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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Invention as a combinatorial process: evidence from US patents

Invention has been commonly conceptualized as a search over a space of combinatorial possibilities. Despite the existence of a rich literature, spanning a variety of disciplines, elaborating on the recombinant nature of invention, we lack a formal and quantitative characterization of the combinatorial process underpinning inventive activity. Here, we use US patent records dating from 1790 to 2010 to formally characterize invention as a combinatorial process. To do this, we treat patented inventions as carriers of technologies and avail ourselves of the elaborate system of technology codes used by the United States Patent and Trademark Office to classify the technologies responsible for an invention's novelty. We find that the combinatorial inventive process exhibits an invariant rate of ‘exploitation’ (refinements of existing combinations of technologies) and ‘exploration’ (the development of new technological combinations). This combinatorial dynamic contrasts sharply with the creation of new technological capabilities—the building blocks to be combined—that has significantly slowed down. We also find that, notwithstanding the very reduced rate at which new technologies are introduced, the generation of novel technological combinations engenders a practically infinite space of technological configurations.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Global trend of methane abatement inventions and widening mismatch with methane emissions

Substantially reducing methane emissions is the fastest way to repress near-term warming and is an essential prerequisite for reaching the 1.5 °C target. However, knowledge about the global invention trend, sectoral and national distribution and international diffusion of methane-targeted abatement technologies (MTATs) remains limited. On the basis of patent data, we identify more than 175,000 MTAT inventions applied between 1990 and 2019 by 133 countries or dependent territories. Our results revealed that after sustained growth of more than fourfold, the number of global high-quality MTAT inventions declined by 3.5% annually from 2010 to 2019. The sectoral and national-level distributions of MTAT inventions and methane emissions are strongly mismatched. Additionally, the international diffusion of MTATs is 11.1% lower than that of overall climate change mitigation technologies and most transfers occur between developed countries or flow to China, South Korea and Brazil; however, other developing countries and the least developed countries are rarely involved.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Who Invented the Christy Gadget

The Christy Gadget, named after its principal inventor, is the informal name for the device tested at Trinity on July 16th, 1945. In late 1944, Robert Christy proposed a novel invention that altered the design of the plutonium pit in Fat Man. While scientists originally intended to use a hollow sphere of plutonium, there was a substantial risk given a number of asymmetries that resulted from implosion. Christy proposed changing the design of the plutonium core to a solid sphere of plutonium with a modulated neutron source. The new model was adopted and used in the early implosion bombs. While there is little debate about the important role that Christy played in demonstrating its feasibility as a safe design, there is a debate as to who initially proposed the idea of the Christy Device. My project this summer outlines and resolves this dispute. While Christ does deserve the majority of the credit for the invention and design, I also acknowledge the important role Rudolf Peierls and John von Neumann played in its development.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Power of Invention: National Security Science and Beyond at Los Alamos National Laboratory

According to Webster, a genius is someone who possesses uncommon powers of intellect, particularly the power of invention. Those who call Los Alamos National Laboratory their professional home have a tremendous power of invention — their genius benefits from atomic power. Nuclear weapons are the heart of the Laboratory’s origin story. It is why we are here. They are also central to the multiple innovations inspired and driven by such atomic work — in ways that might surprise you. Our search for solutions outside the realm of nuclear security is nevertheless built on the incredible innovations and challenges driven by a defining moment in our world’s history — the advent of the nuclear weapon.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2016

Inventing a Better Way to Capture the Energy of Waves

NREL's ocean energy research team's efforts to develop more robust and cost-effective wave energy converters have yielded a record of invention titled, 'Wave Energy Conversion Devices with Actuated Geometry.' This innovative wave device features a wave converter with controlled geometry that increases energy capture and prevents large waves from overloading the generator. The invention's control system actuates flaps that open and close depending on wave conditions. Better control of the wave forces acting on wave energy conversion devices provides a solution to one of wave energy's biggest challenges -- and could cut the cost of wave energy in half.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2013

