Most batteries have a cathode on one side and an anode on the other, with a separator between them. Engineers at Cornell University have developed an unusual new structure that intertwines the components together in a swirling shape, which they say lets the device recharge in a matter of seconds.
Continue Reading
Another day, another new use for graphene. This two-dimensional form of carbon is strong, flexible and a great conductor. Now the overachieving wonder material has been put to work in the garden, as Australian researchers have used it as an effective slow-release carrier for fertilizer.
Continue Reading
Krill may be small, but scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) say that these tiny crustaceans play an important role in the transportation of carbon within the oceans. According to a recent study, they can accelerate how atmospheric carbon moves into the deep ocean.
Continue Reading
A Caltech team has bred bacteria that can make boron-carbon bonds, which were previously only possible in the lab. That ability opens up the range of chemical compounds that bacteria could create, paving the way for easier and more environmentally-friendly production of drugs and other chemicals.
Continue Reading
Researchers have now found a way for graphene to be used as a clean and potentially unlimited energy source. By tapping into the random fluctuations of the carbon atoms that make up graphene sheets, the scientists can generate an alternating current strong enough to indefinitely power a wristwatch.
Continue Reading
After opening the world’s first commercial Direct Air Capture (DAC) plant designed to pull CO2 out of the air, Swiss company Climeworks is now joining forces with a geothermal power plant in Iceland to create the world’s first “negative emission” power plant.
Continue Reading
Researchers at Rice University have improved lithium metal batteries with the help of an unlikely ingredient. The team found that adding asphalt to the anode made for lithium metal batteries that charge faster and are less likely to short circuit and fail.
Continue Reading
To make use of graphene in practical applications, it usually needs to be converted into a 3D form. Now, researchers have developed a new and relatively simple way to do just that, using lasers to “forge” a three-dimensional pyramid out of graphene.
Continue Reading
In the history of life on Earth, there have been five mass extinction events. Now, an MIT professor has analyzed the changes that took place in the carbon cycle leading up to these events and found that the end of this century could mark the tipping point for a sixth mass extinction event.
Continue Reading
Gemstones might not seem so valuable if they literally rained from the sky, but that's thought to be a common weather pattern on ice giant planets. Now scientists at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have seen it in action here on Earth, by making it rain diamonds in the lab.
Continue Reading
See the stories that matter in your inbox every morning