Chemistry: Biochemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

'Energy droughts' in wind and solar can last nearly a week      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Understanding the risk of compound energy droughts -- times when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow -- will help grid planners understand where energy storage is needed most.

Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

Chance twists ordered carbon nanotubes into 'tornado films'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have developed two new methods to create ordered carbon nanotube films with either a left- or right-handed chiral pattern.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Polyethylene waste could be a thing of the past      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Experts have developed a way of using polyethylene waste (PE) as a feedstock and converted it into valuable chemicals, via light-driven photocatalysis. PE is the most widely used plastic in the world including for daily food packaging, shopping bags and reagent bottles, and the researchers say that while recycling of PE is still in early development, it could be an untapped resource for re-use.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

Polaritons open up a new lane on the semiconductor highway      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

On the highway of heat transfer, thermal energy is moved by way of quantum particles called phonons. But at the nanoscale of today's most cutting-edge semiconductors, those phonons don't remove enough heat. That's why researchers are focused on opening a new nanoscale lane on the heat transfer highway by using hybrid quasiparticles called 'polaritons.'

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Bowtie resonators that build themselves bridge the gap between nanoscopic and macroscopic      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Two nanotechnology approaches converge by employing a new generation of fabrication technology. It combines the scalability of semiconductor technology with the atomic dimensions enabled by self-assembly.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

New implants linked to less infection and better recovery from orthopedic surgery      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Superior knee and hip replacements are a step closer after researchers further test and develop a new orthopedic implant coating which has the strong ability to ward off infection -- as well as stimulate bone growth.   The technology consists of novel Silver-Gallium (Ag-Ga) nano-amalgamated particles that can be easily applied to medical device surfaces.  

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Breakthroughs in nanosized contrast agents and drug carriers through self-folding molecules      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Self-folding polymers containing gadolinium forming nanosized complexes could be the key to enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and next-generation drug delivery. Thanks to their small size, low toxicity, and good tumor accumulation and penetration, these complexes represent a leap forward in contrast agents for cancer diagnosis, as well as neutron capture radiotherapy.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Energy: Technology Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Quantum physics: Superconducting Nanowires Detect Single Protein Ions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international research team has achieved a breakthrough in the detection of protein ions: Due to their high energy sensitivity, superconducting nanowire detectors achieve almost 100% quantum efficiency and exceed the detection efficiency of conventional ion detectors at low energies by a factor of up to a 1,000. In contrast to conventional detectors, they can also distinguish macromolecules by their impact energy. This allows for more sensitive detection of proteins and it provides additional information in mass spectrometry.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Photonic chip that 'fits together like Lego' opens door to semiconductor industry      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new semiconductor architecture integrates traditional electronics with photonic, or light, components could have application in advanced radar, satellites, wireless networks and 6G telecommunications. And it provides a pathway for a local semiconductor industry.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Engineering: Nanotechnology Environmental: General Physics: General
Published

Harvesting more solar energy with supercrystals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Hydrogen is a building block for the energy transition. To obtain it with the help of solar energy, researchers have developed new high-performance nanostructures. The material holds a world record for green hydrogen production with sunlight.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General
Published

Control over friction, from small to large scales      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Friction is hard to predict and control, especially since surfaces that come in contact are rarely perfectly flat. New experiments demonstrate that the amount of friction between two silicon surfaces, even at large scales, is determined by the forming and rupturing of microscopic chemical bonds between them. This makes it possible to control the amount of friction using surface chemistry techniques.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General
Published

Smart microgrids can restore power more efficiently and reliably in an outage      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new AI model that optimizes the use of renewables and other energy sources outperforms traditional power restoration techniques for islanded microgrids, a new paper shows. 

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Batteries Environmental: Water
Published

Promising salt for heat storage      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Salt batteries can store summer heat to be used in winter, but which salt works best for the purpose?

Chemistry: Biochemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Engineering: Robotics Research Environmental: General Physics: Optics
Published

AI for perovskite solar cells: Key to better manufacturing      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Tandem solar cells based on perovskite semiconductors convert sunlight to electricity more efficiently than conventional silicon solar cells. In order to make this technology ready for the market, further improvements with regard to stability and manufacturing processes are required. Researchers have succeeded in finding a way to predict the quality of the perovskite layers and consequently that of the resulting solar cells: Assisted by Machine Learning and new methods in Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is possible assess their quality from variations in light emission already in the manufacturing process.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Gold now has a golden future in revolutionizing wearable devices      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have pioneered a novel approach to develop intelligent healthcare sensors using various gold nanowires.  

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: General Engineering: Nanotechnology Mathematics: General Mathematics: Modeling Physics: General
Published

New computer code for mechanics of tissues and cells in three dimensions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Biological materials are made of individual components, including tiny motors that convert fuel into motion. This creates patterns of movement, and the material shapes itself with coherent flows by constant consumption of energy. Such continuously driven materials are called 'active matter'. The mechanics of cells and tissues can be described by active matter theory, a scientific framework to understand shape, flows, and form of living materials. The active matter theory consists of many challenging mathematical equations. Scientists have now developed an algorithm, implemented in an open-source supercomputer code, that can for the first time solve the equations of active matter theory in realistic scenarios. These solutions bring us a big step closer to solving the century-old riddle of how cells and tissues attain their shape and to designing artificial biological machines.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Hydrogen fuel can be a competitive alternative to gasoline and diesel today      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Energy researchers posit hydrogen fuel can potentially be a cost-competitive and environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline and diesel, and that supplying hydrogen for transportation in the greater Houston area can be profitable today.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

No one-size-fits-all solution for the net-zero grid      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As power generation from sources like solar and wind increases, along with the introduction of devices such as heat pumps and batteries, a new optimization tool will help the UK plan for a greener electricity network.   The researchers developed an algorithm to model how these smaller networks distributed electricity -- factoring in how local grids could become unbalanced by adding too many heat pumps in a single area or generating more electricity than the grid could accept.