Electricity

A new prototype device works like a kind of reverse solar panel, harvesting energy from the cold night sky to passively power an LED.

Scientists have found that the electric eel comes in three species rather than one and that one of these is a real shocker.

The Australian National Maritime Museum has installed the country's largest lightweight solar roof on its Heritage Centre. By using flexible, glass-free solar panels from SunMan Energy, buildings traditionally unsuitable for solar panels can now take part in the renewable energy revolution.

​Back in 2012, Eco Wave Power started testing a wave energy harvesting system that could be installed on existing structures like breakwaters and piers. The company switched on its first grid-connected project four years later, and has now announced the second.​

It’s not unusual to find rust around salt water, but now the pairing might be more useful. Researchers have found that electricity can be produced when salt water flows over the top of thin films of rust. The process was previously seen in – what else – graphene, but rust is far easier to scale up.

​​Capturing some of the energy in and around the wheels of a car as it travels down the road is an interesting idea. Sumitomo Rubber is throwing a new possibility out there, with a tire design that would leverage friction down below to produce electricity for the vehicle's onboard accessories. ​

​We've already heard how electrical pulses have been shown to help heal wounds, by promoting tissue growth. An experimental new implant uses that same principle to aid in the regeneration of cardiac tissue, potentially postponing or even eliminating the need for heart transplants.

Heat loss is wasted energy. If we're to successfully create smaller, more efficient technology, then the thermal energy that our gadgets waste needs to be put to better use. This new device, which works at the nanoscale where the theoretical "blackbody limit" falls apart, could be the answer.

Superconductors can conduct electricity with absolutely no loss, so they could be revolutionary if not for one little problem: they only work if kept extremely cold. But now researchers at Max Planck have reported a new record high temperature for superconductivity, at a toasty -23° C (-9.4° F).

An incredible study has demonstrated the potential of a wound dressing that can fight bacterial infections using a weak electrical field. Offering a novel way to battle antibiotic-resistant infections, the dressing has been approved by the FDA and is currently being tested in human burn patients.

Snowy places aren’t ideal for harvesting solar energy – panels can’t do much if they’re buried under blankets of snow, of course. Now a team from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has developed a new device that can produce electricity from snow itself.

In a new step towards truly wireless charging, engineers have developed an ultra-thin device that captures Wi-Fi signals and converts them into electricity.