Polymer shifts shapes with changing temperature
Research reveals that a material commonly used in fuel cells and other devices can remember three previous shapes. The work, described in the March 11 Nature, is the first discovery of such shape-shifting skills in a widely available polymer, and suggests the material could be exploited for use in gadgets or smart fabrics.
Bottled Wind Could Be as Constant as Coal
Compressed-air energy storage plants use compressors to store electricity generated when it’s not needed. The air, pumped into large underground formations, is like a spring that’s been squeezed and when it’s needed, it can deliver a large percentage of the energy that it received.
Company to sell ‘world’s first practical jetpack’ for $75,000
Taking a leap into the future, the New Zealand-based Martin Aircraft Company plans to start selling commercial jetpacks to anyone with an interest and $75,000.
Strength is shore thing for sea shell scientists
Scientists have made synthetic 'sea shells' from a mixture of chalk and polystyrene cups - and produced a tough new material that could make our homes and offices more durable.
Chemical-Free Water-Blocking Material Inspired By Spider Hair
Looking veeeery closely at spider hairs, scientists at the University of Florida have figured a way to mimic the varying lengths of spider body hair in order to create a flat, water-blocking and self-cleaning surface that could be ideal for anything from food packaging to solar cells to windows.
Pitcher plants could be source of anti-fungal medicine
Carnivorous plants have developed a unique way to get the nutrients they need from sources other than soil. Now researchers have found the plants also developed a way to protect their access to those nutrients that could have an impact on medicine.
America’s Wind Energy Potential Triples in New Estimate
Current wind technology deployed in nonenvironmentally protected areas could generate 37,000,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year, according to the new analysis conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and consulting firm AWS Truewind. The last comprehensive estimate came out in 1993, when Pacific Northwest National Laboratory pe
Cactus producing electricity through photosynthesis
Scientists in France have transformed the chemical energy generated by photosynthesis into electrical energy by developing a novel biofuel cell. The advance offers a new strategy to convert solar energy into electrical energy in an environmentally-friendly and renewable manner. In addition, the biofuel cell could have important medical applications
Hairy secret of foraging plants discovered
Scientists from the John Innes Centre and the University of Oxford have discovered which genes control the specialized nutrient mining machine that develops on the surface of plant roots.
Butterflies see wing color and identify mates in UV
Butterfly experts have suspected for more than 150 years that vision plays a key role in explaining wing color diversity. Now, for the first time, research led by UC Irvine biologists proves this theory true - at least in nine Heliconius species.
Researchers demonstrate mosquito laser in action
In the video below, you can watch what happens to a mosquito at the instant it's zapped by a laser, all in slow-motion. Nathan Myhrvold’s company, Intellectual Ventures, has been developing the mosquito laser since 2008. Myhrvold recently demonstrated the device at the annual TED conference in Long Beach, Calif.
Nano gold circuitry turns light into electricity
Material scientists at the Nano/Bio Interface Center of the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated the transduction of optical radiation to electrical current in a molecular circuit. The system, an array of nano-sized molecules of gold, respond to electromagnetic waves by creating surface plasmons that induce and project electrical current ac
Making photonic paint and painting with structural color
Structural color is about scale and geometry. It has little to do with a substance’s chemical properties and everything to do with its physical ones. It is color by design. This means that several different colors can be generated from a substance without modifying its chemical composition in any way. The rub: geometric structures capable of prod
Cars of the Future Could Be Powered by Their Bodywork
Researchers from Imperial College London and their European partners, including Volvo Car Corporation, are developing a prototype material which can store and discharge electrical energy and which is also strong and lightweight enough to be used for car parts.
Researchers find genes that ‘tune’ flower fragrances
A team at UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences has uncovered some of the genes that control the complex mixture of chemicals that comprise a flower’s scent, opening new ways of “turning up” and “tuning” a flower’s aromatic compounds to produce desired fragrances.
Leaf veins inspire a new model for distribution networks
Leaves have an intricate web of veins that transport nutrients and water and provide structural support. But what determines the pattern of venation? Physicists Marcelo Magnasco and Eleni Katifori, of The Rockefeller University, investigated this question using sophisticated algorithms and a little glow-in-the-dark dye.
Asexual bdelloid rotifers thrive by drying up and blowing away
Bdelloid rotifers haven't had sex for at least thirty million years and that's puzzling. Most asexual animals are doomed to extinction. Reporting in the journal Science, Paul Sherman and Chris Wilson explain the extraordinary adaptations that allow rotifers to thrive sex-free.
