechanism that they use to frighten predators - jellyfish absorb light naturally, and emit it with an ethereal blueish glow when under darkened conditions.

NASA Harness Microbial Fuel to Power Space Robots

A NASA-funded effort hopes to produce a prototype robot, weighing only about 2 pounds and powered by microbes within the next 10 years.

With the first year funding coming from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, scientists plan to harness microbes as a source of almost endless power for the next generation of robotic explorers, offering an alternative to space missions that rely upon solar or nuclear power.

According to researchers, such microbial fuel could power space robots indefinitely, for as long as the bacteria have the small amount of food needed to stay alive and create electricity through their chemical reactions.

"Whether you're looking at satellites or planetary explorers, to have a power system that's not reliant on the sun of the solar system, day or night cycles, and hazardous materials such as nuclear or other harsh chemicals, means you really open a lot of doors for expanding the duration of scientific missions," said Gregory Scott, a space robotics engineer at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

While the microbial fuel cells cannot power huge robots, it can slowly charge a battery until enough energy exists to power a scientific instrument or move a tiny robot, and be able to keep a small space mission going for as long as necessary.

"The bacterial colony will live as long as you give it food - in our case, sugar - or one of the other biomass fuels we're looking into. The colony will be able to survive pretty much indefinitely," Scott said.

After the researchers are able to build a working prototype robot, they have to study the challenges of sending microbes on missions headed for deep space, asteroids or distant planets, including the question of protecting extraterrestrial surfaces from contamination.

"There are planetary protection concerns, as well as concerns about protecting the microbes themselves from radiation," Scott said.

"Sometime down the road we also have to consider whether the microbes we're looking at are most effective for radiation environments or extreme temperatures."

NASA: OMEGA Project an algae photo-bioreactor

As a clean energy alternative, NASA invented an algae photo-bioreactor that grows algae in municipal wastewater to produce biofuel and a variety of other products. The NASA bioreactor is an Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae (OMEGA), which won't compete with agriculture for land, fertilizer, or freshwater.

NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., licensed the patent-pending algae photo-bioreactor to Algae Systems, LLC, Carson City, Nev., which plans to develop and pilot the technology in Tampa Bay, Fla. The company plans to refine and integrate the NASA technology into biorefineries to produce renewable energy products, including diesel and jet fuel.

"NASA has a long history of developing very successful energy conversion devices and novel life support systems," said Lisa Lockyer, deputy director of the New Ventures and Communication Directorate at NASA Ames. "NASA is excited to support the commercialization of an algae bioreactor with potential for providing renewable energy here on Earth."

The OMEGA system consists of large plastic bags with inserts of forward-osmosis membranes that grow freshwater algae in processed wastewater by photosynthesis. Using energy from the sun, the algae absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and nutrients from the wastewater to produce biomass and oxygen.

As the algae grow, the nutrients are contained in the enclosures, while the cleansed freshwater is released into the surrounding ocean through the forward-osmosis membranes.

"The OMEGA technology has transformational powers. It can convert sewage and carbon dioxide into abundant and inexpensive fuels," said Matthew Atwood, president and founder of Algae Systems. "The technology is simple and scalable enough to create an inexpensive, local energy supply that also creates jobs to sustain it."

When deployed in contaminated and "dead zone" coastal areas, this system may help remediate these zones by removing and utilizing the nutrients that cause them. The forward-osmosis membranes use relatively small amounts of external energy compared to the conventional methods of harvesting algae, which have an energy intensive de-watering process.

Potential benefits include oil production from the harvested algae, and conversion of municipal wastewater into clean water before it is released into the ocean. After the oil is extracted from the algae, the algal remains can be used to make fertilizer, animal feed, cosmetics, or other valuable products.

This successful spinoff of NASA-derived technology will help support the commercial development of a new algae-based biofuels industry and wastewater treatment.

Controversial Climate Change report criticised

A British study suggests Earth's ecosystems and oceans have a much greater capacity to absorb carbon dioxide than has been previously estimated.

The study, led by researcher Wolfgang Knorr at the University of Bristol, found the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of carbon dioxide has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of carbon dioxide having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to the current 35 billion tons a year.

Knorr said his results run contrary to a significant body of recent research that suggests the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans to absorb CO2 should start to diminish as CO2 emissions increase, allowing greenhouse gas levels to skyrocket.

He said the strength of his research is that it rests solely on measurements and statistical data, and does not rely on computations with complex climate models.

However, Knorr urges caution.

"Like all studies of this kind, there are uncertainties in the data, so rather than relying on nature to provide a free service, soaking up our waste carbon, we need to ascertain why the proportion being absorbed has not changed."

The study appears in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Airbus Claim Alternative fuels are the future

Alternative fuels could power 15 percent of global air traffic by 2020 and 30 percent by 2030, European aircraft-maker Airbus said at the Dubai Airshow on Tuesday.

"If we get the right sources, it is possible that 15 percent of the world's jet fuel will come from sustainable sources by 2020, and 30 percent will come from sustainable sources by 2030," said Ross Walker, engineering programme manager for alternative fuels at Airbus.

"The challenge is finding sustainable feedstocks" that do not take land and water used for food production, he said.

Walker said the alternative or sustainable fuels he was referring to were based on gas or biomass and converted to liquid.

He described algae, which can be grown in salt water, as a promising source of biomass for alternative fuels. "We believe this is the golden chalice we've been looking for."

"If an area the size of the United Arab Emirates were planted with algae, it could produce enough bio jet fuel to support the world's civil aviation industry," he said.

Airbus was focusing on "drop-in fuels," or fuels that can be used in existing aircraft without modifications, he said.

Walker pointed out that the whole aircraft manufacturing industry, including engine and airframe manufacturers, were collaborating on alternative fuel projects.

Airbus conducted its first test of an aircraft using a 50-50 mix of GTL and kerosene in one engine in 2008, while a Qatar Airways Airbus A340 flew from London to Qatar burning a GTL-kerosene mix in all four engines last month.

Walker said Airbus hopes to conduct a test flight of an A320 burning a 50-50 BTL-kerosene mixture some time next year.

Robotic octopus muscle power!