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Tests may lead to doubling of fuel cell life
May 23, 2013 | Comments
To improve fuel cell module durability and predict longevity, researchers are studying the degradation mechanisms of the fuel cells that occur under real-world transit bus conditions. While quantifying the effects of electrode degradation stressors in the operating cycle of the bus on the membrane lifetime, the team has discovered links between electrode degradation and membrane durability.
Broad Institute an early adopter of Agilent’s new liquid-handling system
June 18, 2013 7:15 am | Comments
Agilent Technologies Inc. this week announced that the Broad Institute in Cambridge,...
Silicon-based nanoparticles could make LEDs cheaper, greener
June 13, 2013 8:07 am | Comments
Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are the most efficient and environmentally friendly light bulbs...
New boron-silicon electrode could boost lithium-ion battery capacity
June 6, 2013 2:04 pm | Comments
Silicon can accept ten times more lithium than the graphite used in the electrodes in...
Insaco supports “green”
June 18, 2013 2:24 pm | CommentsSince 1947, Insaco, Quakertown, Pa., has provided precision machining and polishing of fabricated parts from most technical ceramics, sapphire, glass and quartz. The company machines these materials to very precise tolerances—many times measured in millionths of an inch—for dimension, flatness, wedge and roundness or cylindricity.
Stop hyperventilating, say energy-efficiency researchers
June 18, 2013 2:10 pm | CommentsA single advanced building control now in development could slash 18%—tens of thousands of dollars—off the overall annual energy bill of the average large office building, with no loss of comfort, according to a report by researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Printing tiny batteries
June 18, 2013 1:52 pm | Comments3-D printing can now be used to print lithium-ion microbatteries the size of a grain of sand. The printed microbatteries could supply electricity to tiny devices in fields from medicine to communications, including many that have lingered on laboratory benches for lack of a battery small enough to fit the device, yet provide enough stored energy to power them.
World’s most powerful microscope ready for research
June 18, 2013 1:26 pm | CommentsThe world’s most powerful microscope, which resides in a specially constructed room at the Univ. of Victoria, has now been fully assembled and tested, and has a lineup of scientists and businesses eager to use it. The seven-ton, 4.5-m-tall scanning transmission electron holography microscope, the first such microscope of its type, came to the university in parts last year.
Researchers design variant of main painkiller receptor
June 18, 2013 1:04 pm | CommentsOpioids are still the most effective class of painkillers, but they come with unwanted side effects. Designing new drugs of this type involves testing them on their corresponding receptors, but access to meaningful quantities of these receptors that work in experimental conditions has been a limiting factor. Now, researchers have developed a variant of the mu opioid receptor that has several advantages when it comes to experimentation.
A new high-energy record for LCLS
June 18, 2013 11:25 am | CommentsJohn Hill, a Brookhaven National Laboratory scientist, and his team watched with eager anticipation as controllers ramped up the power systems driving SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's x-ray laser in an attempt to achieve the record high energies needed to make his experiment a runaway success. To reach the high x-ray energies they were aiming for, all of the 80 klystrons associated with LCLS would need to operate at near-peak levels.
New method helps distinguish between neighboring quantum bits
June 18, 2013 10:42 am | CommentsResearchers at the Univ. of New South Wales have proposed a new way to distinguish between quantum bits that are placed only a few nanometers apart in a silicon chip, taking them a step closer to the construction of a large-scale quantum computer.
Global cooling as significant as global warming
June 18, 2013 10:30 am | CommentsA “cold snap” 116 million years ago triggered a similar marine ecosystem crisis to the ones witnessed in the past as a result of global warming, according to recently published research. The international study confirms the link between global cooling and a crash in the marine ecosystem during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse period.
China’s Tiahne-2 is the new world champ of supercomputing
June 18, 2013 9:27 am | CommentsTiahne-2, or Milky Way-2, a supercomputer developed by China's National Univ. of Defense Technology, is the new No. 1 ranked machine on the industry-standard Top500 list of the world's most powerful high-performance computing (HPC) systems.
Database helps building owners, investors evaluate energy-efficient buildings
June 18, 2013 7:32 am | CommentsA new database of building features and energy use data helps building managers, owners, real estate investors and lenders evaluate the financial results of energy efficiency investment projects and identify high- and low-performing buildings.
Surprising turns in magnetic thin films could lead to better data storage
June 18, 2013 7:19 am | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | CommentsA magnetic phenomenon newly discovered by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers could lead to much faster, denser and more energy-efficient chips for memory and computation. The findings could reduce the energy needed to store and retrieve one bit of data by a factor of 10,000.
Boeing launches plans for longer 787 jet
June 18, 2013 5:41 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsBoeing Corp. is starting work on a stretched-out version of its popular 787 Dreamliner jet, in the hope of reigniting interest in the aircraft after battery-related problems. Boeing announced the formal launch of its 787-10 program at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday and says it already has commitments from several customers, including United Airlines.
Underwater springs show how coral reefs respond to ocean acidification
June 17, 2013 7:06 pm | CommentsA recent study is the first to show that corals are not able to fully acclimate to low pH conditions in nature. The results are from a study of corals growing where underwater springs naturally lower the pH of seawater. The coral doesn’t die, but the acidity reduces the density of coral skeletons, making coral reefs more vulnerable to disruption and erosion.
New type of nanosheet offers fast pollutant degradation
June 17, 2013 6:56 pm | CommentsWaste from textile and paint industries often contains organic dyes such as methylene blue as pollutants. Photocatalysis is an efficient means of reducing such pollution, and molybdenum trioxide catalyzes this degradation. Researchers in India now report four methods to produce nanosheets made of very few layers of molybdenum trioxide, which are more efficient than their bulk counterparts.
Polymer-coated catalyst protects "artificial leaf"
June 17, 2013 6:42 pm | CommentsElectrolysis is often used to produce hydrogen that can be used for a storable fuel. Modified solar cells with highly efficient architecture can use this method to obtain hydrogen from water with the help of catalysts. But these solar cells rapidly corrode in aqueous electrolytes. By embedding the catalysts in an electrically conducting polymer, researchers have prevented this corrosion while maintaining competitive efficiency.
