Nanjing University

Although it's already widely used in building construction, traditional wood (pictured) isn't all that it could be

Materials

"Self-densified" wood could give metal a run for its money

While sustainably-grown wood can be an eco-friendly building material, its relatively low tensile strength limits its potential applications. That could soon change, however, thanks to a new self-densifying technique for creating super-strong wood.

A new seawater electrolyzer cleverly pulls hydrogen (and a little lithium) out of seawater as efficiently as commercial freshwater electrolyzers, using a clever evaporation technique

Energy

Clever device efficiently splits hydrogen and lithium out of seawater

Chinese researchers say they've demonstrated a seawater electrolyzer that works as efficiently as a commercial freshwater electrolyzer for months on end without corroding itself to death. It also looks like these machines could harvest lithium, too.

Left: the new wood-derived white foam. Right: the foam demonstrating its cooling nature in direct sunlight

Materials

Wood-based foam passively cools buildings to cut energy bills

A huge chunk of energy usage goes towards heating and cooling homes and buildings, so it’s important to find new ways to regulate temperature passively. A new wood-based foam could drastically cool buildings to a degree that can be easily tuned.

Chinese scientists have demonstrated an experimental quantum network using drones as relay points

Telecommunications

Quantum communication network goes long with help of drones

Researchers in China have demonstrated a quantum communication network where entangled photons are beamed between drones and ground stations, successfully maintaining their quantum link over a distance of 1 km.