Looking back at 2016 (1/2)

Health, energy, maths and chocolate: no field of research has been neglected last year by EPFL's scientists. Cheaper solar cells with 20.2% efficiency Some of the most promising solar cells today use light-harvesting films made from perovskites. However, perovskite-based solar cells use expensive 'hole-transporting' materials, whose function is to move the positive charges that are generated when light hits the perovskite film. EPFL researchers have now engineered a considerably cheaper hole-transporting material that still delivers a solar-cell efficiency of 20. Later on, they even achieved a 21.6% efficiency by adding rubidium. Cancer: banana peels can help identify the stages of melanoma Human skin and banana peels have something in common: they produce the same enzyme when attacked. When bananas age, they become covered in black spots caused by the enzyme tyrosinase.