A researcher tests batteries that use a new material designed by AI Dan DeLong for Microsoft Artificial intelligence can accelerate the process of finding and testing new materials, and now researchers have used that ability to develop a battery that is less dependent on the costly mineral lithium. Lithium-ion batteries power many devices that we … Read more
Air conditioning units guzzle energy, and cooling accounts for about a fifth of the total electricity use in buildings John Elk III/Getty Images A cooling system with no moving parts or environmentally damaging refrigerant liquids or gases can work almost twice as efficiently as a standard air-conditioning system, which could slash electricity use. Most air … Read more
DNA’s strong bonds can act as a glue to make nanoparticles into sturdy materials Vladislav Kochelaevskiy/Alamy A material made from hollow nanoparticles and DNA is exceptionally strong, especially considering how small its building blocks are. It could eventually be used to build extremely sturdy medical and electronic devices. To make this super strong material, Horacio … Read more
Polyethylene, used in plastic bags, can be converted into hydrogen and graphene Jenya Smyk/Shutterstock A new way to make hydrogen from waste plastic also produces graphene as a byproduct. If the graphene is sold at its current market price, it could actually become profitable to generate hydrogen as a clean fuel. The most common way … Read more
The Bayesian experimental autonomous researcher (BEAR), a robotic laboratory Aldair E. Gongora and Bowen Xu A robotic laboratory that can produce and test mechanical structures without human supervision has discovered the most energy-absorbing one measured so far, beating the previous record held by balsa wood. There are many ways to test how tough or resilient … Read more
Close-up of a Morpho butterfly’s wing Shutterstock/Tomatito A thin film designed to mimic butterfly wings could keep cars cooler when applied to their exterior. Morpho butterflies have wings covered in nanostructures that bounce and bend incoming light to produce a blue colour that is vivid and vibrant when seen from many angles. Inspired by this, … Read more