Energy
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Magazine
Lithium: Powering the Green Revolution
The race for better battery power has caused a “white gold” rush on lithium.
by Richard A Lovett As the climate warms, sea levels rise and droughts, heatwaves and bushfires multiply, the need...
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How to jet power wind turbines
Fast lower-atmosphere winds have a complicated effect on wind power.
Wind farms and their turbines have been growing over the past decade – both in area and in height. The larger a tu...
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Green lantern shoots straight
Record-breaking laser cuts through atmosphere
Scientists have set a world record for the most stable transmission of a laser signal through the atmosphere, effecti...
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Cosmos Briefing: Lithium
Experts discuss lithium and renewable energy needs.
As the demand for renewable-energy technologies skyrockets, we need to think about how to source their constituent ma...
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Spice up your solar
A touch of chilli may create more stable photovoltaic cells.
Chilli is known to have a range of health benefits, from reducing infections to improving digestive performance. But ...
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New charge for old battery?
Researchers find a way to make zinc-air batteries reusable.
Zinc-air (Zn-air) batteries aren’t new – they were first commercially produced in the 1930s – and they have a lot of ...
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The lure of lithium gets serious
Power demand means we need new sources.
Scientists and engineers seeking to power the alternative-energy future are scrambling to find new sources of lithium...
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Producing hydrogen, not oxygen
Scientists create tiny droplet-based microbial factories.
The search for alternative energy sources is as wide-ranging as it is important. In a new chapter, scientists from...
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A new kind of power walking
Nanogenerator is like a tiny personal wind turbine.
Scientists are constantly searching for new and clever ways to make electricity. Earlier this year, for example, Cosm...
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Add plasma to biomass to get better biogas
Researchers try a new way to break down the tricky bits.
Producing biogas from the bacterial breakdown of biomass seems a relatively simple idea: just let the bacteria do the...
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Predicting the life and death of batteries
Researchers believe an algorithm could ease our pain.
Estimating battery life is one of the great modern dilemmas, and the older the item, the harder it gets. But resea...
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Solar cells are getting seriously light
Novel design uses inkjet printing and clever ink.
Researchers continue to break new ground with advances in solar cell technology that uses organic polymer material ra...