Martin Grolms

Almost 100 years ago, the two Japanese scientists Hidetsugu Yagi and Shintaro Uda invented a directional antenna for receiving or transmitting electromagnetic waves. Characteristic of the Yagi-Uda antenna is a dipole, which is a single transmitter or receiver element that … Weiterlesen …

Global warming is an increasingly pressing problem, as demonstrated by the current blazing fires in Australia, which began earlier than usual and are the biggest we have ever seen. To tackle this problem, researchers around the world are looking for … Weiterlesen …

Organic solar cells usually consist of different organic components, possessing the necessary semiconductor properties. In contrast to conventionally used silicon, which is manufactured using energy-intensive melting processes, organic materials are relatively inexpensive due to lower costs of production and material, … Weiterlesen …

Although fish leather is part of an ancient tradition, especially in East Asia, it has only recently been rediscovered. The advantage of this material is that its mechanical properties are almost identical to those of conventional leather, but the production process … Weiterlesen …

When the volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, erupted in Iceland in 2010, it paralyzed air traffic in large parts of Europe. Volcanoes pose a threat to aircrafts as ash, which commonly contains calcium magnesium aluminum silicates (CMAS), causes significant damage to turbines. Similarly, … Weiterlesen …

The highest existing wooden tower is the 118m (387ft) tall Gliwice transmitter tower in Poland, built in 1935. Now, two companies want to top that. The Swedish energy provider Varberg Energi intends to buy Modvion’s first commercial scale wind turbine tower, 150m … Weiterlesen …

There are three classical states of aggregation—solid, liquid, and gas—but in-between states exist. For example, neighboring molecules in liquid crystals are aligned as in regular crystal grids, but the material is still liquid. A well-known application of liquid crystals is … Weiterlesen …

The diving bell spider (a.k.a. water spider) is the only species of spider that lives almost entirely underwater. Like other spiders, it breathes air, but it has a neat trick: when submerged in water, an air bubble is trapped by … Weiterlesen …

Cruise ships are currently under criticism as these large, floating cities require several tons of heavy oil each day. Heavy oil contains 3500 times more sulfur than is permitted on Europe’s roads and CO2 and NOx emissions as well as fine dust … Weiterlesen …

Orkney is an archipelago in the North of Scotland and it is here that the company Orbital Marine Power will install its upcoming O2 2MW floating tidal turbine. It will be the world’s most powerful tidal turbine when it enters operation at … Weiterlesen …