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Category: energy

RNA Folding Energy of Long-Range Genomic Interactions Regulates Discontinuous Transcription in SARS-CoV-2

Coronaviruses use discontinuous transcription to generate subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs) that encode structural and accessory proteins. However, the factors regulating sgRNA abundance in SARS-CoV-2 remain unclear. Here, we combined strand-specific RNA sequencing, RNA–RNA interaction mapping, prediction of RNA folding energies, and targeted mutagenesis to define the regulation of (–) sgRNA synthesis in SARS-CoV-2 infection. We demonstrated that the relative (–) sgRNA abundance across viral genes is stable throughout infection and largely correlates with corresponding (+) sgmRNA levels. Through meta-analysis of published SPLASH data, we found that the frequency of long-range interactions between the 5′ genomic transcription regulatory sequence TRS-Leader and downstream TRS-Body sequences correlates with sgRNA abundance.

Electrochemical research takes major strides towards harvesting a vital battery material

The supply of lithium—the battery material that keeps digital devices humming, EVs racing and renewable energy on the grid— will not meet even half the expected demand by 2040.

Ramping up production using old methods will create new problems, including environmental damage, pollution, cost and water scarcity. Unconventional ways must be found to fill this lithium gap.

One promising solution is electrochemical intercalation. Common in the world of batteries and supercapacitors, it’s when researchers apply electricity to insert ions between the layers of a different material.

In a First For Science, A Satellite Has Identified What It’s Seeing From Space

The standard approach to satellite imagery is to snap huge batches of pictures and beam them back to Earth, where they can be sifted through by human operators and the best available algorithms.

It’s all worked well so far, but the time, transmission bandwidth, and energy required are starting to become bottlenecks. Modern satellites are simply capturing more pixels than scientists have time to look at.

However, the YAM-9 satellite has just done something different: It has identified and described features in its image scans without needing to check back with ground control.

Abundant catalyst converts methane into valuable liquid chemicals

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and their collaborators have demonstrated a promising new approach for converting methane—the primary component of natural gas—into liquid chemicals that are precursors for many industrial chemicals and fuels. The research, described in a paper just published in Advanced Functional Materials, shows how molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), an earth-abundant industrial catalyst, can be used with minimal tweaking to selectively convert methane into methyl peroxide and other liquid oxygenate compounds at temperatures below 100°C (212°F). Methyl peroxide is a precursor for making methanol, an energy-dense liquid fuel that can be transported easily.

“The fact that this catalyst is an earth-abundant, domestically sourced material could change the game for converting natural gas into liquid chemicals,” said Brookhaven Lab chemist Sanjaya Senanayake, a corresponding author on the publication. “The catalyst achieves very high yields and high specificity for making important precursors for methanol and a wide range of other industrial processes.”

The project is part of a long-term strategy of the Catalysis: Reactivity and Structure group in Brookhaven Lab’s Chemistry Division to develop methane-conversion catalysts and processes. This group includes co-authors Senanayake, chemist Juan Jiménez and research associate Arephin Islam—all co-authors on the new publication.

Plasma and graphene combine to protect metal surfaces from corrosion

Plasma is an ionized gas, often referred to as the fourth state of matter. Plasmas, which are created artificially by applying energy to a gas, are found in the fluorescent tubes that illuminate kitchens. However, they have many other possible applications, such as the production of graphene.

The Plasma Innovation Laboratory (LIPs) at the University of Córdoba has already made progress in using plasma to produce graphene, the revolutionary material that earned its discoverers the Nobel Prize. Recently, a new technological design boosted graphene production by more than 22%. Continuing along this line of research, the team is now proposing two methods for applying graphene—also highly anticorrosive—to metal surfaces using microwave plasmas at atmospheric pressure, with the aim of not altering the properties of the metals.

The research is published in the journal Surfaces and Interfaces.

MXene-polymer composite enables printed, eco-friendly device for energy harvesting and motion-sensing

Researchers at Boise State University have developed a novel, environmentally friendly triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that is fully printed and capable of harvesting biomechanical and environmental energy while also functioning as a real-time motion sensor. The innovation leverages a composite of Poly (vinyl butyral-co-vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate) (PVBVA) and MXene (Ti3C2Tx) nanosheets, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional TENGs that often rely on fluorinated polymers and complex fabrication.

TENGs are innovative energy-harvesting devices that convert mechanical energy into electricity using the triboelectric effect. They were invented by Prof. Zhong Lin Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology and generate power through contact and motion between materials, making them ideal for applications like wearable electronics, IoT sensors, and self-powered devices.

This work, published in the journal Nano Energy and led by Ph.D. student Ajay Pratap under the supervision of Prof. David Estrada of the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering at Boise State University, showcases how additive manufacturing can produce high-performance, skin-compatible, and flexible devices for real-world applications in energy harvesting, wearables electronics, and human-machine interaction.

Chemical impurities make carbon surfaces superslippery, researchers find

Engineers often treat impurities as a problem to eliminate to improve material performance. But new research from Osaka Metropolitan University and Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM suggests that in some cases, a little chemical messiness is exactly what helps materials slide more smoothly. The findings were published in Advanced Science.

When two surfaces slide or rub against each other, friction occurs. While friction is essential for many everyday applications, it also wears down machines, wastes energy and limits the lifespan of moving parts. Therefore, research has focused on achieving superlow friction, or superlubricity, in which surfaces can slide past one another with exceptionally low resistance.

“While graphene-or graphite-like structures are known to enable nearly frictionless sliding, creating and maintaining such structures in practical systems remains challenging,” said Takuya Kuwahara, lecturer at Osaka Metropolitan University’s Graduate School of Engineering and lead author of the study.

Non-Hermitian geometry reveals when quantum amplification depends only on start and end points

In quantum mechanics, the geometry of quantum states has emerged as a powerful framework for understanding phenomena ranging from electrical conductivity to superconductivity. One research direction aims to extend these geometric concepts to non-Hermitian quantum mechanics—where systems can exchange energy with their environment—including the generalization of the Berry phase, a key geometric quantity, to the non-Hermitian case.

However, many geometric properties unique to non-Hermitian quantum mechanics remain poorly understood.

“We knew geometry played a central role in ordinary quantum mechanics, but what genuinely new geometric effects might emerge in the non-Hermitian case was far from clear,” explains Tomoki Ozawa, a theoretical physicist at AIMR. “We wanted to identify geometric phenomena that are truly intrinsic to non-Hermitian quantum mechanics.”

Dead lithium batteries revived to 95% capacity via electrochemical bath

You know how rejuvenating a bath feels after a long day of work? Almost like you’re renewed. Turns out that’s not exclusive to humans. Scientists at Cornell University have developed an electrochemical bath that restores spent lithium-ion batteries to nearly 100% capacity.

Unlike conventional battery recycling methods that involve the complete physical destruction of batteries, followed by complex, energy-intensive recovery processes to extract critical battery-making materials, the scientists’ method recycles lithium-ion battery electrodes directly. Rather than breaking down structurally intact electrodes to extract materials that will make other electrodes, their approach regenerates the existing electrodes using an electrochemical solution.

The researchers say this method restored batteries to 95% of their original capacity, and even helped recycled batteries last longer. According to them, the method could also slash recycling costs by 56% while being more environmentally friendly.

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