Energy
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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...
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Solar cells succeed in space
Short trip flags potential of new hybrid design.
To test if something will work in space, there’s no better option than to send it into space. That’s what German r...
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Exploring potential of solar-flow batteries
Merging two technologies may provide efficient solar storage.
Scientists continue to advance the potential to use solar-flow batteries to provide electricity in remote areas. A...
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Shining bright without light
Researchers working to make chemiluminescence viable.
In the world of microscopy, fluorescence is king, but chemiluminescence is snapping at its heels. The ability to a...
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New research to make better batteries
We want them doing more, for longer.
The quest for a better battery is engaging a lot of scientific minds, but it’s not often three advances are reported ...