[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Making carbon nanotubes as usable as common plastics
By using an inexpensive, already mass produced, simple solvent called cresol, a researcher has discovered a way to make disperse carbon nanotubes at unprecedentedly high concentrations without the need for additives or harsh chemical reactions to modify the nanotubes.
Robotic assembly of the world’s smallest house — Even a mite doesn’t fit through the door!
A nanorobotics team has assembled a new microrobotics system that pushes forward the frontiers of optical nanotechnologies. The microhouse construction demonstrates how researchers can advance optical sensing technologies when they manipulate ion guns, electron beams and finely controlled robotic piloting.
ENERGY
Future of U.S. nuclear power fleet depends mostly on natural gas prices, carbon policies
Several sensitivity cases prepared for EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2018 show the potential effects on the U.S. nuclear power fleet of different assumptions for natural gas prices, potential carbon policies, and nuclear power plant operating costs.
Study shows how bacteria guide electron flow for efficient energy generation
Biochemists at the University of Illinois have isolated a protein supercomplex from a bacterial membrane that, like a battery, generates a voltage across the bacterial membrane.
Team achieves two-electron chemical reactions using light energy, gold
Scientists are one step closer to building a carbon-recycling system that can harvest solar energy to efficiently convert CO2and water into liquid fuels. The researchers say they can now drive two-electron chemical reactions, a substantial advance over one-electron reactions.
European wind energy generation potential in a 1.5 degree C warmer world
The UK and large parts of northern Europe could become windier if global temperatures reach 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels, according to a new study. The results suggest that wind could be a more important source of energy generation than previously thought.
Punching holes in graphene to boost hydrogen production
Researchers may have brought the renewable energy future one step closer. A new electrode can accomplish the hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic conditions, making the technology both cheaper and more effective. The process is helped by a smart form of graphene.
Self-assembling 3D battery would charge in seconds
A collaboration at Cornell University addresses the demand for quicker-charging electronics with a novel energy storage device architecture that has the potential for lightning-quick charges.
New catalyst developed at U of T upgrades greenhouse gas into renewable hydrocarbons
A new technology from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering is taking a substantial step towards enabling manufacturers to create plastics out of two key ingredients: sunshine and pollution.
ENVIRONMENT
PNNL successfully vitrifies three gallons of radioactive tank waste
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have vitrified low-activity waste from underground storage tanks at Hanford, immobilizing the radioactive and chemical materials within a durable glass waste form.
BIOMEDICINE
Dissolvable device could signal how recovery’s going after orthopedic surgery
A Stanford University research team has developed an implantable sensor made out of biodegradable components that could provide real-time information about how repaired tissues are functioning post-surgery to guide rehabilitation.
OTHER STORIES
Glass-forming ability: Fundamental understanding leading to smart design
Glass is a familiar concept—a dependable substance known and used for thousands of years. However, there is more to glass than meets the eye. Glass is actually an amorphous material with arguably as much in common with a liquid as with the solid most would consider it to be.
Revealing the mysteries of superconductors: Ames Lab’s new scope takes a closer look
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has successfully demonstrated that a new type of optical magnetometer, the NV magnetoscope, can map a unique feature of superconductive materials that along with zero resistance defines the superconductivity itself.
Europium points to new suspect in continental mystery
Clues from some unusual Arizona rocks pointed Rice University scientists toward a discovery — a subtle chemical signature in rocks the world over — that could answer a long-standing mystery: What stole the iron from Earth’s continents?