UNIKENZY ENGINEERING

Researchers have developed a new heat engine with no moving parts Combining elements of a heat engine with photovoltaic cells might be the ticket to replacing traditional steam engines.       A thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell. Felice Frankel/MIT Researchers from the  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  and the National Energy Laboratory (NREL) have just released information on a new type of heat engine with no moving parts. The engine is roughly 40% efficient, and could one day replace conventional steam turbines in the future.  Their results have just been published in the  journal  Nature .  Called a  thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell , the new engine shares some common characteristics with traditional photovoltaic cells, but it captures high-energy photons from a white-hot source to generate electricity. This new engine is able to generate power from temperatures between 3,400 and 4,300 degrees Fahrenheit (1,900 - 2,400 degrees Celsius). The future plan for the heat engine is to

ENGINEER BORN WITH ONE HAND MAKES A PROSTHETIC ONE OUT OF PLASTIC BOTTLES FOR $800. The Force Was Strong In Him .     Enzo Romero at his TED Talk. Ted Fellows/Instagram One of Enzo Romero's favorite activities is playing the guitar, which he effortlessly does with his bright blue hand. Initially, it used to hurt, as he used his handless right arm to press down on chords. But now, with fingers on the end, he can play music painlessly. Why this crucial building block of protein is disappearing from Earth's soil It all began with 'The Empire Strikes Back', the 1980 epic space movie. Towards the end of the movie, Luke Skywalker loses his right hand, in a duel with Vader. But, he gets outfitted with a prosthetic L-hand 980, one that could not only move but feel. The idea brought hope to Romero, who lived his life riding his bike or playing basketball using only his left hand. But he had numerous questions that could only be answered by engineering. Necessity, the

THE NEW SOFTWARE THAT COULD HELP DIESEL ENGINES RUN ON ALTERNATIVE FUELS A researcher finds a way to make diesel engines far less polluting.     New software could help diesel engines run on alternative fuels A gas pump with an out of service bag over the handle.dial-a-view/iStock An Associate Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology has developed a clever computer model that could allow diesel engines to run on alternative fuels. To take advantage of this, diesel-engined vehicles would only need to upgrade their suite of software, where applicable.  The Associate Professor, Carrie Hall, utilized a combination of machine learning (ML) and computer modeling to achieve the feat. This development is a welcome one in order to accelerate our transition away from heavily polluting fuels like diesel.  It is hoped that this development will greatly improve the sustainability of larger diesel-engined vehicles, like trucks, that are heavily reliant on diesel due to the large distances t