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Categories: Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Ecology: Research
Published Forest restoration can boost people, nature and climate simultaneously



Forest restoration can benefit humans, boost biodiversity and help tackle climate change simultaneously, new research suggests.
Published New mechanism to cool buildings while saving energy



The movement of radiant heat -- felt when a hot surface warms our bodies and homes -- between buildings and their surroundings at ground level makes buildings with less skyward-facing surfaces harder to cool. A research team has demonstrated a new passive cooling technology that coats walls and windows with materials that can better manage heat movement between buildings and their surroundings at ground level. Findings could reduce the reliance on air conditioning and provide a more environmentally friendly, low-cost and scalable option for low-income communities with limited or no access to cooling and heating systems.
Published New technology uses light to engrave erasable 3D images



Researchers invented a technique that uses a specialized light projector and a photosensitive chemical additive to imprint two- and three-dimensional images inside any polymer. The light-based engraving remains in the polymer until heat or light are applied, which erases the image and makes it ready to use again. The technology is intended for any situation where having detailed, precise visual data in a compact and easily customizable format could be critical, such as planning surgeries and developing architectural designs.
Published Researchers solve long-standing challenge for piezoelectric materials



Heat and pressure can deteriorate the properties of piezoelectric materials that make state-of-the-art ultrasound and sonar technologies possible -- and fixing that damage has historically required disassembling devices and exposing the materials to even higher temperatures. Now researchers have developed a technique to restore those properties at room temperature, making it easier to repair these devices -- and paving the way for new ultrasound technologies.
Published Heating for fusion: Why toast plasma when you can microwave it!



Can plasma be sufficiently heated inside a tokamak using only microwaves? New research suggests it can! Eliminating the central ohmic heating coil normally used in tokamaks will free up much-needed space for a more compact, efficient spherical tokamak.
Published Revolutionary loop heat pipe transports 10 kW of waste heat -- No electricity required



Researchers have unveiled a new loop heat pipe capable of transporting up to 10 kW of heat without using electric power. The loop heat pipe's design aims to contribute to energy savings and carbon neutrality in various fields, including waste heat recovery, solar heat utilization, electric vehicle thermal management, and data center cooling.
Published Combined effects of plastic pollution and seawater flooding amplify threats to coastal plant species



A new study highlights how a combination of environmental stressors -- namely plastic pollution and seawater flooding -- can increase the threats faced by plants in some of the planet's critical ecosystems. It showed that both stressors had some effects on the species tested, but being exposed to both microplastics and flooding together -- a threat likely to increase as a result of climate change and plastic use -- had a more pronounced impact on their resource allocation.
Published Mass extinction 66 million years ago triggered rapid evolution of bird genomes



Study finds that the mass extinction caused by an asteroid about 66 million years ago led to critical changes in bird genomes that ultimately sparked the incredibly diversity living birds.
Published AI method radically speeds predictions of materials' thermal properties



Researchers developed a machine-learning framework that can predict a key property of heat dispersion in materials that is up to 1,000 times faster than other AI methods, and could enable scientists to improve the efficiency of power generation systems and microelectronics.
Published Fresh light on the path to net zero



Researchers have used magnetic fields to reveal the mystery of how light particles split. Scientists are closer to giving the next generation of solar cells a powerful boost by integrating a process that could make the technology more efficient by breaking particles of light photons into small chunks.
Published New Zealand's flightless birds are retreating to moa refuges



Researchers have found New Zealand's endangered flightless birds are seeking refuge in the locations where six species of moa last lived before going extinct.
Published Engineer develops technique that enhances thermal imaging and infrared thermography for police, medical, military use



A new method to measure the continuous spectrum of light is set to improve thermal imaging and infrared thermography.
Published Next-gen cooling system to help data centers become more energy efficient



Artificial intelligence (AI) is hot right now. Also hot: the data centers that power the technology. And keeping those centers cool requires a tremendous amount of energy. The problem is only going to grow as high-powered AI-based computers and devices become commonplace. That's why researchers are devising a new type of cooling system that promises to dramatically reduce energy demands.
Published The ocean is becoming too loud for oysters, research finds



Baby oysters rely on natural acoustic cues to settle in specific environments, but new research reveals that noise from human activity is interfering with this critical process.
Published Butterflies accumulate enough static electricity to attract pollen without contact



Butterflies and moths collect so much static electricity whilst in flight, that pollen grains from flowers can be pulled by static electricity across air gaps of several millimeters or centimeters.
Published Drawing water from dry air



A prototype device harvests drinking water from the atmosphere, even in arid places.
Published Researchers develop more environmentally friendly and cost-effective method for soil remediation



Chemists have developed a rapid electrothermal mineralization (REM) process, which in seconds can remediate the accumulation of synthetic chemicals that can contaminate soil and the environment.
Published 3D-printed microstructure forest facilitates solar steam generator desalination



Faced with the world's impending freshwater scarcity, researchers turned to solar steam generators, which are emerging as a promising device for seawater desalination. The team sought design inspiration from trees and harnessed the potential of 3D printing. They present technology for producing efficient SSGs for desalination and introduces a novel method for printing functional nanocomposites for multi-jet fusion. Their SSGs were inspired by plant transpiration and are composed of miniature tree-shaped microstructures, forming an efficient, heat-distributing forest.
Published Tropical plant species are as threatened by climate change as widely feared, study confirms



Biologists who set out to better understand the effects of climate change on plant species in tropical mountain regions found that even small variations in temperature and moisture can have massive impacts, threatening not only plants that live there, but also the ecosystems they support. A study based on labor-intensive fieldwork and analysis in tropical mountain regions shows that a warmer and drier climate will lead to massive losses of plant species.
Published Aluminum scandium nitride films: Enabling next-gen ferroelectric memory devices



Aluminum scandium nitride thin films could pave the way for the next generation of ferroelectric memory devices, according to a new study. Compared to existing ferroelectric materials, these films maintain their ferroelectric properties and crystal structure even after heat treatment at temperatures up to 600 C in both hydrogen and argon atmospheres. This high stability makes them ideal for high-temperature manufacturing processes under the H2-included atmosphere used in fabricating advanced memory devices.