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Categories: Energy: Technology, Paleontology: Dinosaurs

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Engineers have designed a system that can efficiently produce 'solar thermochemical hydrogen.' It harnesses the sun's heat to split water and generate hydrogen -- a clean fuel that emits no greenhouse gas emissions. 

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New pharmaceuticals, cleaner fuels, biodegradable plastics: in order to meet society's needs, chemists have to develop new synthesis methods to obtain new products that do not exist in their natural state. A research group has discovered how to use an external electric field to control and accelerate a chemical reaction, like a 'switch'. This work could have a considerable impact on the development of new molecules, enabling not only more environmentally friendly synthesis, but also very simple external control of a chemical reaction.

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Lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) offer a higher energy storage potential. However, issues like formation of lithium polysulfides and lithium dendrites lead to capacity loss and raise safety concerns. Now, researchers have developed a graphene separator embedded with platinum-doped gold nanoclusters, which enhance lithium-ion transport and facilitate redox reactions. This breakthrough addresses the long-standing issues associated with LSBs, setting the stage for their commercialization.

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Neuroengineers designed the first self-rectifying magnetoelectric material and showed it can not only precisely stimulate neurons remotely but also reconnect a broken sciatic nerve in a rat model.

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Engineers developed electronic 'stickers' that measure the force exerted by one object upon another. The force stickers are wireless, run without batteries and fit in tight spaces, making them versatile for a wide range of applications, from surgical robots to smart implants and inventory tracking.

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Scientists have developed a new modular steel buttress dam system designed to resolve energy storage issues hindering the integration of renewable resources into the energy mix. The new modular steel buttress dam system facilitates the rapid construction of paired reservoir systems for grid-scale energy storage and generation using closed-loop pumped storage hydropower, cutting dam construction costs by one-third and reducing construction schedules by half.

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For decades, scientists have assumed that mammals and their relatives that survived challenging times (like those during mass extinctions) made it because they were generalists that were able to eat just about anything and adapt to whatever life threw at them. A new study into the mammal family tree through multiple mass extinctions revealed that the species that survived aren't as generic as scientists had thought: instead, having new and different traits can be the key to succeeding in the aftermath of a catastrophe.

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Researchers have developed a data-driven AI algorithm for controlling the heating and cooling of an office building. The system does not require ambient sensors or specific knowledge of the building's rooms. During heating operations, the system was able to achieve energy savings of up to 30%, which can represent significant reductions to cost and environmental impact.

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Insect cyborgs may sound like something straight out of the movies, but hybrid insect computer robots, as they are scientifically called, could pioneer a new future for robotics. It involves using electrical stimuli to control an insect’s movement. Now, an international research group has conducted a study on the relationship between electrical stimulation in stick insects' leg muscles and the resulting torque (the twisting force that causes the leg to move). 

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Engineers and scientists look at how thoughtful design can reduce a sustainably-designed neighborhood’s energy vulnerability during power disruptions, as well as which design characteristics are needed if and when local populations need to move to shelters. Researchers  analyzed the design and energy characteristics of particular kinds of buildings and neighborhoods to assess their vulnerabilities and their access to alternative and renewable energy sources. The authors use several scenarios involving different lengths of power disruption to see which kind of response is most beneficial to the populations affected.

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Scientists have characterized the genome of a metal-loving bacteria with an affinity for rare earth elements. The research paves the way towards replacing the harsh chemical processing of these elements with a benign practice called biosorption.

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The friction on a graphene surface can be dynamically tuned using external electric fields, according to researchers.

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Paleontologists discover possible DNA remains in fossil turtle that lived 6 million years ago in Panama, where continents collide.

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Humanity continuously emits greenhouse gases and thereby worsens global warming. Increasing research efforts go into developing strategies to convert these gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), into valuable products. CO2 accumulates dramatically over the years and is chemically very stable, thus challenging to transform. Yet, for billions of years, some microbes have actively captured CO2 using highly efficient enzymes. Scientists have now isolated one of these enzymes. When the enzyme was electronically branched on an electrode, they observed the conversion of CO2 to formate with perfect efficiency. This phenomenon will inspire new CO2-fixation systems because of its remarkable directionality and rates.

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Rechargeable battery performance could be improved by a new understanding of how they work at the molecular level. Researchers upend what's known about how rechargeable batteries function.

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An international research team has taken a decisive step toward a new generation of atomic clocks. The researchers have created a much more precise pulse generator based on the element scandium, which enables an accuracy of one second in 300 billion years -- that is about a thousand times more precise than the current standard atomic clock based on caesium.

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Copper-based catalysts developed by materials scientists help speed up the rate of carbon dioxide-to-methane conversion.

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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.

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Palaeontologists have discovered X-ray evidence of proteins in fossil feathers that sheds new light on feather evolution.

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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.