Science

So far as feedstocks for the production of biofuels go, kelp is a highly promising one on many fronts, and a new technology promises to boost its credentials even further by maximizing its exposure to both sunlight and nutrients.

In order to promote hydrogen developments outside its own product lineup, Toyota has packaged up a fuel cell module you can buy more or less like a crate engine, ready to plumb into whatever device you'd like to power with hydrogen.

Scientists have made a breakthrough in the way we study this plasma, managing to trap an ultracold form of it in a magnetic "bottle" for the first time, an achievement that could act as a springboard for research into nuclear fusion energy.

Infections of Cryptococcus fungi are potentially fatal, because the immune system has a hard time fighting off the invaders. But now researchers have given it a helping hand by adapting a cancer immunotherapy technique called CAR T cell therapy.

According to Japan's Yokohama National University, jaundice occurs in 60 to 80 percent of all newborn babies, and can result in brain damage or even death if left unchecked. That's why they've developed a new wearable device to help in its treatment.

Urinary tract infections are a common and painful infection that can be surprisingly persistent. Now, researchers have developed a vaccine that can be delivered via catheter to clear out the bacteria and prevent infections from recurring.

NASA has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract worth up to US$84.5 million to help develop the Mars Ascent Propulsion System, which will be used as part of a plan to return samples collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth.

SpaceX has made a miraculous first landing of its Starship spacecraft, a momentous step forward in the company's ambitions to reach the Moon and Mars, following less successful attempts in which earlier Starship prototypes exploded on touchdown.

Scientists have found evidence of a “space hurricane” for the first time. The storm, made up of swirling clouds of plasma, raged in Earth’s upper atmosphere for hours, dumping huge amounts of electrons like rain in a system that resembles a regular hurricane.

Graphene has a lot of useful properties, but magnetism isn’t usually one of them. Now, researchers have managed to induce an “artificial magnetic texture” in graphene, which could have major implications for the emerging field of spintronics.

Along with its use in clothing, silk also shows promise for use in products ranging from surgical sutures to seed coverings. Scientists have recently devised a method of making the material stronger, by altering the diet of silkworms.

Despite their prevalence, only a tiny fraction of rare earth magnets are recycled from discarded electronics, but a new project involving Bentley Motors is intended to steer this trend back in the right direction.

We all know that bats locate prey in the dark using echolocation, but … is that really all there is to it? Scientists decided to get more details on the animals' hunting process, by equipping them with tiny wearable computers.

Some animals sustain grave injuries and may struggle to return to full health, while others possess a remarkable ability to regenerate damaged tissue. A new study suggests whale sharks may have more in common with the latter group than previously thought.

Scientists at the University of Buffalo have found a very useful clue shedding light on the migration of canines to the Americas, in the DNA of an ancient bone fragment thought to be the oldest confirmed dog remains in the region.

A new study has found that in about a billion years’ time, Earth will rapidly lose most of its atmospheric oxygen, returning to how it was billions of years ago. This may have important implications in the search for life on other planets.

When we hear about microplastic particles polluting the ocean, the usual suspected sources are degraded plastic goods and synthetic textile fibers. A new study, however, suggests that much of the blame lies with hull coatings on ships.

An ancient tree fossil has offered scientists a peek into a moment 42,000 years ago when the Earth’s magnetic field went haywire. The study paints a picture of environmental chaos, influencing everything from an increase in cave paintings to the extinction of the Neanderthals.

Last year gravitational waves were detected from a massive black hole collision. But now astrophysicists propose a new explanation: a collision of two boson stars – hypothetical, invisible objects that could help untangle the mystery of dark matter.

Scientists have categorized 18 different types of ice so far, each with its own unique crystalline structure and unique arrangement of hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Now another, by the name of ice XIX, has been added to the list.

We’re all familiar with the march of time, but why it does so is a mystery. In 2016 Australian physicist Joan Vaccaro proposed a new quantum theory of time, and now a team will test the hypothesis by searching for time dilation in a nuclear reactor.

While there are now many appliances that can be controlled via the internet, each one of those has to incorporate Internet of Things (IoT) electronics. Engineers have now created a system that moves those electronics to the home's wall outlets.

One display just isn’t enough for most people. If you’d rather not clutter up your desk with a whole bunch of screens, Lenovo has unveiled ThinkReality A3, a pair of augmented reality glasses that can project up to five virtual displays around you.

With colossal price tags to go with the colossal screen sizes, commercial applications have remained the main target for Sony's modular Crystal LED display technology. That continues with Sony's release of two new Crystal LED models.

Progress on quantum computers may soon stall. Cosmic rays streaming to Earth can interfere with the integrity of information in quantum computers, and now an MIT team has shown just how vulnerable they are and what it might take to protect them.

Current-gen quantum computing "qubits" need to be kept incredibly cold – below 0.1 Kelvin (-273.05 °C/-459.5 °F). But new "hot qubits" developed at UNSW can work 15 times hotter, opening the door to radically smaller, cheaper quantum computers.

Scientists have achieved quantum teleportation between two computer chips for the first time, sending information between them without being physically or electronically connected. The feat opens the door for quantum computers and quantum internet.