Fuel cells generate electrical energy through a chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. To obtain clean energy, the splitting of water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen is critical. Researchers at the University of Basel study how sunlight can be used for this purpose. The scientific journal Chemical Communications published their latest results.
Tech
How do you like those Apfelüberrests? Cambridge researcher develops smartphone app to map Swiss-German dialects
Researchers at the Universities of Cambridge, Zurich and Bern have developed a smartphone app to crowdsource and map Swiss-German dialects, a recent paper in PLOS One reports.
Researchers from the Universities of Cambridge, Zurich and Bern have taken advantage of "crowdsourcing" to gather new information on the spread of dialects in German-speaking Switzerland, which has been recently published as a paper in PLOS One.
Understanding the textures and patterns of pancakes is helping UCL scientists improve surgical methods for treating glaucoma.
The appearance of pancakes depends on how water escapes the batter mix during the cooking process and this varies with the thickness of the batter, according to new UCL research. Understanding the physics of the process can help perfect pancake making and gives important insights into how flexible sheets, like those found in human eyes, interact with flowing vapour and liquids.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Pollens, the bane of allergy sufferers, could represent a boon for battery makers: Recent research has suggested their potential use as anodes in lithium-ion batteries.
"Our findings have demonstrated that renewable pollens could produce carbon architectures for anode applications in energy storage devices," said Vilas Pol, an associate professor in the School of Chemical Engineering and the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University.
The study conducted by researches of Kazan Federal University describes the theoretical framework and results of using a rapid three-dimensional super element model of oil field development.
New research indicates that analyses of vapors from fecal samples can identify volatile metabolites indicative of different types of inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
The findings, which come from a study of fecal samples from 117 people with Crohn's disease, 100 with ulcerative colitis, and 109 healthy controls, suggest that the technique might be useful as a non-invasive screening test that could allow earlier diagnosis of such conditions.
This study is published in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics.
A pioneering new study shows the rate fish are captured by predators can double when boats are motoring nearby.
Professor Mark McCormick of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University was part of an international research team that found noise from passing motorboats increases stress levels in young coral reef fish and reduces their ability to flee from predators. As a consequence they are captured more easily and their survival chances are halved.
The rate that fish are captured by predators can double when boats are motoring nearby, according to pioneering work led by a University of Exeter marine biologist.
Dr Stephen Simpson and his international research team found that noise from passing motorboats increases stress levels in young coral reef fish and reduces their ability to flee from predators. As a consequence they are captured more easily and their survival chances are halved.
The road to more versatile wearable technology is dotted with iron. Specifically, quantum dots of iron arranged on boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs). The new material is the subject of a study to be published in Scientific Reports later this week, led by Yoke Khin Yap, a professor of physics at Michigan Technological University.
Yap says the iron-studded BNNTs are pushing the boundaries of electronics hardware. The transistors modulating electron flow need an upgrade.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The technology that charges batteries for electronic devices could provide fresh water from salty seas, says a new study by University of Illinois engineers. Electricity running through a salt water-filled battery draws the salt ions out of the water.
Illinois mechanical science and engineering professor Kyle Smith and graduate student Rylan Dmello published their work in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society.
Two new studies reveal how altering the composition of trees in forests is influencing not only the carbon cycle, but air surface temperatures to a significant degree as well. The results highlight how human-made changes to forests hold more severe consequences than previously believed. Worldwide, reforested areas are increasingly prominent; for example, in Europe, 85% of forests were managed by humans as of 2010.
MADISON, Wis. -- The material at the heart of the lithium ion batteries that power electric vehicles, laptop computers and smartphones has been shown to impair a key soil bacterium, according to new research published online in the journal Chemistry of Materials.
The study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota is an early signal that the growing use of the new nanoscale materials used in the rechargeable batteries that power portable electronics and electric and hybrid vehicles may have untold environmental consequences.
Pursuing scientific or engineering careers in industry, government or private research after getting a Ph.D. used to be considered a one-way ticket out of academia.
But new University of Washington research finds numerous benefits -- to students, researchers and academic institutions looking to diversify their faculty -- in making that return trip easier.
Irvine, Calif., Feb. 4, 2016 -- If you find yourself toggling over to look at Facebook several dozen times a day, it's not necessarily because the experience of being on social media is so wonderful. It may be a sign that you're not getting enough sleep.
In a recently completed study, researchers at the University of California, Irvine demonstrated that lack of sleep - in addition to affecting busy college students' moods and productivity - leads to more frequent online activities such as browsing Facebook.
In the fifth year of the Syrian refugee crisis, donors and humanitarian agencies still remain unsure about which policies and interventions have been most effective, and continue to rely on a largely reactive response, say a group of researchers, aid workers and Syrian medical professionals.
Response approaches to date have often been short-termist, sometimes duplicating work and have very little evidence of effectiveness or impact, they say.