Science

Wearable electronics could soon be powered by dead microbes. New research out of UMass Amherst has demonstrated a biofilm that generates electricity from sweat, harnessing the corpses of dead bacteria – and it's at least as effective as a battery.

An exciting candidate when it comes to alternative battery chemistries is sodium-ion, and a research team in Russia has developed a novel battery of this ilk that boasts some impressive energy density, and may also be resistant to low temperatures.

The first generation-IV nuclear reactor design has been approved for certification by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NuScale's small modular reactor design promises safe, clean energy at radically reduced cost, land use and installation time.

Most vaccines need to be refrigerated, so it's difficult and expensive to get them to remote areas where they’re often needed most. A new method for encapsulating vaccines in hydrogels lets them be transported and stored at much higher temperatures.

The immune system’s foreign body response is key for keeping us healthy – but it’s not so useful when that foreign body is a medical implant. A new device prevents scar tissue forming around implants by gently inflating and deflating every 12 hours.

By using advanced screening methods to tune into the communications taking place between individual cells, scientists have produced a full connectivity map of the human immune system, which may help develop new treatments for disease.

The James Webb Space Telescope keeps breaking its own records for peering deeper into space and time. It's now detected a galaxy candidate about 35 billion light-years from Earth, which if confirmed would make it the most distant galaxy ever found.

Another stunning example of the James Webb Space Telescope's power has arrived courtesy of the instrument's advanced infrared cameras, which have illuminated incredible new components of what's known as the Cartwheel Galaxy.

The Moon isn’t the most hospitable place, but that’s not stopping NASA from sending humans back there soon. Thankfully, an orbiter has now found a region of the Moon with year-round jeans-and-jacket weather – underground caves.

Engineers at the University of Vienna have developed a new composite material that makes an efficient filter for removing organic pollutants from water. The system uses super-porous “nano-sponges” embedded on a sheet of graphene.

The production of cement is a major source of carbon emissions, so the less of it that's used, the better. A new study could help, as it shows that cement can be made much stronger with the addition of material derived from waste shrimp shells.

Construction is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Flinders University researchers have now developed a polymer made out of industrial waste that can be formed into building bricks that bond together without needing any mortar.

Scientists have demonstrated a new system that can restore crucial molecular and cellular functions in pigs one hour after death. The experiments could help widen the organ transplantation pool and may even lead to new treatments for heart attacks.

Researchers have created some of the most advanced synthetic mouse embryos out of stem cells, removing the need for sperm, eggs and even a womb. The technology could help us understand development and eventually be used to grow organs for transplant.

Exactly how non-living molecules sparked life is one of the most puzzling mysteries of science. Scientists have now discovered chemical reactions that can produce the building blocks of life out of materials common in early Earth's primordial soup.

Siemens Gamesa has developed a fully recyclable blade that can be used to create new products when its wind-catching days are done, and it's just been installed on a turbine at a commercial wind farm in the North Sea.

Microplastics are a major environmental problem, but a new study could help cut out a decent chunk of them. Silk could be a biodegradable replacement for microbeads and particles that are often added to cosmetics, paints and other products.

We're seeing a growing emphasis on direct air capture technology in our efforts to combat climate change, and an interesting new take on this technology could see it put to use on railways around the world.

Researchers have developed a more precise design for "optical tweezers," using a metasurface lens studded with millions of tiny pillars which focus light to trap and manipulate individual atoms. It could pave the way for powerful quantum devices.

Everything has to end eventually – including the universe itself. It might be hard to imagine a catastrophe big enough to affect the entirety of existence, but here are some of the leading hypotheses about how the universe could end, and when.

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the discovery of the Higgs boson. But what exactly is this particle, and why is it so important? What has it taught us in the last decade – and more importantly, what could it teach us in the next decade?

Although it's always best to reuse and recycle, many small, simple, low-power electronic devices tend to be single-use. A new paper battery could make them more eco-friendly, as it's activated by water, and it biodegrades once discarded.

While high-end car audio systems do allow users to tweak the various sound frequencies to their liking, the average non-audiophile may get lost in the process. The YourSound system is designed to make things easier, by guiding users via sound samples.

Engineers at MIT have developed a modular computer chip with components that can communicate using flashes of light. This could allow for electronics that can easily be upgraded with new sensors or processors, rather than replacing the whole chip.

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.