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Categories: Energy: Technology, Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published New technology turns smartphones into RFID readers, saving costs and reducing waste


Imagine you can open your fridge, open an app on your phone and immediately know which items are expiring within a few days. This is one of the applications that a new technology would enable.
Published Study offers details on using electric fields to tune thermal properties of ferroelectric materials


New research sheds light on how electric fields can be used to alter the thermal properties of ferroelectric materials, allowing engineers to manipulate the flow of heat through the materials. Ferroelectric materials are used in a wide variety of applications, from ultrasound devices to memory storage technologies.
Published Nanoparticles self-assemble to harvest solar energy


Researchers design a solar harvester with enhanced energy conversion capabilities. The device employs a quasiperiodic nanoscale pattern, meaning most of it is an alternating and consistent pattern, while the remaining portion contains random defects that do not affect its performance. The fabrication process makes use of self-assembling nanoparticles, which form an organized material structure based on their interactions with nearby particles without any external instructions. Thermal energy harvested by the device can be transformed to electricity using thermoelectric materials.
Published Gene variations for immune and metabolic conditions have persisted in humans for more than 700,000 years


A new study explores 'balancing selection' by analyzing thousands of modern human genomes alongside ancient hominin groups, such as Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes. The research has 'implications for understanding human diversity, the origin of diseases, and biological trade-offs that may have shaped our evolution,' says evolutionary biologists.
Published Scientists engineer a 'self-charging' electrostatic face mask for prolonged air filtration, reducing the environmental burden


Researchers have engineered an electrostatic face mask that can 'self-charge' through the user's breathing and continuously replenish its electrostatic charge as the user wears and breathes through the mask. This significantly increase the filtering performance in prolonged use of the mask for up to 60 hours, compared to four hours for a conventional surgical mask. This also benefits the environment.
Published New ultrafast water disinfection method is more environmentally friendly


Researchers have found a way to use small shocks of electricity to disinfect water, reducing energy consumption, cost, and environmental impact. The technology could be integrated into the electric grid or even powered by batteries.
Published Physicists solve durability issue in next-generation solar cells


Physicists jumped a major hurdle standing in the way of the commercialization of solar cells created with halide perovskites as a lower-cost, higher-efficiency replacement for silicon when generating electricity from the sun.
Published Scientists find world's oldest European hedgehog


The world's oldest scientifically-confirmed European hedgehog has been found in Denmark by a citizen science project involving hundreds of volunteers. The hedgehog lived for 16 years, 7 years longer than the previous record holder.
Published Oldest spinosaur brains revealed


Researchers have reconstructed the brains and inner ears of two British spinosaurs, helping uncover how these large predatory dinosaurs interacted with their environment.
Published Atom-thin walls could smash size, memory barriers in next-gen devices


For all of the still-indistinguishable-from-magic wizardry packed into the three pounds of the adult human brain, it obeys the same rule as the other living tissue it controls: Oxygen is a must. So it was with a touch of irony that a scientists offered his explanation for a technological wonder -- movable, data-covered walls mere atoms wide -- that may eventually help computers behave more like a brain. 'There was unambiguous evidence that oxygen vacancies are responsible for this,' Tsymbal said.
Published Chiral phonons create spin current without needing magnetic materials


Researchers chiral phonons to convert wasted heat into spin information -- without needing magnetic materials. The finding could lead to new classes of less expensive, energy-efficient spintronic devices for use in applications ranging from computational memory to power grids.
Published Research reveals thermal instability of solar cells but offers a bright path forward


Researchers reveal the thermal instability that happens within the cells' interface layers, but also offers a path forward towards reliability and efficiency for halide perovskite solar technology.
Published Novel microscope developed to design better high-performance batteries


A research team has developed an operando reflection interference microscope (RIM) that provides a better understanding of how batteries work, which has significant implications for the next generation of batteries.
Published Make them thin enough, and antiferroelectric materials become ferroelectric


Antiferroelectric materials have electrical properties that make them advantageous for use in high-density energy storage applications. Researchers have now discovered a size threshold beyond which antiferroelectrics lose those properties, becoming ferroelectric.
Published Fighting climate change: Ruthenium complexes for carbon dioxide reduction to valuable chemicals


Excessive use of fossil fuels leads to undesired carbon dioxide (CO2) generation, accelerating climate change. One way to tackle this is by converting CO2 into value-added chemicals. On this front, researchers have recently utilized a novel redox couple, for the purpose.
Published Controllable 'defects' improve performance of lithium-ion batteries


Some defects can be good. A new study shows that laser-induced defects in lithium-ion battery materials improve the performance of the battery.
Published Scientists develop new index based on functional morphology to understand how ancestors of modern birds used their wings


Scientists have compared the relationship among the strength of flight bones, body mass, and the way modern birds fly to better understand the evolution of flight in birds and extinct animals, such as the Pteranodon.
Published Severe weather straining electrical grids: New research mitigates demand surges, increasing grid reliability and reducing costs


Concerns are mounting among policymakers and utility companies amid the impact of severe weather on the nation's electrical grids. In recent months, electrical grids in Texas have been tested to the point of near failure. So it seems like perfect timing that new research identifies a new method that provides the best way to utilize 'direct load control contracts' to mitigate electricity demand surges, increase grid reliability and reduce electricity cost. All of this right down to the individual household.
Published Caribou have been using same Arctic calving grounds for 3,000 years


Caribou have been using the same Arctic calving grounds for more than 3,000 years. Female caribou shed their antlers within days of giving birth, leaving behind a record of their annual travels across Alaska and Canada's Yukon that persists on the cold tundra for hundreds or even thousands of years. Researchers recovered antlers that have sat undisturbed on the arctic tundra since the Bronze Age.
Published Codebreakers crack secrets of Mary Queen of Scots' lost letters


Secret, coded letters penned by Mary Queen of Scots while she was imprisoned in England by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I have been uncovered by a multidisciplinary team of international codebreakers. Launched on the anniversary of Mary's execution, study reveals 50 new letters in cipher -- with some still believed missing -- shedding new light on her captivity.