New Atlas

Health & Wellbeing Audio available

Unexpected discovery reveals we burn more calories in the afternoon than in the morning

Rich Haridy November 11, 2018

A new study has revealed that our bodies burn calories at different rates throughout the day. The research, evaluating energy expenditure during resting states, suggests our circadian clock plays a major part in regulating metabolism.

A new study has found around a 10 percent difference in resting energy expenditure between early ...

Energy Audio available

Energy Vault to build grid-level, gravity-fed battery from a tower of concrete blocks

Michael Irving November 8, 2018

With a focus on storing energy from intermittent renewable sources such as wind and solar, Swiss company Energy Vault has just launched an innovative new system that stores potential energy in a huge tower of concrete blocks, which can be “dropped” by a crane to harvest the kinetic energy.

Energy Vault has launched a new grid-level energy storage system that uses concrete blocks, stacked in ...

Electronics

Can carbon fiber car panels double as energy storage materials?

Nick Lavars October 18, 2018

Carbon fiber as we know it is one of the most impressive materials in our toolkit, but could it also play a role in energy storage? One team of scientists has been exploring the possibilities, raising some interesting possibilities for weight-saving vehicle design.

Energy

Chernobyl fires back up as a solar power plant

Michael Irving October 7, 2018

More than 30 years after the worst nuclear disaster in history, the Chernobyl area is once again producing power. From the (somewhat literal) ashes of the Nuclear Power Plant springs the Chernobyl Solar Power Plant, which was officially launched with an opening ceremony on Friday.

The Chernobyl Solar Power Plant, located on the site of the infamous 1986 nuclear disaster, has ...

Electronics

A sprinkle of sodium powder keeps salt-based batteries powering on

Nick Lavars September 27, 2018

While experimental sodium-ion batteries continue to show promise, there are a few kinks to be ironed out before we see them become commonplace. Researchers at Purdue University are claiming to have overcome one important shortcoming by first reducing the sodium to a powder form.

Purdue researcher Jialiang Tang was part of a team that came up with a new sodium ...

Energy

MIT's lithium-carbon dioxide battery generates power and solidifies carbon

Michael Irving September 24, 2018

As the world warms up, we can’t just keep belching all our carbon dioxide out into the atmosphere. Now researchers at MIT have found another way to reuse this unwanted element – build lithium-carbon dioxide batteries.

A scanning electron microscope image of the carbon cathode of MIT's new lithium-carbon dioxide battery. Over ...

Biology

Struggle to lose weight? Your gut bacteria may be to blame

Rich Haridy August 1, 2018

A new study may shed some light on why certain people can lose more weight than others despite adhering to the same regime of exercise and caloric restriction. Alongside a myriad of other recent medical discoveries, the secret may lie in the unique make-up of our gut bacteria.

Not all calories are created equal, as a new study highlights how gut bacteria can alter ...

Energy

Harvard's new organic flow battery uses a long-lived recipe of Biblical proportions

Michael Irving July 25, 2018

A team of Harvard engineers has been making strides over the past few years with organic flow batteries, and has now tested a new molecule that makes for the longest-lasting, high-performance organic flow battery so far.

Harvard researchers have developed what they call the longest-lasting, high-performance organic flow battery yet developed

Energy

Liquid metal feeds Stanford's new high-voltage flow battery

Michael Irving July 20, 2018

Flow batteries have the potential to help store energy on a large scale, but there are a few issues still to overcome. Stanford engineers have developed a new type of flow battery that might be scalable, safe, efficient and inexpensive, using a metal mixture that remains liquid at room temperature.

Engineers at Stanford have developed a new type of flow battery using a metal mixture that ...

Energy

Bacteria-packed solar cell soaks up the Sun even behind clouds

Michael Irving July 6, 2018

Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have developed a new way to build solar cells containing bacteria, which are more efficient than similar systems and can even work on dim, cloudy days.

In the future, bacteria-powered solar cells could be competing with conventional panels