Lithium-air batteries are poised to become the next revolutionary replacement for currently used lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, cell phones and computers.
Lithium-air batteries, which currently are still in the experimental stages of development, can store 10 times more...
The first quick, accurate, nondestructive and portable way to scan produce for nutrients has been demonstrated by a team of Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists. The same scan can also identify diseases in living plants before visible symptoms appear.
The...
Washington State University researchers have developed an environmentally-friendly, plant-based material that for the first time works better than Styrofoam for insulation.
The foam is mostly made from nanocrystals of cellulose, the most abundant plant material on earth. The researchers also developed an...
While energy sources such as wind and solar are great at producing emissions-free electricity, they depend on the sun and the wind, so supply doesn't always meet the demand. Likewise, nuclear power plants operate more efficiently at maximum capacity...
The remarkable properties of a recently-discovered squid protein could revolutionize materials in a way that would be unattainable with conventional plastic, finds a review published in Frontiers in Chemistry. Originating in the ringed teeth of a squid's predatory arms,...
In the blockbuster Terminator movie franchise, an evil robot morphs into different human forms and objects and oozes through narrow openings, thanks to its "liquid-metal" composition. Although current robots don't have these capabilities, the technology is getting closer with the development...
Pressure treating—which involves putting lumber inside a pressurized watertight tank and forcing chemicals into the boards—has been used for more than a century to help stave off the fungus that causes wood rot in wet environments.
Now researchers at the...
A research group from Ruhr-Universität Bochum has investigated how acids interact with water molecules at extremely low temperatures. Using spectroscopic analyses and computer simulations, they investigated the question of whether hydrochloric acid (HCl) does or does not release its...
Securing enough energy to meet human needs is one of the greatest challenges society has ever faced. Previously reliable sources—oil, gas and coal—are degrading air quality, devastating land and ocean and altering the fragile balance of the global climate,...
In an advance that could push cheap, ubiquitous solar power closer to reality, University of Michigan researchers have found a way to coax electrons to travel much further than was previously thought possible in the materials often used for...
University of Colorado Boulder researchers have developed a new approach to designing more sustainable buildings with help from some of the tiniest contractors out there.
In a study that will appear Jan. 15 in the journal Matter, engineer Wil Srubar and...
