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On a simple coffee table sits an inexpensive commercial laser cutter, usually meant for modifying wood or plastic. However, in the lab of University of Chicago scientists Vishnu Nair and Bozhi Tian, what comes out is not engraved wood but a small bioelectronic device that could save lives. It all starts with a compound called polydimethylsiloxane, or PDMS, which is a type of elastomer-a very elastic, stretchable material. However, a laser can transform the PDMS into a dense silicon carbide layer that is useful for electronics.

A research team led by scientists from Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and Northern Illinois University has discovered a new electrocatalyst that can consistently convert carbon dioxide and water into ethanol with very high energy efficiency and low cost.

Analysing three components of ceramic cooking pots - charred remains, inner surface residues and lipids absorbed within the ceramic walls - may help archaeologists uncover detailed timelines of culinary cooking practices used by ancient civilisations. The findings, from a year-long cooking experiment led by the University of California, University of Bristol and the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Hawaii, are published this week in the journal Scientific Reports .

International research team describes the new possibilities offered by the use of ultracold dipolar atoms The quantum properties underlying crystal formation can be replicated and investigated with the help of ultracold atoms. A team led by Dr. Axel U. J. Lode from the University of Freiburg's Institute of Physics has now described in the journal Physical Review Letters how the use of dipolar atoms enables even the realization and precise measurement of structures that have not yet been observed in any material.

The Earth is the only planet known to have liquid water on its surface, a fundamental characteristic when it comes to explaining the emergence of life.

Hydrochloric acid treatment improves catalysts for removing sulfur from crude oil A research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) led by chemist Johannes Lercher has developed a synthesis process which drastically increases the activity of catalysts for the desulfurization of crude oil.

In a panel discussion organized by Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for Green Science and Environmental Health Sciences , independent experts urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review their standards on Bisphenol A (BPA) in light of a new report collecting academic studies on the chemical's toxic effects at low doses.

An international research team led by the University of Bern has succeeded in developing an electrocatalyst for hydrogen fuel cells which, in contrast to the catalysts commonly used today, does not require a carbon carrier and is therefore much more stable. The new process is industrially applicable and can be used to further optimize fuel cell powered vehicles without CO2 emissions.

Researchers have identified a potential new degradation mechanism for electric vehicle batteries - a key step to designing effective methods to improve battery lifespan. The researchers, from the Universities of Cambridge and Liverpool, and the Diamond Light Source, have identified one of the reasons why state-of-the-art 'nickel-rich' battery materials become fatigued, and can no longer be fully charged after prolonged use.

Researchers have developed a standalone device that converts sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into a carbon-neutral fuel, without requiring any additional components or electricity. We hope this technology will pave the way toward sustainable and practical solar fuel production Erwin Reisner The device, developed by a team from the University of Cambridge, is a significant step toward achieving artificial photosynthesis - a process mimicking the ability of plants to convert sunlight into energy.

Electrons are able to move within molecules, for example when they are excited from outside or in the course of a chemical reaction. For the first time, scientists have now succeeded in studying the first few dozen attoseconds of this electron movement in a liquid. To understand how chemical reactions begin, chemists have been using super-slow motion experiments for years to study the very first moments of a reaction.

Physicists from Switzerland, Japan and Germany have unveiled the mechanism by which the first event of respiration takes place in heme proteins. Respiration is a fundamental process of all living things, allowing them to produce energy, stay healthy, and survive. In cells, respiration involves what are known as "respiratory proteins", e.g. hemoglobin in the blood and myoglobin in muscles.

ETH Zurich scientists have developed an RNA molecule that can be used in bone marrow cells to correct genetic errors that affect protein production. Patients suffering from a rare hereditary disease that causes a painful hypersensitivity to sunlight could benefit in future. Short RNA molecules can be used as medication.

The debate over the origins and molecular structure of 'Oumuamua continued today with an announcement in The Astrophysical Journal Letters that despite earlier promising claims, the interstellar object is not made of molecular hydrogen ice after all. The earlier study, published by Seligman & Laughlin in 2020-after observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope set tight limits on the outgassing of carbon-based molecules-suggested that if 'Oumuamua were a hydrogen iceberg, then the pure hydrogen gas that gives it its rocket-like push would have escaped detection.

Since the late 1990s, immunotherapy has been the frontline treatment against lymphomas where synthetic antibodies are used to stop the proliferation of cancerous white blood cells. However, in the more than 20 years since their use began, the molecular mechanisms that underlie this therapy are still little understood.

A nifty move with nitrogen has brought the world one step closer to creating a range of useful products - from dyes to pharmaceuticals - out of thin air. The discovery comes from a team of Yale chemists who found a way to combine atmospheric nitrogen with benzene to make a chemical compound called aniline, which is a precursor to materials used to make an assortment of synthetic products.

Thousands of chemical processes used by the energy industry and for other applications rely on the high speed of catalytic reactions, but molecules frequently are hindered by molecular traffic jams that slow them down. Researchers at the University of Minnesota are part of an international team that has invented an entirely new class of porous catalysts using unique fins to speed up the chemistry by allowing molecules to skip the lines that limit the reaction.

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Scientists at Berkeley Lab and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis zero in on bismuth vanadate's role in renewable energy at the nanoscale In the fight against climate change, scientists have searched for ways to replace fossil fuels with carbon-free alternatives such as hydrogen fuel. A device known as a photoelectrical chemical cell (PEC) has the potential to produce hydrogen fuel through artificial photosynthesis, an emerging renewable energy technology that uses energy from sunlight to drive chemical reactions such as splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.

Biodegradable shoes meet commercial standards for products needed to help eradicate tons of plastic waste As the world's most popular shoe, flip-flops account for a troubling percentage of plastic waste that ends up in landfills, on seashores and in our oceans. Scientists at the University of California San Diego have spent years working to resolve this problem, and now they have taken a step further toward accomplishing this mission.