Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Chemists devise a method for C-H activation of alcohols      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Chemists have extended a powerful molecule-building method -- called C-H activation -- to the broad class of chemicals known as alcohols.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: General Engineering: Robotics Research Mathematics: Modeling
Published

Researchers use AI to find new magnetic materials without critical elements      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A team of scientists developed a new machine learning model for discovering critical-element-free permanent magnet materials based on the predicted Curie temperature of new material combinations.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Batteries Engineering: Graphene Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Efficient and mild: Recycling of used lithium-ion batteries      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) provide our portable devices like tablets and mobiles -- and increasingly also vehicles -- with power. As the share of volatile renewable energy needing electricity storage increases, more and more LIBs are needed, lithium prices rise, resources dwindle, and the amount of depleted batteries that contain toxic substances increases. Researchers introduce a novel approach for the recovery of lithium from used LIBs.

Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Microbiology Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

3D-printed 'living material' could clean up contaminated water      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A 'living material,' made of a natural polymer combined with genetically engineered bacteria, could offer a sustainable and eco-friendly solution to clean pollutants from water. Researchers developed their living material using a seaweed-based polymer and bacteria that have been programmed to produce an enzyme that transforms various organic pollutants into harmless compounds. In tests, heir material decontaminated water solutions tainted with a pollutant from textile manufacturing: indigo carmine, a blue dye that is used to color denim.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Computer Science: Encryption Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Energy: Technology Mathematics: Puzzles Physics: General Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Better cybersecurity with new material      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Digital information exchange can be safer, cheaper and more environmentally friendly with the help of a new type of random number generator for encryption. The researchers behind the study believe that the new technology paves the way for a new type of quantum communication.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Striking gold with molecular mystery solution for potential clean energy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Hydrogen spillover is exactly what it sounds like. Small metal nanoparticles anchored on a thermally stable oxide, like silica, comprise a major class of catalysts, which are substances used to accelerate chemical reactions without being consumed themselves. The catalytic reaction usually occurs on the reactive -- and expensive -- metal, but on some catalysts, hydrogen atom-like equivalents literally spill from the metal to the oxide. These hydrogen-on-oxide species are called 'hydrogen spillover.'

Computer Science: General Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

A system to keep cloud-based gamers in sync      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new technique can synchronize media streams from different networks to multiple devices with less than 10 milliseconds of delay. The technique was demonstrated on cloud gaming, but could also be applied in AR/VR applications.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

New AI technology gives robot recognition skills a big lift      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The day when robots can cook dinner, clear the kitchen table and empty the dishwasher is still a long way off. First, robots need to be able to recognize the many items of different sizes, shapes and brands in our homes. A team has now made a significant advance toward that technology with a robotic system that uses artificial intelligence to help robots better identify and remember objects.

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

Growing triple-decker hybrid crystals for lasers      (via sciencedaily.com) 

By controlling the arrangement of multiple inorganic and organic layers within crystals using a novel technique, researchers have shown they can control the energy levels of electrons and holes (positive charge carriers) within a class of materials called perovskites. This tuning influences the materials' optoelectronic properties and their ability to emit light of specific energies, demonstrated by their ability to function as a source of lasers.

Computer Science: General Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Breathe! The shape-shifting ball that supports mental health      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A soft ball designed to support mental health by 'personifying' breath has been invented by a computer science student.

Computer Science: General
Published

Analog and digital: The best of both worlds in one energy-efficient system      (via sciencedaily.com) 

We live in an analog world of continuous information flow that is both processed and stored by our brains at the same time, but our devices process information digitally in the form of discrete binary code, breaking the information into little bits (or bites). Researchers have revealed a pioneering technology that combines the potential of continuous analog processing with the precision of digital devices. By seamlessly integrating ultra-thin, two-dimensional semiconductors with ferroelectric materials, the research unveils a novel way to improve energy efficiency and add new functionalities in computing. The new configuration merges traditional digital logic with brain-like analog operations.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

New blood test for noncoding RNA significantly improves cancer detection      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A lab is developing more accurate and powerful liquid biopsy technologies that take advantage of signals from RNA 'dark matter,' an understudied area of the genome.

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

Taking photoclick chemistry to the next level      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have been able to substantially improve photoclick chemistry. They were able to boost the reactivity of the photoclick compound in the popular PQ-ERA reaction through strategic molecular substitution. They now report a superb photoreaction quantum yield, high reaction rates and notable oxygen tolerance.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Direct formation of sulfuric acid in the atmosphere      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In the atmosphere, gaseous sulfuric acid can form particles that influence the physical properties of clouds. Thus, the formation of sulfuric acid in the gas phase directly affects the radiative forcing and Earth's climate. In addition to the known formation from sulfur dioxide, researchers have now been able to demonstrate through experiments that there is another formation pathway that has been speculated about for decades. Sulfuric acid in the atmosphere can also be formed directly by the oxidation of organic sulfur compounds. This new production pathway can be responsible for up to half of the gaseous sulfuric acid formation over the oceans and is thus of high importance for climate projections -- especially over the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Physics: General
Published

Energy storage in molecules      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Molecular photoswitches that can both convert and store energy could be used to make solar energy harvesting more efficient. A team of researchers has used a quantum computing method to find a particularly efficient molecular structure for this purpose. Their procedure was based on a dataset of more than 400,000 molecules, which they screened to find the optimum molecular structure for solar energy storage materials.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Neural network helps design brand new proteins      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A scientist combines attention neural networks with graph neural networks to better understand and design proteins. The approach couples the strengths of geometric deep learning with those of language models to predict existing protein properties and envision new proteins that nature has not yet devised. The model turns numbers, descriptions, tasks, and other elements into symbols for neural networks to use.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Overcoming the challenges to synthesising iron--sulfur proteins outside the glovebox      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Iron--sulfur (Fe--S) proteins, essential to all life forms, are difficult to synthesise due to the complicated molecular machinery involved and sensitivity of Fe--S clusters to oxygen. In a new study, a team of researchers devised an innovative protocol for synthesising mature Fe--S proteins, by bringing together a recombinant sulfur assimilation (SUF) system and an oxygen-scavenging system, thereby, paving the way for new technologies and a better understanding of the evolution of life.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Sensors harnessing light give hope in rehabilitation      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A research team overcomes limitations of conventional strain sensors using computer vision integrated optical sensors.