Boys who email ‘brighter’

CURTIN UNIVERSITY

“So when we say that children who use the internet under certain circumstances are more popular – that’s true.” Image: RichVintage/iStockphoto Surveyed boys who used email at home were brighter and more popular than boys who did not – according to a recent study by an educational psychologist from Curtin University. The study by School of Education Senior Lecturer Genevieve Johnson analysed responses by 51 boys and 44 girls at a Canadian primary school. Dr Johnson likened the situation of boys who did not use email to that of boys from a generation or two before who did not watch TV. “Think back to when you were a little kid if one of your friends didn’t have a lunch box with the latest cartoon characters on it – because they didn’t watch TV – they were almost socially isolated because they didn’t know what was going on,” Dr Johnson told Curtin News. “So when we say that children who use the internet under certain circumstances are more popular – that’s true.” The girls surveyed by Dr Johnson were more likely than the boys to use email at home, but at school the girls and boys reported very similar use. The similarity between boys’ and girls’ email use suggested internet teaching at school may be closing the technology gender gap. It was considered likely that the gap was closing not because of decreased use by boys, but because of greater use by girls. Dr Johnson has completed many studies on how communications technologies affect the development of children. She said that throughout history parents and teachers had always been wary of how children would be affected by new technologies. “We’ve got this impression that the internet, including internet games, is something bad,” she told Curtin News. “This is totally inconsistent with the vast majority of my research. “I cannot say that every single online application is associated with positive developmental outcomes – but most are.” Dr Johnson said the same conclusion was broadly applicable to other communications technologies. “Any technology is going to have advantages and disadvantages in terms of children’s development,” she said. “To immediately assume that technologies like texting, like the internet, like video games, are a bad thing for children is so naive. “There’s much more evidence to suggest that technology can be quite a good thing for children.” Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Power cells from cheap silicon

NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

"The new thin-film silicon solar cells are designed to be made from cheaper, low grade silicon." Image: aprott/iStockphoto Researchers in Singapore have exploited advanced nanostructure technology to make a highly efficient and yet cheaper silicon solar cell. With this development, the researchers hope that the cost of solar energy can be halved. Developed jointly by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics (IME), the new thin-film silicon solar cells are designed to be made from cheaper, low grade silicon. However it is able to generate electricity currents close to that produced by traditional solar cells made from costly, high quality silicon. The new NTU-A*STAR nano-structured solar cells can produce a current of (34.3mA/cm2) – a world record for a silicon solar cell of its kind. This is made possible by creating a unique texture using nanostructures – which is thousands of times smaller than human hair – on the surface of the solar cell. The resulting electricity current output is close to those of traditional cells (40mA/cm2). Conventional thin film solar cells usually produce about half of the current that traditional cells produce. Adoption of solar energy around the world is hindered by the high cost of traditional solar panels, partially due to it being made from high grade crystalline bulk silicon. Using low-grade amorphous (shapeless) silicon thin film that has no texture – which is over 100 times thinner – addresses the material cost issue, but it is not as effective in converting sunlight to electricity, thus producing less energy. The newly developed nanostructure method, which creates a unique texture on the surface of amorphous silicon, improves the Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) of the thin film silicon cell and so increases the energy output. The lead of the project from IME, Dr Navab Singh, Senior Scientist of IME’s NanoElectronics Programme, said: “To mitigate against reduced light absorption and carrier recombination in the amorphous silicon thin film cells, we designed and fabricated the novel nanostructures on silicon surface. The sole application of IME’s surface texturing strategy achieved a record high of short circuit current density with 5.26% PCE.” “The cell level power conversion efficiencies of bulk crystalline Si solar cells are 20 – 25 per cent. Given that short circuit current density is directly proportional to PCE, it is conceivable that subsequent efforts to improve fill factor and open circuit voltage would boost the final PCE of the silicon thin film solar cells greatly to match that of bulk Si solar cells. Our future research efforts will explore additional light trapping strategies such as plasmonics,” continued Dr Singh. Professor Cheng Tee Hiang, Chair of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, said improving the efficiency of low-cost solar cells is critical in encouraging adoption of solar energy around the world. “Today’s world is faced with several challenges, which include the depletion of fossil fuels, increased cost of such fuels and a growing carbon footprint. At NTU, we are committed to develop the next generation of solar cells which are cheap, efficient and easy to manufacture, so as to enable solar energy to play a bigger role as a renewable resource.” Sustainability is one of NTU’s Five Peaks of Excellence which the university aims to make its mark globally under NTU 2015 five year strategic plan. The other four peaks include future healthcare, new media, the best of the East and West, and innovation. Professor Dim-Lee Kwong, Executive Director of IME, said, “The demand for thin film solar cells are expected to double by 2013. IME’s research efforts in this area are congruent with the world-wide movement towards renewable pro-environment and cost-viable energy solutions.” Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Boys who email ‘brighter’

CURTIN UNIVERSITY

“So when we say that children who use the internet under certain circumstances are more popular – that’s true.” Image: RichVintage/iStockphoto Surveyed boys who used email at home were brighter and more popular than boys who did not – according to a recent study by an educational psychologist from Curtin University. The study by School of Education Senior Lecturer Genevieve Johnson analysed responses by 51 boys and 44 girls at a Canadian primary school. Dr Johnson likened the situation of boys who did not use email to that of boys from a generation or two before who did not watch TV. “Think back to when you were a little kid if one of your friends didn’t have a lunch box with the latest cartoon characters on it – because they didn’t watch TV – they were almost socially isolated because they didn’t know what was going on,” Dr Johnson told Curtin News. “So when we say that children who use the internet under certain circumstances are more popular – that’s true.” The girls surveyed by Dr Johnson were more likely than the boys to use email at home, but at school the girls and boys reported very similar use. The similarity between boys’ and girls’ email use suggested internet teaching at school may be closing the technology gender gap. It was considered likely that the gap was closing not because of decreased use by boys, but because of greater use by girls. Dr Johnson has completed many studies on how communications technologies affect the development of children. She said that throughout history parents and teachers had always been wary of how children would be affected by new technologies. “We’ve got this impression that the internet, including internet games, is something bad,” she told Curtin News. “This is totally inconsistent with the vast majority of my research. “I cannot say that every single online application is associated with positive developmental outcomes – but most are.” Dr Johnson said the same conclusion was broadly applicable to other communications technologies. “Any technology is going to have advantages and disadvantages in terms of children’s development,” she said. “To immediately assume that technologies like texting, like the internet, like video games, are a bad thing for children is so naive. “There’s much more evidence to suggest that technology can be quite a good thing for children.” Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.