University of Central Florida

The US Naval Research Laboratory has funded a groundbreaking project to develop a new hypersonic engine capable of morphing its shape during flight to optimize power, thrust and efficiency. It's now entering experimental testing in Florida.

Almost three years after the event, neutron scans by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory have uncovered the cause of the platform collapse that resulted in the destruction of the 1,000-ft (300-m) Arecibo Observatory radio telescope.

Methane has a greenhouse effect 80 times worse than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, and emissions are skyrocketing even as we start reducing CO2. That makes UCF's new hydrocarbon-capturing, sunlight-powered catalyst a very compelling idea.

Water on the Moon isn't kept in convenient reservoirs, it’s locked away in the lunar soil. Now, a team of scientists has found that thirsty astronauts could one day refresh themselves fairly easily – by throwing a cup of Moon dirt in the microwave.

Traditional paint gets it color from synthetic pigments, which fade over time and aren't very eco-friendly. There may soon be a better alternative, though, in the form of a paint which incorporates color-producing nanostructures.

In an exciting example of what so-called structural batteries could look like, scientists have developed a "power suit" for electric vehicles that could not only extend their range, but give them a handy boost in acceleration at the same time.

UCF researchers say they've trapped a sustained explosive detonation, fixed in place, for the first time, channeling its enormous power into thrust in a new detonation engine that could propel a hypersonic aircraft up to 17 times the speed of sound.

A team at the University of Central Florida has put forward a seawater-based battery design that ticks some key boxes, by using seawater in place of flammable and toxic electrolytes and a new anode to improve durability.

Scientists at the University of Central Florida studying alternative lithium battery designs have come up with a modification to one they say could lead to great performance gains, thanks to a new protective coating for one of its electrodes.

Science operations have been suspended at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico after the radio telescope was damaged on Monday August 10. An auxiliary cable supporting a platform appears to have snapped and fallen, damaging the dish.

Scientists have created a new class of laser beam that appears to violate long-held laws of light physics. Known as “spacetime wave packets,” these lasers follow different rules of refraction, which could lead to new communication technologies.

A Florida team working with the US Air Force says that it's built and tested an experimental model of a rotating detonation rocket engine, which uses a spinning series of chaotic explosions inside a ring channel to create super-efficient thrust.