Researchers directly turn mouse skin cells into neurons
Even Superman needed to retire to a phone booth for a quick change. But now scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have succeeded in the ultimate switch: transforming mouse skin cells in a laboratory dish directly into functional nerve cells with the application of just three genes. The cells make the change without first becoming
E. coli that produces fuels directly from biomass
A collaboration led by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) has developed a microbe that can produce an advanced biofuel directly from biomass. Deploying the tools of synthetic biology, the JBEI researchers engineered a strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria to produce biodiesel fuel and other imp
Energy-harvesting with PZT piezoelectric nanoribbons
The material, composed of ceramic nanoribbons embedded onto silicone rubber sheets, generates electricity when flexed and is highly efficient at converting mechanical energy to electrical energy. Shoes made of the material may one day harvest the pounding of walking and running to power mobile electrical devices. Placed against the lungs, sheets of
Monitoring Peatland from Earth and Space
A team of UK scientists led by Dr. Karen Anderson (University of Exeter) has developed a new technique for monitoring the condition of peatlands. The team used a combination of images captured from Earth and space to measure spatial patterning in peatland surfaces as an indicator of their condition. This new method uses a novel coupled approach, us
Mismatched alloys are good match for thermoelectrics
Employing some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have shown that mismatched alloys are a good match for the future development of high performance thermoelectric devices. Thermoelectrics hold enormous potential for green energy production because of their ability to convert heat into
Mussel-Inspired ‘Glue’ for Fetal Membrane Repair
A sealant inspired by mussels' ability to stick to surfaces under wet conditions has shown promise in the repair of defects in human fetal membranes, according to a recent Northwestern University study.
Program ANYTHING using GUI screenshots
Sikuli is a visual technology to search and automate graphical user interfaces (GUI) using images (screenshots). The first release of Sikuli contains Sikuli Script, a visual scripting API for Jython, and Sikuli IDE, an integrated development environment for writing visual scripts with screenshots easily. Sikuli Script automates anything you see on
Neural Thermostat Keeps Brain Running Efficiently
Our energy-hungry brains operate reliably and efficiently while processing a flood of sensory information, thanks to a sort of neuronal thermostat that regulates activity in the visual cortex, Yale researchers have found.
Vertical farm developed by Valcent (EU) at Paignton Zoo
The vertical farm produces food for the zoo animals in a hydroponic system.
Sublime caves of crystal in Mexico needs preservation
A sort of south-of-the-border Fortress of Solitude, Mexico's Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) contains some of the world's largest known natural crystals—translucent beams of gypsum as long as 36 feet (11 meters).
248-dimensional symmetry appears in lab for first time
The signature of a mathematical structure called E8 has been seen in the real world for the first time
Japanese researchers develop see-through goldfish
First came see-through frogs. Now Japanese researchers have succeeded in producing goldfish whose beating hearts can be seen through translucent scales and skin.
Printable paper thin OLED as bright as fluorescent bulbs
Wallpaper that can glow with light and bendable flat-panel screens are a step closer thanks to research into organic LEDs (OLEDs), which are widely hailed as the next generation of environmentally friendly lighting technology.
sublime aeolian patterns from sand dunes
The images in this gallery, taken by orbiting astronauts and satellites, show some of the most beautiful, most haunting, biggest, rarest and most stunning desert vistas on Earth.
Acacia plant control ants with chemicals
Symbiosis between plants and animals! A type of ant-gurad in Africa, known as Crematogaster, will even attack large herbivores that attempt to eat the plant.
NREC Demonstrates the Future of Smart Work
The National Robotics Engineering Center, (NREC) at Carnegie Mellon University is at the forefront of partnering man with technology to improve safety and costs. Among the completed projects are, the Caisson Construction 3D Modeling system used in the construction of the Nagasaki Bay Bridge, the Micro-Inertial Navigation Technology (MINT) a satelli
Bioactive glass nanofibers for bone regeneration
A team of researchers from the University of Vigo, Rutgers University in the United States and Imperial College London, in the United Kingdom, has developed "laser spinning", a novel method of producing glass nanofibres with materials. They have been able to manufacture bioglass nanofibres, the bioactive glass used in regenerating bone, for the fir
Ecosystem, vegetation affect intensity of urban heat island effect
NASA researchers studying urban landscapes have found that the intensity of the "heat island" created by a city depends on the ecosystem it replaced and on the regional climate. Urban areas developed in arid and semi-arid regions show far less heating compared with the surrounding countryside than cities built amid forested and temperate climates.
Fully autonomous micromachine driven by piezoelectric harvester
For the first time, a piezoelectric harvesting device fabricated by MEMS technology generates a record of 85μW electrical power from vibrations. A wafer level packaging method was developed for robustness. The packaged MEMS-based harvester is used to power a wireless sensor node. Within the Holst Centre program on Micropower Generation and Storage
Scientists discover mechanism behind superinsulation
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have discovered the microscopic mechanism behind the phenomenon of superinsulation, the ability of certain materials to completely block the flow of electric current at low temperatures. The essence of the mechanism is what the authors termed "multi-stage energy relaxation."
Scientists isolate new antifreeze molecule in Alaska beetle
Scientists have identified a novel antifreeze molecule in a freeze-tolerant Alaska beetle able to survive temperatures below minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike all previously described biological antifreezes that contain protein, this new molecule, called xylomannan, has little or no protein. It is composed of a sugar and a fatty acid and may exi