Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry
Published

Advanced electrode to help remediation of stubborn new 'forever chemicals'      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As new environmental regulations are rolling out to mitigate the industry-retired long-chain chemicals known as PFAS in drinking water, there are concerns regarding a new breed of 'forever chemicals' called short-chain PFAS. Research is now helping shift the focus to include mitigation of the chemicals -- which researchers say are just as persistent as, more mobile and harder to remove from the environment than their long-chain counterparts.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Graphene Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Nanophysics: The right twist      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Stacked layers of ultrathin semiconductor materials feature phenomena that can be exploited for novel applications. Physicists have studied effects that emerge by giving two layers a slight twist.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Offbeat: General Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound Physics: Optics
Published

What do the elements sound like?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In chemistry, we have He, Fe and Ca -- but what about do, re and mi? Using a technique called data sonification, a recent college graduate has converted the visible light given off by each of the elements into soundwaves. The notes produced for each element are unique, complex mixtures and are the first step toward an interactive, musical periodic table.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Colorful films could help buildings, cars keep their cool      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The cold blast of an air conditioner can be a relief as temperatures soar, but 'A/C' units require large amounts of energy and can leak greenhouse gases. Today, scientists report an eco-friendly alternative -- a plant-based film that cools when exposed to sunlight and comes in many textures and bright, iridescent colors. The material could someday keep buildings, cars and other structures cool without requiring power.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Physics: Optics
Published

Looking from different perspectives! Proper electronic structure of near-infrared absorbing functional dyes discovered      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A research group has discovered that near-infrared absorbing dyes, which had previously been considered to have closed-shell electronic structures, have an intermediate electronic structure, between closed- and open-shell structures. They also found that as the wavelength of near-infrared light that can be absorbed becomes longer the contribution of open-shell forms increases within the dye. These newly discovered characteristics are expected to be utilized to develop new near-infrared absorbing dyes that can absorb longer wavelength near-infrared light.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geology
Published

Surprise effect: Methane cools even as it heats      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Most climate models do not yet account for a recent discovery: methane traps a great deal of heat in Earth's atmosphere, but also creates cooling clouds that offset 30% of the heat.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

What really matters in multi-story building design?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The impact of multi-story building design considerations on embodied carbon emissions, cost, and operational energy has been revealed.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Closed loop for circular economy: New polymer recycling strategy ensures both high stability and complete recyclability      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Large amounts of plastic waste are incinerated or deposited in landfills. This degrades the environment and depletes valuable resources. In this light, recycling plastics such as polymers is promising. However, recycling diminishes their quality. Recently, researchers have proposed a 'closed-loop' recycling process based on polymer microparticles. It produces fully recyclable polymer films with high mechanical stability and fracture energy, which they retain upon recycling.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Physics: General Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

AI finds the first stars were not alone      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Machine learning and state-of-the-art supernova nucleosynthesis has helped researchers find that the majority of observed second-generation stars in the universe were enriched by multiple supernovae.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Thermodynamics Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Energy: Technology Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Robot caterpillar demonstrates new approach to locomotion for soft robotics      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have demonstrated a caterpillar-like soft robot that can move forward, backward and dip under narrow spaces. The caterpillar-bot's movement is driven by a novel pattern of silver nanowires that use heat to control the way the robot bends, allowing users to steer the robot in either direction.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Photosynthesis 'hack' could lead to new ways of generating renewable energy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have 'hacked' the earliest stages of photosynthesis, the natural machine that powers the vast majority of life on Earth, and discovered new ways to extract energy from the process, a finding that could lead to new ways of generating clean fuel and renewable energy.

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

Semiconductor lattice marries electrons and magnetic moments      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A model system created by stacking a pair of monolayer semiconductors is giving physicists a simpler way to study confounding quantum behavior, from heavy fermions to exotic quantum phase transitions.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Graphene Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

New simulation reveals secrets of exotic form of electrons called polarons      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Conditions mapped for the first time of polaron characteristics in 2D materials. TACC's Frontera supercomputer generated quantum mechanical calculations on hexagonal boron nitride system of 30,000 atoms.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Technology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Physics: Optics
Published

Synthesis gas and battery power from sunlight energy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Plants use photosynthesis to harvest energy from sunlight. Now researchers have applied this principle as the basis for developing new sustainable processes which in the future may produce syngas (synthetic gas) for the large-scale chemical industry and be able to charge batteries.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Visualization of electron dynamics on liquid helium      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team has discovered how electrons can slither rapidly to-and-fro across a quantum surface when driven by external forces. The research has enabled the visualization of the motion of electrons on liquid helium.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Computer Science: Quantum Computers Energy: Technology Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

'Y-ball' compound yields quantum secrets      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists investigating a compound called 'Y-ball' -- which belongs to a mysterious class of 'strange metals' viewed as centrally important to next-generation quantum materials -- have found new ways to probe and understand its behavior.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Batteries Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Batteries: Passivation layer mystery solved      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In our daily lives, lithium-ion batteries have become indispensable. They function only because of a passivation layer that forms during their initial cycle. As researchers found out via simulations, this solid electrolyte interphase develops not directly at the electrode but aggregates in the solution. Their findings allow the optimization of the performance and lifetime of future batteries.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Computer Science: Quantum Computers Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Surprise in the quantum world: Disorder leads to ferromagnetic topological insulator      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Magnetic topological insulators are an exotic class of materials that conduct electrons without any resistance at all and so are regarded as a promising breakthrough in materials science. Researchers have achieved a significant milestone in the pursuit of energy-efficient quantum technologies by designing the ferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi6Te10 from the manganese bismuth telluride family. The amazing thing about this quantum material is that its ferromagnetic properties only occur when some atoms swap places, introducing antisite disorder.