Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: sustainability

New magnesium alloy design improves stability and ion transport in solid-state batteries

The modern world runs on invisible energy. Hidden inside smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles, are batteries that quietly power everyday life. As society becomes increasingly dependent on portable and sustainable energy, the development of compact and reliable battery technology has become one of the most important technological challenges of our time.

Lithium-ion batteries currently dominate the battery industry, but alternatives that could offer improved safety, lower cost, and higher energy density are being actively explored. Solid-state magnesium batteries have long been considered a promising next-generation energy technology. However, instability inside these batteries remains a major obstacle to their development.

Supercharging solar cells: Quantum dot-molecule hybrid states enable near-maximum efficiency

Solar panels have become more efficient over the years, but even the best designs still lose a large fraction of the energy they absorb. Scientists around the world have been searching for ways to capture more energy from every ray of sunlight and unlock the true potential of solar technology.

In a study published in Nature Photonics, researchers from the University of Osaka and collaborating institutions identified a new mechanism that could help us do exactly that. The study shows how specially designed combinations of molecules and quantum dots can be used to dramatically increase solar cell efficiency beyond currently known limits.

Singlet exciton fission is a photophysical phenomenon in which one particle of light creates two excited energy states instead of one. In theory, this allows solar cells to generate more electricity from the same amount of sunlight. However, the most effective photophysical processes require extra energy and are usually inefficient and difficult to control.

MIT researchers use AI to uncover atomic defects in materials

In biology, defects are generally bad. But in materials science, defects can be intentionally tuned to give materials useful new properties. Today, atomic-scale defects are carefully introduced during the manufacturing process of products like steel, semiconductors, and solar cells to help improve strength, control electrical conductivity, optimize performance, and more.

But even as defects have become a powerful tool, accurately measuring different types of defects and their concentrations in finished products has been challenging, especially without cutting open or damaging the final material. Without knowing what defects are in their materials, engineers risk making products that perform poorly or have unintended properties.

Now, MIT researchers have built an AI model capable of classifying and quantifying certain defects using data from a noninvasive neutron-scattering technique. The model, which was trained on 2,000 different semiconductor materials, can detect up to six kinds of point defects in a material simultaneously, something that would be impossible using conventional techniques alone.

Scientists generate electricity from ambient moisture using everyday ingredients

In a study published in Nano Energy, researchers from Queen Mary, the University of Warwick, Imperial College London, and Universitas Mercatorum report a highly stable, biodegradable Moisture-Electric Generator (MEG). The device is fabricated from food-grade materials including gelatin, sodium chloride (table salt), and activated carbon, and harnesses humidity—typically a major challenge for electronics—as its energy source.

This approach represents a significant shift in electronic design, transforming atmospheric moisture from a limitation into a functional energy input.

Orbital Data Centers: Power and Thermal Management for Scalable Architectures

Redwire’s latest whitepaper examines the challenges and opportunities associated with scaling orbital data centers (ODCs), with a focus on power generation and thermal management. ODCs could eventually surpass terrestrial data centers by leveraging abundant solar energy in space and avoiding Earth-based infrastructure limitations.

The whitepaper examines the scaling of power and thermal systems for ODCs within a single-spacecraft architecture and highlights how the future success of ODCs will depend on treating power and thermal management as primary architectural drivers from the earliest stages of design.

Drawing on decades of Redwire’s spaceflight heritage in deployable structures, high-power solar arrays, and thermal management systems, the in-depth study also highlights how existing flight-proven technologies can support practical and scalable orbital compute architectures.

Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells reach 32.89% certified efficiency with peak-selective passivation strategy

A team of Chinese scientists has developed a new passivation strategy that significantly improves both the efficiency and operational stability of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. The study has been published in the journal Matter on May 21.

Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells combine a top perovskite layer, which efficiently converts sunlight into electricity, with a silicon bottom substrate. These solar cells hold great potential for lightweight, high-efficiency applications in the photovoltaic field, with the current world efficiency record reaching 35.0%.

However, the pyramid-textured surface of industrial silicon substrates makes it difficult to deposit a uniform perovskite top layer, which often leads to localized electrical leakage and thus limits the commercial prospects of these tandem cells.

Scientists Discovered A Record Number Of New Species In The Ocean Depths

Among the newly discovered species is the ‘ghost shark’ chimaera, a distant relative of sharks and rays, found in the Coral Sea. Other notable finds include symbiotic worms on volcanic seamounts in Japan and a striking new species of shrimp in Marseille, France. These discoveries highlight the diversity and complexity of life beneath the ocean surface.

Dr. Michelle Taylor, Head of Science at Ocean Census, emphasized the importance of these discoveries, stating, “We are in a race against time to understand and protect ocean life.” The Ocean Census is not only about finding new species but also generating evidence to drive global science and policy.

The discoveries provide crucial data for international agreements like the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. As the Census continues, its global network and open-access platform, NOVA, will ensure that this critical data informs global decision-making.

Fungus-powered farming delivers higher yields and better-tasting crops, says study

Can we have higher yields and better taste? Using a natural extract from the fungus Pseudozyma aphidis, this method improves the firmness and natural sugar content of crops like tomatoes and melons while significantly boosting production. This discovery offers a practical path to meeting global food demands without compromising the health of the planet or produce quality. Furthermore, because the approach uses stable microbial secretions instead of live cultures, it ensures consistent and reliable performance across various agricultural environments and climates.

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have identified a natural, eco-friendly way to significantly increase agricultural yields while also improving the quality and taste of produce. The study, led by Professor Maggie Levy alongside researchers Anton Fennec and Neta Rotem, focuses on an extract derived from the yeast-like fungus Pseudozyma aphidis.

As the global population continues to grow, the demand for higher agricultural output has historically led to the heavy use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. These chemicals often contribute to soil and water pollution and increase greenhouse gas emissions. The new research, published in the journal Plant Physiology, suggests that beneficial micro-organisms can offer a sustainable alternative to these traditional agricultural inputs.

Outside the Safe Operating Space of a New Planetary Boundary for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

It is hypothesized that environmental contamination by per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) defines a separate planetary boundary and that this boundary has been exceeded. This hypothesis is tested by comparing the levels of four selected perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) (i.e., perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)) in various global environmental media (i.e., rainwater, soils, and surface waters) with recently proposed guideline levels. On the basis of the four PFAAs considered, it is concluded that levels of PFOA and PFOS in rainwater often greatly exceed US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Lifetime Drinking Water Health Advisory levels and the sum of the aforementioned four PFAAs (Σ4 PFAS) in rainwater is often above Danish drinking water limit values also based on Σ4 PFAS; levels of PFOS in rainwater are often above Environmental Quality Standard for Inland European Union Surface Water; and atmospheric deposition also leads to global soils being ubiquitously contaminated and to be often above proposed Dutch guideline values. It is, therefore, concluded that the global spread of these four PFAAs in the atmosphere has led to the planetary boundary for chemical pollution being exceeded. Levels of PFAAs in atmospheric deposition are especially poorly reversible because of the high persistence of PFAAs and their ability to continuously cycle in the hydrosphere, including on sea spray aerosols emitted from the oceans. Because of the poor reversibility of environmental exposure to PFAS and their associated effects, it is vitally important that PFAS uses and emissions are rapidly restricted.

/* */