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Categories: Biology: Biotechnology, Energy: Batteries
Published Pink + pink = gold: hybrid hummingbird's feathers don't match its parents


Scientists thought a gold-throated hummingbird was a new species. DNA revealed that it's a hybrid of two different species, each with pink throats. The discovery sheds light on how birds produce feather colors and how hummingbirds evolved their dazzling hues.
Published Your gut's microbiome, on a chip


Researchers describe how gut-on-a-chip devices can bridge lab models and human biology. Modeling the microbiome is particularly difficult because of its unique environmental conditions, but through creative design, gut-on-a-chip devices can simulate many of these properties, such as the gut's anaerobic atmosphere, fluid flow, and pulses of contraction/relaxation. Growing intestinal cells in this environment means that they more closely resemble human biology compared to standard laboratory cell cultures.
Published Evolutionary history of detoxifying enzymes reconstructed


Biochemists have succeeded in resurrecting the ancestral genes of five detoxifying enzymes which are present in all tetrapods to show how their divergence in function has occurred.
Published Ancient proteins offer new clues about origin of life on Earth



By simulating early Earth conditions in the lab, researchers have found that without specific amino acids, ancient proteins would not have known how to evolve into everything alive on the planet today -- including plants, animals, and humans.
Published Cells avoid multitasking


Textbooks will tell you that in dividing cells, production of new DNA peaks during the S-phase, while production of other macromolecules, such as proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides, continues at more or less the same level. Molecular biologists have now discovered that this is not true: protein synthesis shows two peaks and lipid synthesis peaks once.
Published Successful cure of HIV infection after stem cell transplantation, study suggests


Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for the treatment of severe blood cancers is the only medical intervention that has cured two people living with HIV in the past. An international group of physicians and researchers has now identified another case in which HIV infection has been shown to be cured in the same way. The successful healing process of this third patient was for the first time characterized in great detail virologically and immunologically over a time span of ten years.
Published The achilles heel of the influenza virus: Ubiquitin protein may be an approach for future medicines



Influenza viruses are becoming increasingly resilient to medicines. For this reason, new active ingredients are needed. Important findings in this regard have been provided: for the virus to proliferate, the polymerase of the influenza A virus has to be modified many times through enzymes in the host cells. The team of researchers was able to produce a comprehensive map of types of modification. Medicines directed against the enzymes woud be resilient to rapid mutations in the virus, thus offering great potential for the future.
Published Making engineered cells dance to ultrasound


A team has developed a method for selectively manipulating genetically engineered cells with ultrasound.
Published New design for lithium-air battery could offer much longer driving range compared with the lithium-ion battery


Scientists have built and tested for a thousand cycles a lithium-air battery design that could one day be powering cars, domestic airplanes, long-haul trucks and more. Its energy storage capacity greatly surpasses that possible with lithium-ion batteries.
Published Ramping up domestic graphite production could aid the green energy transition


Given the growing importance of graphite in energy storage technologies, a team of esearchers has conducted a study exploring ways to reduce reliance on imports of the in high-demand mineral, which powers everything from electric vehicles (EVs) to cell phones.
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 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 Beyond lithium: A promising cathode material for magnesium rechargeable batteries


Magnesium is a promising candidate as an energy carrier for next-generation batteries. However, the cycling performance and capacity of magnesium batteries need to improve if they are to replace lithium-ion batteries. To this end, a research team focused on a novel cathode material with a spinel structure. Following extensive characterization and electrochemical performance experiments, they have found a specific composition that could open doors to high-performance magnesium rechargeable batteries.
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 New sodium, aluminum battery aims to integrate renewables for grid resiliency


A new sodium battery technology shows promise for helping integrate renewable energy into the electric grid. The battery uses Earth-abundant raw materials such as aluminum and sodium.
Published Researchers decipher atomic-scale imperfections in lithium-ion batteries


Scientists have conducted a detailed examination of high-nickel-content layered cathodes, considered to be components of promise in next-generation lithium-ion batteries. Advanced electron microscopy and deep machine learning enabled the team to observe atomic-scale changes at the interface of materials that make up the batteries.
Published Recyclable mobile phone batteries a step closer with rust-busting invention


Mobile phone batteries with a lifetime up to three times longer than today's technology could be a reality thanks to a recent innovation.
Published How plants are inspiring new ways to extract value from wastewater


Scientists are drawing inspiration from plants to develop new techniques to separate and extract valuable minerals, metals and nutrients from resource-rich wastewater.
Published Researchers create smaller, cheaper flow batteries for clean energy


Flow batteries offer a solution. Electrolytes flow through electrochemical cells from storage tanks in this rechargeable battery. The existing flow battery technologies cost more than $200/kilowatt hour and are too expensive for practical application, but engineers have now developed a more compact flow battery cell configuration that reduces the size of the cell by 75%, and correspondingly reduces the size and cost of the entire flow battery. The work could revolutionize how everything from major commercial buildings to residential homes are powered.
Published Novel design helps develop powerful microbatteries


Translating electrochemical performance of large format batteries to microscale power sources has been a long-standing technological challenge, limiting the ability of batteries to power microdevices, microrobots and implantable medical devices. Researchers have created a high-voltage microbattery (> 9 V), with high-energy and -power density, unparalleled by any existing battery design.