Science

An international team of scientists eyeing next-generation energy storage solutions have demonstrated an eco-friendly and low-cost battery with some exciting potential, which includes a fourfold increase on energy capacity over lithium-ion batteries.

Scientists at Stanford University have cooked up a new electrolyte recipe that tackles battery flammability in a highly promising way, leaning on extra salt content to circumvent problematic chemical reactions.

Floating wind turbines are crucial to the future of offshore wind, but they require radically different thinking. French company Eolink is building a full-scale pyramid-style floating wind turbine that reduces materials and weight by more than 30%.

A preliminary human study has shown promising results from an experimental nasal spray developed to treat sleep apnea. The early findings suggest a quick nasal spray before sleep could effectively keep a person's airways open throughout the night.

There are many drugs which are very helpful in the right dosage, but quite harmful in larger amounts. A new microneedle patch is designed to help in that regard, by showing exactly how much medication is currently present in a patient's bloodstream.

The installation of a cochlear implant is a tricky procedure, in which certain nerves may be damaged if the surgeon isn't careful. A new "smart" surgical drill is designed to help, by automatically shutting off if it gets too close to those nerves.

With its Starlink satellite-based internet now up and running in many corners of the globe and touching all seven continents, SpaceX is introducing a dedicated arm for national security applications called Starshield.

Ever since taking off on its historic first flight last year, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has been single-handedly raising the bar for the Red Planet’s aviation scene, and has now soared to its greatest heights yet.

Mars is usually considered a geologically dead planet, but a new study challenges that idea. Multiple lines of evidence reveals a giant plume of magma is forcing its way up through the mantle and producing seismic activity in one region of the surface.

A simple alloy has claimed the crown for toughest material ever recorded. A team led by Berkeley Lab discovered not only its incredible toughness, but high strength and ductility that improve in colder temperatures, unlike most known materials.

Carbon nanotubes have found use in everything from smart bandages to more efficient solar cells. Now, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have used them in a helmet lining foam that offers better impact protection than regular foams.

Scientists experimenting with the makeup of next-gen metals have developed a novel, copper-based alloy they say would be simple to produce at scale, and boasts unparalleled elasticity at room temperature.

Scientists have discovered a completely new branch on the tree of life. This “supergroup” contains an incredibly diverse range of predatory microbes that are extremely different genetically from any other form of life on Earth.

If you've ever listened to death metal rock or Mongolian throat singing, you'll be familiar with the growling vocals that are part of both. Well, bats make similar sounds, and it turns out that they do so in the same manner as human singers.

Scientists in Japan have demonstrated a technique that allows them to remotely control the movements of worms. By implanting light-sensitive proteins into the organisms, the team was able to make them move under green light and stop under UV.

Scientists are claiming to have solved a longstanding mystery around why lightning takes on a zigzag shape as it flashes across the sky, pinning it on high-energy molecules responsible for redistributing electrical fields.

In addition to rising air temperatures and warming waters, Arctic’s sea ice also has hostile weather conditions to contend with, and new analysis of an extreme event earlier this year suggests it may be more vulnerable to these than we thought.

The way animals disperse seeds throughout landscapes is known to be an important element in promoting growth of forested areas, and a new study over an extended timeframe has shed valuable new light on this process.

Dark matter remains elusive despite decades of searching. Now physicists have proposed a new experiment that would try to find signals by sending atomic clocks to where dark matter should be at its most dense – right near the Sun.

Wormholes are a sci-fi staple, and and it's possible that they exist in the real universe. But how would they work? Physicists have now used a quantum processor to simulate a traversable wormhole, teleporting information between two quantum systems.

Despite making up 85% of the total mass in the universe, dark matter eludes detection. A new study proposes a unique way to look for it using the Earth’s atmosphere as a giant detector for dark matter particles streaming through the air like meteors.

You can build just about anything out of Lego, and now that even includes your keyboard. Pixel is a new mechanical keyboard from MelGeek that can be customized with Lego bricks around the rim, on the back or even on the keys themselves.

While the field of printable electronics holds much promise, the printing of circuits onto curved surfaces is still very challenging. A new technique simplifies the process of doing so, potentially allowing for new types of electronic devices.

Foldable, rollable and bendable displays are beginning to appear in electronics, but now we’ve had a glimpse at a new take on the idea. LG Display has unveiled the first high-definition display that can be stretched, twisted and folded during use.

Three teams of scientists have achieved a major milestone in quantum computing. All three groups demonstrated better than 99 percent accuracy in silicon-based quantum devices, paving the way for practical, scalable, error-free quantum computers.

IBM has unveiled the Eagle, the world’s most powerful quantum processor. Boasting 127 quantum bits (qubits), the Eagle is a major step towards commercial quantum computers outperforming traditional machines.

An Australian/German company is developing powerful quantum accelerators the size of graphics cards. They work at room temperature, undercutting and outperforming today's huge, cryo-cooled quantum supercomputers, promising industry-wide disruption.