A collaboration between Lunar Energy and Korean Midland Power Co (KOMIPO), and would create a colossal 300-turbine field in the Wando Hoenggan Water Way off the South Korean coast by 2015, providing 300MW of renewable energy, enough to power 200,000 homes.

In a landmark agreement signed by the Lunar Energy, Britain’s leading tidal power company, and Korean Midland Power Co (KOMIPO), the scheme will harness underwater turbines that experts say could make the proposed £15 billion Severn Barrage obsolete. The £500 million scheme will use power from fast-moving tidal streams, caused by rising and falling tides, to turn a field of 300 60ft-high tidal turbines on the sea floor.

60ft-high tidal turbines will be positioned in deep ocean water, each measuring 11.5 meters in diameter, with a 2,500 ton frame containing a pump, generator, motor and electronics. The research and feasibility study will be completed by July 2008; and 1MW pilot plant would be installed by March 2009 to evaluate the environmental impact before the full-blown project is allowed. The ecological impacts of this scheme are expected to be less than tidal barrages, which heavily alter the existing ecosystems, destroy bird habitats, and hinder the passage of migratory fish such as salmon, shad and eels.

KOMIPO

LG Display has announced its development of a newspaper-size flexible e-paper. The 19-inch wide (250x400mm) flexible e-paper is almost as big as a page of A3 sized newspaper. The product is optimized for an e-newspaper and able to convey the feeling of reading an actual newspaper. Additionally, as the product measures 0.3 millimeters thin, the e-paper weighs just 130 grams despite its 19-inch size.

LG Display arranged TFT on metal foil rather than glass substrate, allowing the e-paper display to recover its original shape after being bent. The use of a metal foil substrate makes the e-paper both flexible and durable while maintaining display qualities. In particular, LG Display applied GIP (gate-in-panel) technology which integrates the gate driver IC onto the panel. This improves its flexibility by removing driver ICs which are attached to the side of panel and hinder the bending of the display.

CTO and executive VP of LG Display, In Jae Chung said, "Our development of the world's largest flexible display has opened up a new market in the next-generation display sector of e-paper. As the e-paper market is growing at a rapid pace, LG Display will continue to deliver new value to customers and the market through industry-leading technologies and differentiated products."

Meanwhile LG Display plans to launch mass production of an 11.5-inch flexible e-paper display in the first half of 2010.

LG Display cited DisplaySearch saying that the e-book market will grow from approximately US$370 million in 2009 to US$1.2 billion in 2011 and to US$1.73 billion in 2015.

The film-like electrodes taped to this person's arm transmit electromagnetic waves through their skin

Human skin is apparently a very energy-efficient conduit for transmitting data. A recent experiment achieved a rate of 10 megabits per second, which may put my Internet connection to shame. The experiment used small, flexible electrodes and took place at Korea University in Seoul, New Scientist reports.

The finding may lead to a new generation of medical devices that can monitor blood sugar or electrical activity in the heart. Such devices cut energy needs for a monitoring network by about 90 percent compared to wireless devices running on batteries.

South Korean researchers placed electrodes about 12 inches (30 centimeters) apart on a person's arm, and found that the low-frequency electromagnetic waves travel easily through the skin without any outside interference.

This may not seem all that surprising coming from South Korea, known as perhaps one of the most wired places on Earth for Internet. But we can't help but wonder if the researchers hadn't been watching some Battlestar Galactica goodness, given the tendency for a certain Cylon (played by Grace Park) to plug data cables into her arm for a bit of computer-on-computer consultation -- not that we're talking about brains communicating directly with devices just yet.

Korea University







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