KAUST

It's a sad fact that people with severe respiratory illnesses are often confined to hospitals, where they must breathe through ventilators. A new portable device that harvests oxygen from the air, however, may someday allow them to stay at home.

The burning of coal may be falling out of favor as a means of generating heat and electricity, but that doesn't mean the material no longer has any valuable uses. According to a new study, it could be utilized in the desalination of seawater.

Living coral reefs consist of rigid "skeletons" inhabited by the tiny coral polyps that built them. A new research project aims to restore damaged reefs faster than ever, utilizing 3D-printed skeletons made of the same material as the real thing.

There are many parts of the world that lack infrastructure, but that get a lot of sunlight ... which makes buildings hot. A new system could help, as it uses a combination of sunlight and salt water – but no electricity – to produce a cooling effect.

The ocean holds billions of tons of lithium, and scientists have just tested a new way of extracting it, with a device that takes in seawater and pumps out freshwater and lithium phosphate – plus more than enough H2 and chlorine to pay the power bill.

While reverse osmosis is a relatively energy-efficient form of seawater desalination, it is nonetheless made less efficient by a problem known as biofouling. A new membrane coating, however, could address biofouling like never before.

Making every micrometer count is a key consideration for designers and engineers working on modern smartphones, and a new nanometer-thick form of graphite that helps keep electronic devices cool could free up some valuable space.

New ultrathin solar cells boast a few advantages over others of their type. They're more efficient, made using more common elements, and can be inkjet-printed onto surfaces, making them light and flexible enough to power wearable electronics.

A highly porous and recyclable mat developed at Saudi Arabia’S King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) could mean good things for the environment, with its creators reporting it can adsorb oil with great efficiency.

An international team of scientists has created a new type of solar flow battery that’s efficient and long-lasting. The device is made up of a silicon/perovskite tandem solar cell, paired with a redox flow battery, with organic chemical electrolytes.

Although N95 face masks are quite effective at blocking transmission of the COVID-19-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus, they're also intended to be used only a few times at most. A new removable membrane, however, could make them much more reusable.

Radio waves travel poorly through the water, which makes it difficult for divers or submersibles to wirelessly transmit information to the surface. Scientists are trying to change that, though, by developing an underwater version of Wi-Fi.