Showing 20 articles starting at article 541
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Categories: Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Physics: General
Published Nanofluidic device generates power with saltwater
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Original source 
There is a largely untapped energy source along the world's coastlines: the difference in salinity between seawater and freshwater. A new nanodevice can harness this difference to generate power.
Published Shh! Quiet cables set to help reveal rare physics events
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Newly developed ultra-low radiation cables reduce background noise for neutrino and dark matter detectors.
Published No shortcuts: New approach may help extract more heat from geothermal reservoirs
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Geothermal heat offers a promising source of renewable energy with almost zero emissions, but it remains a relatively expensive option to generate electricity. A new technique may help prevent 'short-circuits' that can cause geothermal power plants to halt production, potentially improving the efficiency of geothermal power, the researchers said.
Published One-atom-thick ribbons could improve batteries, solar cells and sensors
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Researchers created nanoribbons made of phosphorus and tiny amounts of arsenic, which they found were able to conduct electricity at temperatures above -140 degrees Celsius, while retaining the highly useful properties of the phosphorus-only ribbons.
Published Stabilizing precipitate growth at grain boundaries in alloys
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Materials are often considered to be one phase, but many engineering materials contain two or more phases, improving their properties and performance. These two-phase materials have inclusions, called precipitates, embedded in the microstructure. Alloys, a combination of two or more types of metals, are used in many applications, like turbines for jet engines and light-weight alloys for automotive applications, because they have very good mechanical properties due to those embedded precipitates. The average precipitate size, however, tends to increase over time-in a process called coarsening-which results in a degradation of performance for microstructures with nanoscale precipitates.
Published Chameleon-inspired coating could cool and warm buildings through the seasons
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As summer turns to fall, many people will be turning off the air conditioning and firing up heaters instead. But traditional heating and cooling systems are energy intensive, and because they typically run on fossil fuels, they aren't sustainable. Now, by mimicking a desert-dwelling chameleon, a team has developed an energy-efficient, cost-effective coating. The material could keep buildings cool in the summers -- or warm in the winters -- without additional energy.
Published New Si-based photocatalyst enables efficient solar-driven hydrogen production and biomass refinery
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A research team has achieved a significant breakthrough in the development of a hybrid silicon photocatalyst.
Published Imaging the smallest atoms provides insights into an enzyme's unusual biochemistry
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A team has used neutron crystallography to image all of the atoms in a radical intermediate of a copper amine oxidase enzyme. They disclosed previously unknown details, such as precise conformational changes, that help to explain the enzyme's biochemistry. This work might help researchers engineer enzymes that facilitate unusual chemistry or are highly efficient at room temperature that are useful in chemical industry.
Published Electrons take flight at the nanoscale
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A study showing how electrons flow around sharp bends, such as those found in integrated circuits, has the potential to improve how these circuits, commonly used in electronic and optoelectronic devices, are designed.
Published Machine learning models can produce reliable results even with limited training data
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Researchers have determined how to build reliable machine learning models that can understand complex equations in real-world situations while using far less training data than is normally expected.
Published Engineers grow full wafers of high-performing 2D semiconductor that integrates with state-of-the-art chips
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Researchers have grown a high-performing 2D semiconductor to a full-size, industrial-scale wafer. In addition, the semiconductor material, indium selenide (InSe), can be deposited at temperatures low enough to integrate with a silicon chip.
Published Step change in upconversion the key to clean water, green energy and futuristic medicine
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Achieving photochemical upconversion in a solid state is a step closer to reality, thanks to a new technique that could unlock vital innovations in renewable energy, water purification and advanced healthcare.
Published New clues to the nature of elusive dark matter
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A team of international researchers has uncovered further clues in the quest for insights into the nature of dark matter. The key to understanding this mystery could lie with the dark photon, a theoretical massive particle that may serve as a portal between the dark sector of particles and regular matter.
Published Groundbreaking research shows that the limits of nuclear stability change in stellar environments where temperatures reach billions of degrees Celsius
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Original source 
New research is challenging the scientific status quo on the limits of the nuclear chart in hot stellar environments where temperatures reach billions of degrees Celsius.
Published Atomic layer deposition route to scalable, electronic-grade van der Waals Te thin films
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A research team has made a significant breakthrough in thin film deposition technology.
Published Carbon atoms coming together in space
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Original source 
Lab-based studies reveal how carbon atoms diffuse on the surface of interstellar ice grains to form complex organic compounds, crucial to reveal the chemical complexity in the universe.
Published Researchers make strides in harnessing low-grade heat for efficient energy conversion
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A research team has achieved significant breakthroughs in harnessing low-grade heat sources (<100 °C) for efficient energy conversion.
Published Researchers detail how disorder alters quantum spin liquids, forming a new phase of matter
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Physicists begin to shed light on one of the most important questions regarding quantum spin liquids, and they do so by introducing a new phase of matter.
Published Hot summer air turns into drinking water with new gel device
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Researchers have focused on the moisture present in the air as a potential source of drinking water for drought-stressed populations. They reached a significant breakthrough in their efforts to create drinkable water out of thin air: a molecularly engineered hydrogel that can create clean water using just the energy from sunlight.
Published You can leave your gloves on: New material burns viruses, safe for skin
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A new material that packs deadly heat for viruses on its outer surface while staying cool on the reverse side could be used to make sustainable, multiuse personal protective equipment.