Back to the RadioSpace™ home page
NewsDirect story topics:
Consumer, Business & General Interest
Current Events & Public Affairs
Entertainment & Sports
Health & Medicine
"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Hydrogen-eration"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
48 kbps |
96 kbps
(90 seconds)
-- How Will You Use This Story? --
READER SCRIPT
(DOES NOT FULLY MATCH AUDIO)
A HYDROGEN-POWERED WEED-WHACKER? THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. USING HYDROGEN TO POWER SMALL MACHINES--LIKE LAWNMOWERS, CHAINSAWS, OR WEED-TRIMMERS--JUST HASN'T BEEN PRACTICAL, BECAUSE TRADITIONAL WAYS TO REGULATE POWER OUTPUT IN A HYDROGEN FUEL-CELL WERE BIG, EXPENSIVE, AND COMPLICATED. PRINCETON RESEARCHER JAY BENZIGER AND STUDENT CLAIRE WOO FOUND, TO THEIR SURPRISE, THAT THE KEY WAS NOT TO SHRINK THE TECHNOLOGY, BUT TO RE-THINK THE TECHNOLOGY. THEIR BREAKTHROUGH DEMONSTRATED THAT FUEL-CELLS COULD WORK FOR SMALL MACHINES--AND MAY SOMEDAY REVOLUTIONIZE ALL HYDROGEN-POWERED FUEL-CELLS. IT'S A NEW PROCESS THAT CONTROLS THE AMOUNT OF HYDROGEN USED--ACCORDING TO HOW MUCH POWER IS NEEDED. THE SECRET IS THAT IT ACTUALLY USES THE WATER GENERATED AS A BY-PRODUCT, TO HELP REGULATE THE SYSTEM. BENZIGER SAYS THAT IT'S ALMOST SO SIMPLE THAT IT SHOULDN'T WORK--BUT, IT DOES. THE IDEA OF A HYDROGEN-POWERED CHAINSAW MAY SOUND LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A FUTURISTIC "B-" HORROR MOVIE. BUT, IT'S CLEAR THAT WE COULD REDUCE GREENHOUSE-GAS EMISSIONS BY SWITCHING TO A DIFFERENT KIND OF GAS, TO CUT OUR GRASS. AND, THIS NEW METHOD COULD GIVE US SOME NOVEL WAYS TO PUT THE "H" IN "HORSEPOWER". THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
