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Category: energy – Page 31

ScienceAdviser: Can green hydrogen replace fossil fuels?

‘Earth factory’ method cooks up clean fertilizer underground.

In the 1980s, well diggers in Mali, West Africa uncovered an unusual geological phenomenon: a well streaming with hydrogen gas, which scientists traced back to chemical reactions between water and rock occurring deep within the Earth. Now, researchers are harnessing our planet’s natural heat and pressure to cook up ammonia for fertilizer—potentially reducing the need for chemical plants powered by fossil fuels.

Ammonia, which is primarily used as a source for nitrogen fertilizer and also being considered for use as a green fuel, is the most widely produced chemical in the world today. Unfortunately, the standard method for making ammonia, known as the Haber-Bosch process, consumes enormous amounts of energy—making it a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, ammonia production is the chemical industry’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter.

Hydrogen in Minutes: The Microwave Innovation Changing Clean Energy

Scientists have unlocked a groundbreaking way to produce clean hydrogen using microwaves, drastically reducing the extreme heat required for conventional methods.

By harnessing microwave energy, the team lowered the reaction temperature by over 60%, making hydrogen production far more efficient and sustainable. A key breakthrough was the rapid creation of oxygen vacancies, essential for splitting water into hydrogen, in just minutes rather than hours.

Revolutionizing Hydrogen Production with Microwaves.

Molecular Motors and Machines

The structural design of molecular machines and motors endows them with externally controlled directional motion at the molecular scale. Molecular machines based on both interlocked and non-interlocked molecules and driven by a variety of external stimuli such as light, electrical-or thermal energy, and chemical-or redox processes have been reported. With the field moving forward, they were incorporated into surfaces and interfaces to realize amplified directional molecular motion at the nanoscale which can be applied in the control of macroscopic material properties. More recently, molecular motors and molecular machines based on interlocked molecules have been organized into three dimensional materials to expand their functionality in the solid state and enrich their applicability.

Invisibility: The Science of How Not To Be Seen with Neil deGrasse Tyson & Greg Gbur

Can you make something invisible? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Negin Farsad discover the science behind invisibility with professor of physics and optical science, Greg Gbur. What would real-life invisibility look like?

Can you be invisible in other parts of the magnetic spectrum? We discuss transparency versus invisibility and how metamaterials help us interact with different wavelengths. What does light have to do in order to make something invisible? We break down invisibility cloaks and other invisibility devices from fiction.

Could you make yourself invisible to all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum? We explore the main challenges in achieving invisibility and the difference between passive and active invisibility. How useful of a power would it be?

We discuss the interaction between waves and matter. What makes some waves reflect off matter and others pass through? Learn about x rays and how they work, plus, an at-home invisibility trick using prisms. Finally, could you make someone invisible to time?

Thanks to our PatronsDan, Nick Taylor, Beth Fitzpatrick, Jim, Laura Gilsman, and Gregory Greenwood for supporting us this week.

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.

Continue reading “Invisibility: The Science of How Not To Be Seen with Neil deGrasse Tyson & Greg Gbur” | >

Polar bears are suffering from an “energy deficit” that is devastating their populations

As their primary food source becomes less accessible, the bears enter longer fasting periods, leading to declining health and population numbers.

“A loss of sea ice means bears spend less time hunting seals and more time fasting on land,” said Louise Archer, a postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the study.

This prolonged fasting drains polar bears’ energy reserves, reducing their ability to reproduce and raise cubs. Without enough stored fat, female bears struggle to give birth and nurse their young. Over time, this energy deficit has led to a sharp population decline.

Ultra-massive white dwarf reveals 19 pulsation modes, a new record

Using the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) and the Apache Point Observatory (APO), an international team of astronomers has detected 19 pulsation modes in an ultra-massive white dwarf known as WD J0135+5722. The discovery, presented on the arXiv preprint server, makes WD J0135+5722 the richest pulsating ultra-massive white dwarf known to date.

White dwarfs (WDs) are stellar cores left behind after a star has exhausted its nuclear fuel. Due to their high gravity, they are known to have atmospheres of either pure hydrogen or pure helium. However, a small fraction of WDs shows traces of heavier elements.

In pulsating WDs, luminosity varies due to non-radial gravity wave pulsations within these objects. One subtype of pulsating WDs is known as DAVs, or ZZ Ceti stars—these are WDs of spectral type DA, having only hydrogen absorption lines in their spectra.

New water splitting catalyst makes green hydrogen without expensive metals

ANEMEL researchers have created a catalyst for water splitting that’s efficient and stable, without relying on scarce platinum group metals (PGMs). The study, recently published in Energy & Environmental Science, reports a high-performance PGM-free catalyst for the cathode in water electrolysis, responsible for the reaction that creates green hydrogen.

Current anion exchange membrane (AEM) water electrolyzers rely on PGMs, which are scarce and expensive. Specifically, these metals are used as catalysts at the cathode, where hydrogen is generated. However, ANEMEL AEM electrolyzers avoid PGMs, opting instead for more abundant metals such as nickel. This is essential to enable the wide adoption of electrolyzers: it helps to decrease the cost of electrolyzer components and improve their recyclability, reducing waste and providing a competitive advantage.

This requires investigating innovative ways to ensure electrolyzers perform at least as well, if not better than, those made with PGMs. After all, platinum and other metals in this group offer excellent activity and stability, especially at high current densities in electrolyzer environments, something PGM-free catalysts still don’t.