Science

Batteries that use organic materials in place of rare metals are seen as a promising way to tackle their environmental footprint, and new research demonstrates how their performance might be brought up to speed.

Scientists have put forward a solution to a major problem plaguing lithium metal batteries, demonstrating how a finely tuned carbon membrane can prevent these types of battery form failure and enable them to be safely charged over hundreds of cycles.

To maximize the exposure of wind turbines, blades are placed atop tall towers on the crests of hills or miles off shore. But a new study has shown how turbines behind hills could actually produce higher amounts of energy than those out in the open.

Scientists at Japan's Nagoya University have demonstrated how brain tumors might be detected far earlier, leading to better outcomes for patients, through a simple urine test that has shown high accuracy in early experiments.

A new technology developed at Imperial College London could give one of our most promising malaria vaccine candidates a huge boost, by streamlining the development process through the use of what are described as "mosquito smoothies."

Scientists have demonstrated yet another use for the ever-versatile wonder material graphene, using it as the basis for an advanced sensor that can image electrical signals from living cells and tissue in real time.

The outskirts of our solar system is teeming with mysterious objects – and now one of them is heading our way. Astronomers have discovered a minor planet that’s about to make its closest pass to the Sun on its 600,000-year orbit.

In 2018 astronomers claimed to have found a galaxy that didn’t have any dark matter. The controversial study sparked a debate and raised new questions about cosmology. Now, the scientists say they've uncovered further evidence of the odd deficiency.

China has embarked on its first crewed space mission in almost five years, launching a trio of astronauts into orbit to occupy its under-construction space station, before the two final modules are launched over the next 18 months.

Scientists in China have developed an artificial skin for prosthetic devices and robotics that changes color in response to force, mimicking the bruising process to offer a visual sign that damage has taken place.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have taken plastic recycling technology into new territory, demonstrating how an engineered form of E. coli bacteria can be used to turn plastic bottles in vanillin, the primary compound of vanilla flavoring.

This graphene-based aerogel is the lightest sound insulation material ever manufactured, say researchers at the University of Bath, who have demonstrated its ability to damp down noise by up to 16 dB despite weighing just 2.1 kg per cubic meter.

Most fish utilize a mouthful of water to swallow their prey. According to a new study, however, moray eels are unique in not doing so, allowing them to feed while out of the water … with some help from a second set of jaws in their throat.

Although spiders do help us by eating pests such as mosquitos, many people still aren't wild about having the things in their homes. Such folks may be interested in new research which suggests that ant chemicals could be used to harmlessly keep spiders away.

A browsable 3D map of just one millionth of the cerebral cortex has been created using 225 million images and a whopping 1.4 petabytes of data, illustrating the immense complexity of the human brain.

When restoring former industrial or agricultural land back to its natural state, it's vitally important to reestablish ground cover plants such as native grasses. According to a new study, the addition of aspirin helps those grasses grow.

Researchers have put forward an interesting way of preventing some of this damage brought by ocean acidification, through a study demonstrating how releasing an alkalinizing agent from shipping lanes could help protect much of the Great Barrier Reef.

Back in January, we covered an autonomous plastic trash collector called Clearbot that was designed to remove waste from local waterways. Now the startup behind the project has partnered with gaming titan Razer for an updated design.

“Stationary” has very different meanings in quantum scales – an object that looks perfectly still to us is made up of bouncing atoms. Now, scientists have managed to slow down the atoms almost to a complete stop in the largest macro-scale object yet.

A subatomic particle has been found switching between matter and antimatter, in Large Hadron Collider data. It turns out an unfathomably tiny weight difference between two particles could have saved the universe from annihilation soon after it began.

Why is the expansion of the universe accelerating? The leading hypothesis is a repellent force that astrophysicists refer to as “dark energy." But how does it work? What does it mean for our future? And how sure are we that it even exists?

Researchers from the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology have developed a wearable health-monitoring system that's attached to a user's wrist, and can stretch by as much as 30 percent without affecting display or monitoring performance.

Researchers have demonstrated a new approach to harnessing the power of ambient radio waves, developing a novel chip that can convert Wi-Fi signals into power for a small LED, and possibly other small electronics and sensors.

Engineers at Columbia University have developed the smallest single-chip system ever created, which can be implanted with a hypodermic needle to measure temperature inside the body, and possibly much more.

A quantum internet could one day allow quantum computers to team up and tackle some gigantic problems. Researchers at Toshiba are a step closer, demonstrating quantum communications sent over a record-breaking 600 km (373 miles) of optic fiber.

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.