NREL Invention Speeds Solar Cell Quality Testing for Industry [Fact Sheet]

A solid-state optical system, invented by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), measures solar cell quantum efficiency (QE) in less than a second, enabling a suite of new capabilities for solar cell manufacturers. QE is a measurement of how cells respond to light across the solar spectrum, but traditional methods for measuring QE had been too slow, limiting its application to small samples pulled from the production line and analyzed in laboratories. NREL's technique, commercialized by Tau Science as the FlashQE(TM) system, uses a solid-state light source, synchronized electronics, and advanced mathematical analysis to parallel-process QE data in a tiny fraction of the time required by the current method, allowing its use on every solar cell passing through a production line.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Innovation 101: The story behind the invention of DNATrax

Lawrence Livermore researcher George Farquar shares the story behind the invention of DNATrax, a cost-effective and highly efficient method to accurately trace contaminated food back to its source. Foodborne illnesses kill roughly 3,000 Americans each year and about 1 in 6 are sickened, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet most contaminated foods are never traced back to their source. That’s because existing methods to track tainted food following its supply chain from table to farm are highly inefficient, jeopardizing the health of millions and costing the food industry billions. A typical process to trace food includes interviewing consumers and suppliers and examining every detail of the supply chain, a tedious method that takes weeks at best to complete.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

NREL Invents a Superior Diagnostics Tool for Solar Cell Manufacturing (Fact Sheet)

A solid-state optical system, invented by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and commercialized by Tau Science, measures solar cell quantum efficiency (QE) in less than a second, enabling a suite of new capabilities for solar cell manufacturers. QE measurements indicate how well a solar cell converts the various wavelengths of sunlight into electricity.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

MO-F-16A-08: Have An Impact On More Patients From Your Ideas And Inventions

Purpose: To inform physicists how to obtain an FDA 510(k) clearance for the innovations they use in their facility and to make those ideas widely available to patients throughout the U.S. Methods: Give advice from 20 years experience of assisting in well over 100 successful 510(k) clearances. Results: Learn how to develop a 510(k) submission. Conclusion: Many physicists, physicians and radiation therapists have developed innovations that that are helpful to the patients in their institution. But, many of these innovations deserve to be made available to patients throughout the United States. The author, a Certified Radiological Physicist and former FDA employee, has consulted for over twenty years for inventors, start-ups and established medical device manufacturers to bring new devices to market in the U.S. and to assist them to established FDA compliant quality systems for manufacturing. In this presentation the audience will learn the important points for deciding to go forward with obtaining a Premarket Notification clearance [also known as a 510(k) clearance] to legally market a medical device in the United States. The FDA has published guidelines for submitting a 510(k) application. However, the methods used to efficiently develop the documentation for submission and to obtain clearance in the shortest possible time comes from the author's experience in assisting well over one hundred successful 510(k) clearances.Whether you want to start your own company or to market your idea to an established medical device manufacturer, the value of your innovation increases with a documented 510(k) clearance from FDA.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2010

Inventing the future of reliability: FERC's recent orders and the consolidation of reliability authority

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 established mandatory reliability standard enforcement under a system in which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Electric Reliability Organization would have their own spheres of responsibility and authority. Recent orders, however, reflect the Commission's frustration with the reliability standard drafting process and suggest that the Electric Reliability Organization's discretion is likely to receive less deference in the future. (author)

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

The woman behind the curious invention of modern software: Klára Dán von Neumann’s handwritten letters confirm her legacy

The year 1945 marked not only the birth of the atomic age, but also the birth of modern computer programming. The first fully electronic computing machine, the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer), came online in December 1945. But programming the ENIAC was an excruciatingly difficult task. Klára Dán von Neumann, who joined the Laboratory at Los Alamos after WWII, helped to revolutionize the process, creating the very first modern computer programs.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