An elastocaloric cooling platform is constructed based on shape memory alloys with a cellular architecture that enables cooling powers above 1 kW.
Category: energy – Page 2
An innovative prototype is assessing the potential of capturing energy from the formidable swells of the Southern Ocean.
The AuREUS system is an evolution for walls/windows, and uses technology synthesized from upcycled crop waste to absorb stray UV light from sunlight and convert it to clean renewable electricity.
This is a bit old, but still cool.
A research team led by Prof. Hu Weijin from the Institute of Metal Research (IMR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered that single-domain ferroelectric thin films can be efficiently achieved by simply elevating the growth temperature.
Their findings, published in Advanced Functional Materials, offer a straightforward alternative to conventional complex fabrication methods, with significant implications for ferroelectric device performance.
Ferroelectric materials naturally form polydomain structures to minimize electrostatic energy. Nevertheless, single-domain thin films can be achieved through precise control of interfacial atomic layers or strain gradients. The quest for a simple method to obtain a single-domain state and its impact on ferroelectric device performance are of great interest.
NASA’s upcoming EZIE mission will use three small satellites to study electrojets — powerful electrical currents in the upper atmosphere linked to auroras. These mysterious currents influence geomagnetic storms that can disrupt satellites, power grids, and communication systems. By mapping how electrojets evolve, EZIE will improve space weather predictions, helping to safeguard modern technology.
NASA’s X-59 has cleared another hurdle with the successful completion of critical engine tests. The trials confirmed that its F414-GE-100 engine, adapted from the F-18 Super Hornet, performs as expected at full power. The aircraft’s design, including its unique top-mounted engine and elongated nose, aims to soften sonic booms to a mere “thump.” As NASA prepares for the first flight, additional tests will ensure the aircraft is ready for safe operation.
The HEOS project is searching space for signs of Dyson Spheres. Funded by the Swedish government, the project not only believes that these extraterrestrial power plants are possible, but also assumes that we can detect them. Dyson spheres are power plants that hypercivilizations build in space to harness incredible amounts of energy. Will HEOS soon enable us to make contact with an extraterrestrial species for the first time?
Scientists now know how to drill deep enough to tap into an energy supply that would power the world for more than 20 million years if we capture just 0.1 percent of it.
Physicists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have synthesized very pure superconducting materials and redefined the critical role of hydrogen in the newly discovered nickel-oxide superconductors.
Their findings were published concurrently in the journals Nature Communications and Physical Review Letters.
Superconductivity is an exciting phenomenon where electrical resistance disappears, and it holds transformative potential for revolutionizing energy technologies. Despite its potential, the origin and fundamental mechanism of superconductivity remain one of the greatest mysteries in physics.
Temporal measurements in conditions similar to those in the Sun rebut a leading hypothesis for why models and experiments disagree on how much light iron absorbs.
Understanding how light interacts with matter inside stars is crucial for predicting stars’ evolution, structure, and energy output. A key factor in this process is opacity—the degree to which a material absorbs radiation. Recent experimental findings have challenged long-standing models, showing that iron, a major contributor to stellar opacity, absorbs more light than expected. This discrepancy has profound implications for our understanding of the Sun and of other stars. Over the past two decades, three groundbreaking studies [1–3] have taken major steps toward resolving this mystery, using advanced laboratory experiments to measure iron’s opacity under extreme conditions similar to those of the Sun’s interior. However, the discrepancy remained, with researchers hypothesizing that it came from systematic errors from temporal gradients in plasma properties.