Science

The state that built the world's first grid-level "big battery" is striking out on an even more ambitious green energy project: the world's biggest hydrogen power station, fed by an electrolysis facility 10 times larger than anything running today.

There are already "smart" windows that can be electronically switched between either letting sunlight through or blocking it. A new multi-layered one, however, can be set to several energy-saving light filtration modes.

Green hydrogen is going to demand a lot of water for electrolysis – nine liters of pure water for every kilogram of hydrogen. Researchers say they've found a simple way to use seawater in standard electrolyzers, and that's big news for clean energy.

ALS is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease with poor outcomes, but a pair of new studies may point towards a more optimistic future. In tests in human cells and live mice, scientists identified promising new targets for potential treatment.

In what sounds like sci-fi, transfusions of youthful blood can improve the health of older people. A new study has found that an existing arthritis drug can effectively rejuvenate blood stem cells, mimicking the benefits of young blood transfusions.

Using the same whipping siphon used in the culinary world, researchers have created a food-based foam that can be injected directly into tumors. The foam contains oxygen, which makes tumors more susceptible to chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

The chances are incredibly small that Earth is the only planet with life. A new AI system has scoured millions of radio signals from space to identify any with potential artificial origins – and discovered eight signals that look intriguingly alien.

Of the over 5,000 exoplanets discovered, only about 12 even come close to resembling Earth. That number has been increased with the discovery of Wolf 1069 b, a planet with qualities that make it a good candidate to study further for signs of life.

Explosions get you much more bang from your fuel buck than combustion – if your engine can withstand them. NASA believes the rotating detonation engine could be the future of deep space travel, and it's getting strong results in prototype testing.

A team of researchers has developed a new material that’s not only elastic, but is impervious to gases and liquids – something this kind of material is usually bad at. The material could be useful for making flexible batteries or wearable electronics.

Researchers have created a new class of robots that can shift between solid and liquid forms on demand. In a series of tests, these new bots could change shape to run obstacle courses, carry objects, or even escape from a jail cell like a Terminator.

Solar panels can’t operate efficiently if they’re caked in dirt, but cleaning them regularly can be a time-consuming process. Engineers in Germany have now developed an ultra-thin coating that can make solar panels and other surfaces self-cleaning.

Most of what we know about ancient extinct animals comes from their bones, since soft tissues don’t usually fossilize well. But now, scientists have discovered the oldest preserved vertebrate brain, in a fossilized fish almost 320 million years old.

Using gene editing, researchers have engineered prairie voles with no oxytocin receptors. These monogamous mammals were thought to rely on oxytocin to form social bonds but new results suggest this "love hormone" may be less important than suspected.

Our ancestors probably didn’t smell good, but did they smell well? A new study has grown odor receptors from Neanderthals and Denisovans, and tested their sensitivities to different smells compared to modern humans.

Although the air in our homes or workplaces may seem OK, it might contain harmful compounds emitted by materials like particleboard and carpeting. New research suggests that we may soon be able to tell if that is the case, using tiny glowing worms.

A rare decarbonization idea that looks as good for business as it does for the planet. This system promises to radically reduce carbon dioxide emissions for 70% of steelmakers, while generating profits and making use of existing blast furnaces.

Seeking a passive way to keep buildings cool in hot weather and warmer in the colder months, researchers have developed a new electrochromic shape-shifting material. It switches from solid to liquid and from clear to opaque at set temperatures.

Physicists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered a completely new type of quantum entanglement, the spooky phenomenon that binds particles across any distance. This allowed scientists to peer inside nuclei in more detail than ever before.

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.

The sharpness of images on a MicroLED screen is limited by how tightly the pixels that make up the display are packed. MIT scientists have taken a unique approach to packing them much tighter, by vertically stacking the pixels' components.

Some people feel that their food isn't quite tasty enough unless it had added salt, sugar or MSG. The SpoonTEK spoon offers a healthier alternative, as it reportedly boosts the perceived flavor of foods by harmlessly zapping its user's tastebuds.

With a new year comes a new CES, and a new crop of gadgets. Samsung has now revealed its latest lineup of monitors, headlined by the new Odyssey Neo G9, which packs two 4K displays side-by-side in one ultra-wide, curved monitor.

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.