Engineers have developed dynamic porous polymer coatings that enable inexpensive and scalable ways to control light and heat in buildings. They took advantage of the optical switchability of PPCs in the solar wavelengths to regulate solar heating and daylighting, and extended the concept to thermal infrared wavelengths to modulate heat radiated by objects.
Read moreThe search for sustainable approaches to generating new fuels has brought scientists back to one of the most abundant materials on Earth — reddish iron oxide in the form of hematite, also known as rust.
Read moreThe Plasma Liner Experiment will soon test the potential for a novel plasma fusion concept, while offering insights into the physics of colliding plasma jets.
Read moreOn a typical day at the world's biggest laser you can find scientists casually making star-like conditions using 192 high-powered lasers. Stars in the universe are formed through a process called nucleosynthesis, which fuses lighter atoms to create new heavier atomic nuclei. Natural elements found here on Earth, such as helium and aluminum, were formed through this process inside of a star not unlike our own sun.
Read moreResearchers have demonstrated a new approach for injecting microwaves into a fusion plasma that doubles the efficiency of a critical technique that could have major implications for future fusion reactors. The results show that launching the microwaves into the plasma via a novel geometry delivers substantial improvements in the plasma current drive.
Read moreFusion combines light elements in the form of plasma — the hot, charged state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei — to generate massive amounts of energy. One of the ways that scientists help heat the plasma is by injecting beams of energetic particles into tokamaks to provide enough energy for plasma particles to overcome mutual repulsion and fuse together.
Read moreFusion is a non-carbon-based process for energy production, where lighter atoms fuse into heavier ones. Fusion reactors operate by confining a 'soup' of charged particles, known as a plasma, within powerful magnetic fields. But these magnetic fields must contain the plasma long enough that it can be heated to extreme temperatures — hotter than the sun — where fusion reactions can occur.
Read moreClay minerals suspended in seawater binds sedimentary organic carbon to their mineral surfaces. But the quantity of carbon that is bound and the source of that carbon very much depends on the clay mineral in question. A research team has shown this by studying sediments in the South China Sea.
Read moreThe identification of new chemical bonds is crucial for the design of new material structures. A team has found unexpected new configurations of oxygen and nitrogen in graphene.
Read moreA molecule that protects plants from overexposure to harmful sunlight thanks to its flamenco-style twist could form the basis for a new longer-lasting sunscreen, chemists have found.
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