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Highlighting novel material advances in wind energy
Don Rosato ManufacturingWind energy provides significant growth opportunities for advanced composite resin and reinforcement materials. Wind energy developments hold much promise to help meet the growing global energy demand, and innovations in plastics and composites will play a key role.
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A wave of technology will soon crash upon the auto industry
Ryan Clark Transportation Technology & AutomotiveThe closer science fiction-borne concepts come to reality, the more individuals within the car industry — from collision and repair technicians to automotive salespeople — will need to be aware of the numerous changes to every aspect of the automotive world.
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Market and technology trends driving wind energy forward
Don Rosato EngineeringAmong the various sources of alternative energy, wind has the highest rate of return and is attracting new "players" into the energy sector, which is a key wind-energy market driver.
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Electronic computer blood mimics the human brain
Lauren Swan Science & TechnologyIn October of 2013, IBM unveiled a prototype of a new computer powered by blood — electronic blood. Based off the human brain, researchers theorized they could create a charged fluid that would run through computers supplying power while removing heat.
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New corrosion technology could save time, money and lives
Curtis Fease EngineeringThe current method of detecting corrosion in underground pipes can be quite expensive, and in reality, a person would be hard-pressed to even refer to these methods as "technology." Present corrosion detection methods usually only allow corrosion problems to be discerned after a pipe wall's thickness has suffered 30 percent damage.
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Can BP redeem itself with a second chance in the Gulf of Mexico?
Lucy Wallwork Natural ResourcesIn March, the ban imposed on BP and its subsidiaries on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico was lifted for the first time since the disastrous Deepwater Horizon blowout flooded U.S. waters with 4.9 million barrels of crude in April 2010.
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MAC Directive encounters the French resistance
Andrew Gaved Transportation Technology & AutomotiveOnly a few short weeks ago, I rashly announced that the protracted arguments over the European Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC) Directive had been pretty much settled. I am afraid I might have underestimated the stubbornness of the French.
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Automotive lightweighting applications — the path ahead
Don Rosato ManufacturingEvery car model that is launched in the coming years is expected to include lightweighting measures. Currently, 15 percent of the average car's total weight (360 pounds) is plastic material, and the use of plastics is accelerating.
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Has US oil consumption decreased because of peak oil?
Stefanie Heerwig Natural ResourcesSince 2008, U.S. oil consumption has declined by more than 20 percent, giving peak-oil theorists their confirmation — world crude oil production is decreasing. And no matter how much U.S. production increases, everyone will feel the squeeze in the face of rising international oil prices.
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Data centers offer huge potential for cooling industry
Andrew Gaved ManufacturingThe data center sector offers a fantastic challenge for the cooling industry. On the one hand, it is a rapidly-growing sector that has an intense demand for cooling solutions. One oft-quoted estimate by Oracle in 2012 suggests that the volume of data being generated could grow at 40 percent a year to reach 45 zetabyes by 2020.
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