https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Becoming an organ donor has never been easier. Registration is available online when renewing a driver's license or, for iPhone users, through an app. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-perceptions-deservingness-based-transplant-recipients.html Social Sciences Thu, 15 May 2025 14:40:01 EDT news666538642 There is still so much we don't understand about the origin of life on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-unraveling-life-key-breakthroughs-years.html Cell & Microbiology Sat, 04 May 2024 19:40:01 EDT news633954989 Transparent solar cells will transform the look of infrastructure by enabling many more surfaces to become solar panels. Now, materials called non-fullerene acceptors that can intrinsically generate charges when exposed to sunlight could make semitransparent organic photovoltaics easier to produce, a KAUST-led international team shows. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-closer-efficient-photovoltaics.html Condensed Matter Wed, 24 Apr 2024 13:00:02 EDT news633182006 With the rapid development of industrialization, water pollution is becoming more and more serious. The traditional water treatment method can't effectively remove organic pollutants, so advanced oxidation technology has become a possible solution. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-carbon-nanotube-membrane-unleashes-power.html Nanomaterials Thu, 26 Oct 2023 09:43:03 EDT news617532181 In organic solar cells, carbon-based polymers convert light into charges that are passed to an acceptor. This type of material has great potential, but to unlock this, a better understanding is needed of the way in which charges are produced and transported along the polymers. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-superfast-solar-cell-material.html Polymers Thu, 16 Mar 2023 16:16:03 EDT news598202161 Non-fused-ring organic photoactive materials have attracted broad attention in recent years due to their low synthetic cost. Different from the rigid coplanar structure of fused-ring molecules, the easily rotated conformation of non-fused-ring molecules could lead to the different energetic disorder, which greatly affects the intramolecular electron transport and thus the device performance. https://phys.org/news/2023-02-energetic-disorder-enables-efficiency-solar.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 15 Feb 2023 15:56:02 EST news595698961 An electronic mismatch in the pairs of materials used to make organic solar cells can enhance cell operation, KAUST researchers have shown. The surprise finding—published in Advanced Materials and made following a comprehensive reanalysis of state-of-the-art organic solar materials—should enable researchers to predict new organic formulations with strong solar cell performance. https://phys.org/news/2022-09-precisely-energy-solar-materials-high-performance.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 13 Sep 2022 12:12:52 EDT news582289970 Photoreduction of CO2 into transportable fuel like formic acid (HCOOH) is a great way of dealing with CO2's rising levels in the atmosphere. To aid in this mission, a research team from Tokyo Tech chose an easily available iron-based mineral and loaded it onto an alumina support to develop a catalyst that can efficiently convert CO2 into HCOOH with ~90% selectivity. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-co2-formic-acid-alumina-supported-iron-based.html Materials Science Mon, 16 May 2022 10:47:11 EDT news571916829 Glow-in-the-dark materials are used worldwide for emergency signs, watches, and paint. This useful characteristic fuels a global market worth approximately US$400 million. But the inorganic crystals that are currently needed to generate this ability to a high level of performance require rare-earth metals and fabrication temperatures of over 1000 degrees Celsius. Now, writing in Nature Materials, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and Kyushu University, both in Japan, have developed a method to generate a glow-in-the-dark light using the more-readily available organic materials. https://phys.org/news/2021-11-glow-in-the-dark-materials.html Biochemistry Tue, 30 Nov 2021 07:33:02 EST news557479972 Creating the next generation of solar cells and sensors requires a close look at how light interacts with light-responsive materials. Research at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory is advancing this understanding toward a future with flexible, highly efficient solar cells and cutting-edge optical tools. https://phys.org/news/2021-03-plumbs-molecular-blocks-light-responsive-materials.html Materials Science Wed, 17 Mar 2021 08:28:50 EDT news535188523 Organic molecules that capture photons and convert these into electricity have important applications for producing green energy. Light-harvesting complexes need two semiconductors, an electron donor and an acceptor. How well they work is measured by their quantum efficiency, the rate by which photons are converted into electron-hole pairs. https://phys.org/news/2021-02-buckyballs-dna-harvesting.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 24 Feb 2021 00:10:05 EST news533310219 Understanding how particles travel through a device is vital for improving the efficiency of solar cells. Researchers from KAUST, working with an international team of scientists, have now developed a set of design guidelines for enhancing the performance of molecular materials. https://phys.org/news/2020-11-small-molecules-key-efficiency-solar.html Materials Science Tue, 24 Nov 2020 09:16:16 EST news525431774 In the last couple of years, organic solar cells (OSCs) based on non-fullerene (NF) acceptors have demonstrated tremendous progress in power conversion efficiency (PCE). The majority of state-of-the-art OSCs in the lab is based on the so-called bulk heterojunction (BHJ) architecture consisting of a photoactive layer in blend of an electron donor and acceptor. The presence of numerous microscopic p-n junctions in BHJs enables sufficient surface areas where charge separation occurs, so that the photocurrent and PCE are increased. The device characteristics in BHJ-OSCs are critically affected by the nanostructure or morphology of BHJ films, featuring interpenetrating and continuous networks with domain sizes ideally comparable to the exciton diffusion length. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-molecular-dispersion-quasi-bilayer-solar-cells.html Materials Science Thu, 27 Aug 2020 12:32:24 EDT news517750341 Researchers from University of California Irvine published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that finds that marketing mix elements mitigate sacrifice, which serves to engage individuals in the donation task and thereby increase the likelihood that they will continue. