Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Scientists develop new method to create stable, efficient next-gen solar cells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Next-generation solar materials are cheaper and more sustainable to produce than traditional silicon solar cells, but hurdles remain in making the devices durable enough to withstand real-world conditions. A new technique could simplify the development of efficient and stable perovskite solar cells, named for their unique crystalline structure that excels at absorbing visible light.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Pivotal breakthrough in adapting perovskite solar cells for renewable energy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A huge step forward in the evolution of perovskite solar cells will have significant implications for renewable energy development.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Black holes could come in 'perfect pairs' in an ever expanding Universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have shown it's theoretically possible for black holes to exist in perfectly balanced pairs -- held in equilibrium by a cosmological force -- mimicking a single black hole.

Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Grasping the three-dimensional morphology of kilonovae      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An advanced new three-dimensional (3D) computer simulation of the light emitted following a merger of two neutron stars has produced a similar sequence of spectroscopic features to an observed kilonova. '

Chemistry: General Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

World may have crossed solar power 'tipping point'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The world may have crossed a 'tipping point' that will inevitably make solar power our main source of energy, new research suggests.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General
Published

Harnessing molecular power: Electricity generation on the nanoscale      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers tested a molecular energy harvesting device that captures the energy from the natural motion of molecules in a liquid. Their work showed molecular motion can be used to generate a stable electric current. To create the device, they submerged nanoarrays of piezoelectric material in liquid, allowing the movement of the liquid to move the strands like seaweed waving in the ocean, except in this case the movement is on the molecular scale, and the strands are made of zinc oxide. When the zinc oxide material waves, bends, or deforms under motion, it generates electric potential.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Environmental: Water
Published

Solar design would harness 40% of the sun's heat to produce clean hydrogen fuel      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

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. 

Chemistry: General Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

The effects of preheating on vehicle fuel consumption and emissions appear minimal      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study found that the benefits of car preheating for both fuel economy and emissions are minimal. The researchers focused on vehicle fuel consumption and emissions under cold winter conditions. Of particular interest were cold start emissions and their relation to preheating.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

NASA's Webb captures an ethereal view of NGC 346      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

One of the greatest strengths of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is its ability to give astronomers detailed views of areas where new stars are being born. The latest example, showcased here in a new image from Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), is NGC 346 -- the brightest and largest star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Researchers capture first-ever afterglow of huge planetary collision in outer space      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A chance social media post by an eagle-eyed amateur astronomer sparked the discovery of an explosive collision between two giant planets, which crashed into each other in a distant space system 1,800 light years away from planet Earth.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Finding explanation for Milky Way's warp      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Though scientists have long known through observational data that the Milky Way is warped and its edges are flared like a skirt, no one could explain why. Now, astronomers have performed the first calculations that fully explain this phenomenon, with compelling evidence pointing to the Milky Way's envelopment in an off-kilter halo of dark matter. 

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Stellar fountain of youth with turbulent formation history in the center of our galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An unexpectedly high number of young stars has been identified in the direct vicinity of a supermassive black hole and water ice has been detected at the center of our galaxy.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Modular dam design could accelerate the adoption of renewable energy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

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.

Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Astronomers discover first step toward planet formation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have gotten very good at spotting the signs of planet formation around stars. But for a complete understanding of planet formation, we also need to study examples where planet formation has not yet started. Looking for something and not finding it can be even more difficult than finding it sometimes, but new detailed observations of the young star DG Taurus show that it has a smooth protoplanetary disk without signs of planet formation. This successful non-detection of planet formation may indicate that DG Taurus is on the eve of planet formation.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Pulsars may make dark matter glow      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The central question in the ongoing hunt for dark matter is: what is it made of? One possible answer is that dark matter consists of particles known as axions. A team of astrophysicists has now shown that if dark matter consists of axions, it may reveal itself in the form of a subtle additional glow coming from pulsating stars.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Scientists discover the highest energy gamma-rays ever from a pulsar      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have detected the highest energy gamma rays ever from a dead star called a pulsar. The energy of these gamma rays clocked in at 20 tera-electronvolts, or about ten trillion times the energy of visible light. This observation is hard to reconcile with the theory of the production of such pulsed gamma rays, as the international team reports.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Plot thickens in hunt for ninth planet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A pair of theoretical physicists are reporting that the same observations inspiring the hunt for a ninth planet might instead be evidence within the solar system of a modified law of gravity originally developed to understand the rotation of galaxies.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Bursts of star formation explain mysterious brightness at cosmic dawn      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) first images of the universe’s earliest galaxies, the young galaxies appear too bright, too massive and too mature to have formed so soon after the Big Bang. Using new simulations, a team of astrophysicists now has discovered that these galaxies likely are not so massive after all. Although a galaxy’s brightness is typically determined by its mass, the new findings suggest that less massive galaxies can glow just as brightly from irregular, brilliant bursts of star formation.

Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Colliding neutron stars provide a new way to measure the expansion of the Universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In recent years, astronomy has seen itself in a bit of crisis: Although we know that the Universe expands, and although we know approximately how fast, the two primary ways to measure this expansion do not agree. Now astrophysicists suggest a novel method which may help resolve this tension.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Offbeat: General
Published

Scientists unveil fire-safe fuel      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Chemical engineers have designed a fuel that ignites only with the application of electric current. Since it doesn't react to flames and cannot start accidental fires during storage or transport, it is a 'safe' liquid fuel.