Robotics

A hybrid unicycle that can move on the ground and fly

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, can help humans to tackle a variety of real-world problems; for instance, assisting them during military operations and search and rescue missions, delivering packages ...

Energy & Green Tech

Researchers develop an oxygen-ion battery

Lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous today, but that does not mean that they are the best solution for all areas of application. TU Wien has now succeeded in developing an oxygen-ion battery that has some important advantages. ...

Energy & Green Tech

Doing the math on a solar-powered future

Physicist Anders Carlsson, at Washington University in St. Louis, and Sid Redner of the Santa Fe Institute have created a new mathematical model to describe the most reliable, efficient and cost-effective way to harness solar ...

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Energy

In physics, energy (from the Greek ἐνέργεια - energeia, "activity, operation", from ἐνεργός - energos, "active, working") is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of work that can be performed by a force, an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law. Different forms of energy include kinetic, potential, thermal, gravitational, sound, light, elastic, and electromagnetic energy. The forms of energy are often named after a related force.

Any form of energy can be transformed into another form, but the total energy always remains the same. This principle, the conservation of energy, was first postulated in the early 19th century, and applies to any isolated system. According to Noether's theorem, the conservation of energy is a consequence of the fact that the laws of physics do not change over time.

Although the total energy of a system does not change with time, its value may depend on the frame of reference. For example, a seated passenger in a moving airplane has zero kinetic energy relative to the airplane, but non-zero kinetic energy relative to the Earth.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA