Summary: Due to growing populace and standard of living, many terawatts of energy will be needed in the near future. The sun is the largest source of carbon-neutral and renewable energy that we have available and it is the only source that can provide terawatts of energy without depleting rapidly or causing major environmental and climate concerns. To fulfill this role, revolutionary approaches to solar energy conversion are needed that provide energy at very high efficiency at very low...

Summary: The wind turbine drive‐train is an integral part of the turbine that converts rotational kinetic energy from the wind to electrical energy. Ensuring reliable and robust operation of the drive‐train necessitates developing an accurate dynamic response model that includes its aero‐dynamic interaction with the wind, torsional and translational responses of its mechanical components, as well as electro‐mechanical interaction at the generator. This presentation will describe a...

Il cortometraggio è stato realizzato dagli studenti della classe IV C del Liceo Scientifico “E. Majorana” di Caltagirone per la partecipazione al concorso “Scienziati in corto”, in occasione della XXII settimana della Cultura Scientifica. Il corto è centrato sul fenomeno fisico dell’effetto fotoelettrico, la cui dimostrazione valse ad Albert Einstein il premio Nobel per la Fisica nel 1921. Il video racconta di un incontro nella “fantasia” tra una studentessa ed un...

Summary: Improving energy density, power density, cycle life and safety and decreasing cost of current Li-ion batteries are highly desirable for the applications of advanced portable electronic devices, electrical tools, electrical vehicles, storage batteries for renewable energy, and stationary batteries for smart grids. Understanding lithium storage mechanism and structure-property relationship across length scales are essential for rational design of new materials. Here we report our...

Wind energy is recognized worldwide as cost-effective and environmentally friendly and is among the world's fastest-growing sources of electrical energy. Despite the amazing growth in global wind power installations in recent years, science and engineering challenges still exist. Megawatt wind turbines are large, flexible structures that operate in uncertain, time-varying wind and weather conditions and lend themselves nicely to advanced control solutions. Advanced controllers can help...

Public lecture by Peter Littlewood, Argonne National Laboratory and University of Chicago