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University of Washington researchers have invented a cellphone that requires no batteries — a major leap forward in moving beyond chargers, cords and dying phones. Instead, the phone harvests the few microwatts of power it requires from either ambient radio signals or light.

The team also made Skype calls using its battery-free phone, demonstrating that the prototype made of commercial, off-the-shelf components can receive and transmit speech and communicate with a base station.

Among the places expected to be most hard-hit by sea level rise in the coming century or two are the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean, ranging from sparsely developed archipelagos in Micronesia to heavily populated coastal areas on the Hawaiian Islands, such as Honolulu. 

With the introduction of CBETA, the Cornell-Brookhaven ERL Test Accelerator, Cornell University and Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists are following up on the concept of energy-recovering particle accelerators first introduced by physicist Maury Tigner at Cornell more than 50 years ago.

CBETA tests two energy-saving technologies for accelerators: energy recovery and permanent magnets. An energy recovery linac (ERL) like CBETA reclaims the energy of a used electron beam instead of dumping it after the experiment. The recovered energy is used to accelerate the next beam of particles, creating a beam of electrons that can be used for many areas of research. The beams are accelerated by Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) units, another energy-efficient technology pioneered at Cornell.

There is growing interest in developing offshore wind and wave energy facilities in the Pacific Northwest. But not much is known about the sediment and animal life along the sea floor in the region.

If it’s all in the timing, then climate change may spell problems for bees. Scientists have found that global warming may cause temporal mismatches between bees and the plant species on which they depend for food.