news

A floating, solar-powered device that can turn contaminated water or seawater into clean hydrogen fuel and purified water, anywhere in the world, has been developed by researchers. These are the sorts of solutions we will need to develop a truly circular economy and sustainable future Erwin Reisner The device, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, could be useful in resource-limited or off-grid environments, since it works with any open water source and does not require any outside power.

One of the great unknowns in climate models is the behavior of certain gases that often smell strongly and cause water to condense. TU Wien (Vienna) is providing new insights into this. It has long been clear that man-made greenhouse gases are changing the climate - but there are still important details of climate change that are not well understood.

UdeM chemists have developed a new tool for detecting interactions between sugars and lectins, a discovery that could help in the fight against diseases like cancer. Scientists at Université de Montréal's Department of Chemistry have developed a new fluorogenic probe that can be used to detect and study interactions between two families of biomolecules essential to life: sugars and proteins.

Ensuring growth and development, sometimes sustained, without risking fragility. This is the delicate balance facing plants.

Offering the chemical industry an 'unparalleled possibility' for changing the future of chemical processes Liquid metals could be the long-awaited solution to "greening" the chemical industry, according to researchers who tested a new technique they hope can replace energy-intensive chemical engineering processes harking back to the early 20th century.

The results open the door to exploring superconductivity and other exotic electronic states in three-dimensional materials. Electrons move through a conducting material like commuters at the height of Manhattan rush hour. The charged particles may jostle and bump against each other, but for the most part they're unconcerned with other electrons as they hurtle forward, each with their own energy.

Between 13,000 and 9,650 years ago, the Natoufian culture developed on the eastern Mediterranean coast of northern Israel. According to recent discoveries, these hunter-gatherers were the first to use red pigments of organic origin. "It was a great surprise to discover such ancient and well-preserved pigments of organic origin" , confides Laurent Davin, archaeologist at the Laboratoire Technologie et ethnologie des mondes préhistoriques (Temps) 1 and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and co-author of the study just published in the journal PLOS ONE.

"Understanding the connection between electronic and ion transport properties in electrode-electrolyte interfaces at the molecular scale could enable new strategies to accelerate processes central to many renewable energy technologies, including hydrogen generation and utilisation." Researchers from the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester have discovered a way to use light to accelerate proton transport through graphene , which could revolutionise the way we generate hydrogen.

University of Waterloo scientists capture carbon and turn it into sustainable, clean fuel Scientists at the University of Waterloo have achieved a historic breakthrough in transforming the carbon dioxide emissions driving climate change into clean fuels. The process, which has been refined over a two-year period, could play a significant role to help decarbonize industrial emissions and boost both the environment and national economies.

With bonfire night on the horizon, scientists reveal just why fireworks are differently coloured and what this can teach us about stars in space. Elements commonly found in salts are used to make the colours in fireworks. The colours are caused when the elements are heated, causing them to release light in different colours, from bright blues to deep reds.

Researchers from the Universities of Freiburg and Ulm have developed a monolithically integrated photo battery using organic materials. Networked intelligent devices and sensors can improve the energy efficiency of consumer products and buildings by monitoring their consumption in real time. Miniature devices like these being developed under the concept of the Internet of Things require energy sources that are as compact as possible in order to function autonomously.

Fibers produced from the slime exhibit a strength akin to nylon, yet they can dissolve in water and be reconstituted into new fibers from the solution In the tropical, temperate forests it calls home, the velvet worm uses a projectile "slime" to capture its prey. When it's ejected from the worm, the slime transforms into a gel before solidifying into stiff fibers upon exposure to air.

Selective genetic channel modifications can protect hydrogen-producing enzymes from harmful oxygen. There are high hopes for hydrogen as the key to the energy transition. A specific enzyme group found in algae and in bacteria can produce molecular hydrogen simply by catalyzing protons and electrons.

The approach directly converts the greenhouse gas into formate, a solid fuel that can be stored indefinitely and could be used to heat homes or power industries. The search is on worldwide to find ways to extract carbon dioxide from the air or from power plant exhaust and then make it into something useful.

· Scientists will develop a universal code for computer simulations which improve our understanding of the quantum world · This will help researchers across the world collaborate on experiments to make use of quantum effects · Many important new technologies - like quantum computing and generating clean energy - are based on understanding and controlling the dynamics of electrons, atoms and molecules For the first time, scientists will develop a universal software framework for simulations, removing many barriers that exist to achieving a deeper understanding across the quantum world.

In physics, the complex processes in solids are often described in terms of quasiparticles. In ultracold quantum gases, these quasiparticles can be reproduced and studied. Now, for the first time, Innsbruck scientists led by Rudolf Grimm have been able to observe in experiments how Fermi polarons - a special type of quasiparticle - can interact with each other.

Newly discovered mechanism contributes to a better understanding of molecular foundations of fertility Special proteins - known as membrane transporters - are of key importance for the mobility of sperm cells. A research team from the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH) headed by Cristina Paulino has, with the aid of cryo-electron microscopy, for the first time succeeded in decoding the structure of such a transporter and its mechanism.

The molecular journey of triglycerides sealing the barrier of the tuberculosis bacterium revolves around a two-protein team. Tuberculosis is a severe infectious disease that claims about 1.3 million lives annually world-wide. This dismal toll is caused by the notorious pathogen Mycobacteria tuberculosis , whose bitter success depends on its formidable cellular double barrier offering at the same time protection from the host defence system, and a terrain mediating host-pathogen interactions during infection.

An article by TU/e researcher Thijs de Groot and his team on the usefulness of a small cathode gap in alkaline electrolyzers appeared in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy recently. Green hydrogen is a serious contender to become a renewable energy carrier. For example, we could use it to store solar and wind energy during peaks in order to utilize the energy when the sun is no longer shining and the wind is calm.

Knowing the energy of light absorbed by a molecule enables us to understand its structure, its quantum states, its interaction with other molecules and its potential technological applications. Molecules with a high probability of simultaneously absorbing two low-energy photons of light have a wide range of applications: as molecular probes in high-resolution microscopy, as substrates for data storage in dense three-dimensional structures or as vectors in medicinal treatments.