Optics & Photonics News

RSS

Vindicator Laser Wind Sensor from Catch the Wind Increases Wind Turbine's Energy Output

Catch the Wind Ltd. (TSX-V: CTW.S) today released the final results of its trial program with Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD). The results demonstrated that Catch the Wind's Vindicator(R) Laser Wind Sensor (LWS) increased the energy output of a turbine by an average of 12.3 percent as a result of better alignment with oncoming wind and increased gust detection. The increased energy output was achieved while the Vindicator(R) LWS controlled the turbine for only 56 percent of the time as specified by the parameters of the 30-day trial. Excluding statistically insufficient measurement data, the Vindicator(R) LWS improved energy output by more than 18 percent.

11 Dec 2009

University of California Researcher Receives Fund for Research on Light Capturing Compounds

David Bocian of the University of California, Riverside will receive more than $1 million over five years as a co-investigator in the Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center (PARC), to be headquartered at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. The center seeks to better understand natural photosynthetic systems and design more durable human-made compounds for capturing light.

11 Dec 2009

Scientists Use World's Largest Optical Telescopes to Observe Super-Massive Black Holes

An international team of scientists has observed four super-massive black holes at the center of galaxies

11 Dec 2009

Cassini's ISS Cameras Help Study More on Saturn's Moon

Extensive analyses and modeling of Cassini imaging and heat-mapping data have confirmed and extended previous ideas that migrating ice, triggered by infalling reddish dust that darkens and warms the surface, may explain the mysterious two-toned "yin-yang" appearance of Saturn's moon Iapetus. The results, published online Dec. 10 in a pair of papers in the journal Science, provide what may be the most plausible explanation to date for the moon's bizarre appearance, which has puzzled astronomers for more than 300 years.

11 Dec 2009

Multiple Mirror Telescope Helps Find That Alcor is Actually Two Stars

Alcor, 1 half of the first known binary star system, has its own surprise star companion

11 Dec 2009

GWS Technologies to Take Orders for Solar Panels from January 2010

GWS Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: GWSC), an alternative energy company developing renewable energy solutions, announced today that it will begin accepting orders for their own proprietary solar panels beginning January 1, 2010.

10 Dec 2009

Constellation Energy to Install 15.9MW PV Power System in Maryland

Constellation Energy (NYSE:CEG) today announced that it has been selected by the state of Maryland to develop an approximately 15.9 megawatt DC (13.5 MW/AC) solar photovoltaic power installation under the state’s Generating Clean Horizons initiative. This installation will represent the bulk of a 17.1 megawatt DC (14.5 MW/AC), approximately $60 million solar facility that will be constructed, owned, operated and maintained by Constellation Energy on land leased from Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md. The system is expected to be completed by December 2012 and would be the largest solar photovoltaic installation in Maryland. Only two photovoltaic systems currently in operation in the U.S. are larger.

10 Dec 2009

REC Solar to Construct Solar System in Connecticut for Department of Veterans Affairs

Fast growing REC Solar, the leading solar installer in the U.S., today announced an agreement to build a 197.4 kW solar power system on a federal facility in West Haven, CT. When completed at the end of spring in 2010, the system will be the largest solar power generator built by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in Connecticut. This system is expected to create over 6 jobs during construction.

10 Dec 2009

Researcher Develops New Gunsight Design, Opti-Sight

Associate Professor Timothy Kraft, Ph.D., has developed a new gunsight design that relies on subconscious ability. Opti-sight, a UAB-protected innovation, updates a pistol-aiming device that has remained unchanged for more than a century. Opti-sight promises to reduce the time law enforcement, professional and amateur shooters need for target practice to improve marksmanship.

10 Dec 2009

Waters Corp. Delivers First Units of SYNAPT G2 Mass Spectrometer

Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) announced today that it has shipped the first units of its ground-breaking SYNAPT(TM) G2 Mass Spectrometer, first introduced at the 2009 American Society of Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) annual conference in Philadelphia in June.

10 Dec 2009

Lumenergi Joins WattStopper to Offer Energy-Efficient Lighting Controls

Lumenergi, a premier provider of energy efficient networked lighting systems, continues to help building managers reduce energy use via a new collaboration with WattStopper, a leading manufacturer of energy-efficient lighting controls.

10 Dec 2009

NASA's Fermi Telescope Shows Brightest Galaxy Image in Gamma-Ray Sky

A galaxy located billions of light-years away is commanding the attention of NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and astronomers around the globe

10 Dec 2009

Project 1640 Scientists Spot Faint Star Near Alcor with 200-Inch Hale Telescope

Project 1640 sees the unknown using a novel technique known to Galileo

10 Dec 2009

Viewbits Unveils New HD PTZ Camera for Pro Video Users

Viewbits, the industrial cameras division of CMI, is introducing their newest high definition PTZ (pan tilt zoom) camera for pro video users. Verio HD™ is an inexpensive, 1080i and p camera that pans, tilts, and zooms on command, via a wireless remote control or an optional keyboard-joystick. It is designed for broadcast studios, distance learning, videoconferencing, houses of worship, corporate training, and medical or scientific imaging.

10 Dec 2009

USC School of Cinematic Arts Chooses Dolby 3D Digital Cinema System

Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) today announced that the University of Southern California’s (USC) School of Cinematic Arts chose Dolby® 3D and the Dolby Screen Server (DSS200) for its Frank Sinatra Hall in the Norris Theatre Complex.

10 Dec 2009