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Categories: Energy: Technology, Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology

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Engineers have created a new lithium battery that can charge in under five minutes -- faster than any such battery on the market -- while maintaining stable performance over extended cycles of charging and discharging.

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Microorganisms were the first forms of life on our planet. The clues are written in 3.5 billion-year-old rocks by geochemical and morphological traces, such as chemical compounds or structures that these organisms left behind. However, it is still not clear when and where life originated on Earth and when a diversity of species developed in these early microbial communities. Evidence is scarce and often disputed. Now, researchers have uncovered key findings about the earliest forms of life. In rock samples from South Africa, they found evidence dating to around 3.42 billion years ago of an unprecedentedly diverse carbon cycle involving various microorganisms. This research shows that complex microbial communities already existed in the ecosystems during the Palaeoarchaean period.

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Researchers have achieved a major breakthrough in Redox Flow Desalination (RFD), an emerging electrochemical technique that can turn seawater into potable drinking water and also store affordable renewable energy.

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Inspired by a 1725 fire engine that pumped water at larger distances and higher speeds than previously possible, authors analyzed the pressure chamber's Windkessel effect to capture the physics behind this widely used, enduring technology. They compared the initial state of the chamber, the rate at which bucket brigades could pour water in (volumetric inflow), the length of time pressure builds, and the effects on output flow rate. Next, the authors plan to examine the physiological Windkessel involved in the heart-aorta system.

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Researchers have performed the world's first life cycle assessment (LCA) of an existing, two-seater, all-electric aircraft, with a direct comparison to an equivalent fossil fuel-powered one. According to the study, after just one quarter of the expected lifespan of the electric aircraft, the climate impact is lower than that of the fossil fuel-based aircraft, provided that green electricity is used. The downside, however, is increased mineral resource scarcity.

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A new study outlines progress toward making bulk ferroelectric and antiferroelectric hafnia available for use in a variety of applications, including high-performance computing.

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Gliding winged-reptiles were amongst the ancient crocodile residents of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England, researchers at the have revealed.

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A new study shows the Megalodon, a gigantic shark that went extinct 3.6 million years ago, was more slender than earlier studies suggested. This finding changes scientists' understanding of Megalodon behavior, ancient ocean life, and why the sharks went extinct.

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Researchers have designed a self-powering, battery-free, energy-harvesting sensor. Using the framework they developed, they produced a temperature sensor that can harvest and store the energy from the magnetic field that exists in the open air around a wire.

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Two insect-like robots, a mini-bug and a water strider may be the smallest, lightest and fastest fully functional micro-robots ever known to be created. Such miniature robots could someday be used for work in areas such as artificial pollination, search and rescue, environmental monitoring, micro-fabrication or robotic-assisted surgery. Reporting on their work in the proceedings of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society's International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, the mini-bug weighs in at eight milligrams while the water strider weighs 55 milligrams. Both can move at about six millimeters a second.

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Researchers have developed a framework that uses machine learning to accelerate the search for new proton-conducting materials, that could potentially improve the efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells.

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For almost 200 years, archaeologists have been puzzled by a mysterious brown stain on the ancient Greek Parthenon temple in Greece. Now, researchers have conducted new scientific analyses, and their verdict is clear: The mystery remains.

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In the switch to 'greener' energy sources, the demand for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries is surging. However, their cathodes typically contain cobalt -- a metal whose extraction has high environmental and societal costs. Now, researchers in report evaluating an earth-abundant, carbon-based cathode material that could replace cobalt and other scarce and toxic metals without sacrificing lithium-ion battery performance.

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A new battery material could offer a more sustainable way to power electric cars. The lithium-ion battery includes a cathode based on organic materials, instead of cobalt or nickel.

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Antineutrinos generated in nuclear fission can be measured to remotely monitor the operation of nuclear reactors and verify that they are not being used to produce nuclear weapons, report scientists. Thanks to a newly developed method, it is now possible to estimate a reactor's operation status, fuel burnup, and fuel composition based entirely on its antineutrino emissions. This technique could contribute massively to nuclear non-proliferation efforts and, in turn, safer nuclear energy.

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Fake plants are moving into the 21st century! Researchers developed literal 'power plants' -- tiny, leaf-shaped generators that create electricity from a blowing breeze or falling raindrops. The team tested the energy harvesters by incorporating them into artificial plants.

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Chemists have mapped how proton-coupled electron transfers happen at the surface of an electrode. Their results could help researchers design more efficient fuel cells, batteries, or other energy technologies.

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A feeding method of the extinct jawless heterostracans, among the oldest of vertebrates, has been examined and dismissed by scientists, using fresh techniques.

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Researchers have improved the efficiency of heat-to-electricity conversion in gallium arsenide semiconductor microstructures. By judicious spatial alignment of electrons within a two-dimensional electron gas system with multiple subbands, one can substantially enhance the power factor compared with previous iterations of analogous systems. This work is an important advance in modern thermoelectric technology and will benefit the global integration of the Internet of Things.

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Tidal range schemes can protect estuaries and coastal areas from the effects of sea level rise, according to researchers who say that tidal range schemes are vital to protect habitats, housing and businesses from a rising sea level estimated to be over one metre within 80 years. High tides can be limited to existing levels simply by closing sluices and turbines and existing low tide levels can be maintained by pumping. Development of estuarine barrages has been hampered by misconceptions about their operation and fears of disturbance of the ecologically sensitive intertidal areas.