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-nonprofits-boost-donations.html Economics & Business Thu, 07 May 2020 03:42:11 EDT news508041729 A solar energy material that is remarkably durable and affordable is regrettably also unusable if it barely generates electricity, thus many researchers had abandoned emerging organic solar technologies. But lately, a shift in the underlying chemistry has boosted power output, and a new study has revealed counterintuitive tweaks making the new chemistry successful. https://phys.org/news/2019-12-tweaks-rebirth-discarded-solar-technologies.html Materials Science Thu, 19 Dec 2019 12:23:40 EST news495980614 Organic solar cells are made of cheap and abundant materials, but their efficiency and stability still lag behind those of silicon-based solar cells. A Chinese-German team of scientists has found a way to enhance the electric conductivity of organic solar cells, which increases their performances. Doping the metal oxide interlayer, which connected the electrode and active layer, with a modified organic dye boosted both the efficiency and stability, the study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie revealed. https://phys.org/news/2019-08-dye-zinc-oxide-interlayer-stabilizes.html Materials Science Fri, 16 Aug 2019 09:13:59 EDT news485165627 New houses could soon deliver on a long-awaited promise and incorporate windows or roof tiles that harvest solar energy, research conducted at KAUST suggests. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-printable-solar-materials-house-panels.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 16 Oct 2018 08:40:03 EDT news458897418 The robot dogs lined up in their dozens Thursday in Japan were no tech fair display. They were the dearly departed being honoured with their own traditional "funeral." https://phys.org/news/2018-04-fido-funeral-japan-send-off-robot.html Robotics Thu, 26 Apr 2018 08:52:42 EDT news443951552 Using nanoparticles, Yale researchers have developed a drug-delivery system that could reduce organ transplant complications by hiding the donated tissue from the recipient's immune system. https://phys.org/news/2017-08-nanoparticles-body-transplants.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 04 Aug 2017 09:00:03 EDT news421054424 A discovery involving Monash University scientists promises to pave the way to producing replacement organs for damaged hearts, kidneys and bowels, using patients' own stem cells. https://phys.org/news/2017-07-body.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 10 Jul 2017 07:27:02 EDT news418890412 Imagine you are an organ donor in need of an organ yourself. Should you get preferential treatment because you had volunteered to be a donor? A new study shows that most people would support moving you up on the waiting list. At the same time, they would vehemently oppose moving non-donors needing an organ down on the list. https://phys.org/news/2016-12-policymakers-constituents.html Economics & Business Thu, 15 Dec 2016 10:12:50 EST news401019160 Apple wants to encourage millions of iPhone owners to register as organ donors through a software update that will add an easy sign-up button to the health information app that comes installed on every smartphone the company makes. https://phys.org/news/2016-07-apple-urges-donation-iphone-software.html Other Tue, 05 Jul 2016 05:13:51 EDT news386914420 A new immune-suppressing therapy has led to the longest survival yet for a cross-species heart transplant, according to new research conducted in part by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM). https://phys.org/news/2016-04-longer-survival-heart-transplants-species.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 06 Apr 2016 14:04:34 EDT news379170267 As solar energy becomes more popular, the drive to create more efficient, less expensive solar cells increases. Solar energy is abundant, but the devices we use to collect that energy have an efficiency problem – currently, the most efficient polymer-based solar cells operate at a shade under 11 percent efficiency. https://phys.org/news/2015-12-domain-size-purity-key-efficient.html Materials Science Mon, 14 Dec 2015 06:26:49 EST news369296802 (Phys.org) —A trio of researchers with the University of California has found that rephrasing donation requests to avoid the problem of overhead aversion can result in a bump in donations. In their paper published in the journal Science, Uri Gneezy, Elizabeth Keenan and Ayelet Gneezy describe two experiments they conducted, one in the lab, the other in a public setting, regarding donation amounts and what they found by doing so. https://phys.org/news/2014-10-overhead-aversion-charity-donations.html Social Sciences Fri, 31 Oct 2014 10:00:01 EDT news333966733 (Phys.org) —New research from North Carolina State University and UNC-Chapel Hill reveals that energy is transferred more efficiently inside of complex, three-dimensional organic solar cells when the donor molecules align face-on, rather than edge-on, relative to the acceptor. This finding may aid in the design and manufacture of more efficient and economically viable organic solar cell technology. https://phys.org/news/2014-04-solar-cells-efficient-molecules-face-to-face.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 07 Apr 2014 11:03:04 EDT news316087371 Facebook on Tuesday unveiled an initiative to use the vast social network to help connect organ donors with people who need life-saving transplants. https://phys.org/news/2012-05-facebook-easier-donor.html Internet Tue, 01 May 2012 08:25:48 EDT news255079537 A sizzling genetic discovery by Chinese scientists may one day allow pig tissue to be transplanted successfully into humans. Their research presented in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology represents a major step forward toward filling the shortage of vital organs for human transplantation. At the core of their work, they showed that altering or overexpressing the human programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) molecule in the endothelial cells of pig arteries reduces the conditions that lead to rejection. This strongly suggests that humans could receive altered porcine organs with fewer complications. https://phys.org/news/2011-06-bacon-genetic-pig-tissue-human.html Biotechnology Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:25:40 EDT news228655520 Face-to-face workplace interactions may be the best way to educate and encourage people to consider becoming organ donors, according to new research from Purdue University. https://phys.org/news/2010-12-personal-contacts-people-donation.html Social Sciences Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:36:32 EST news211473381 (AP) -- Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs returned Wednesday to the showman role that has helped define his company leadership, taking the stage for the first time since his medical leave to announce such new products as an iPod Nano that records video. https://phys.org/news/2009-09-apple-ceo-jobs-stage-discusses.html Business Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:20:27 EDT news171724800