'Invisible' particles could enhance thermoelectric devices

Thermoelectric devices—which can either generate an electric current from a difference in temperature or use electricity to produce heating or cooling without moving parts—have been explored in the laboratory since the ...

A new world record for solar cell efficiency

In a remarkable feat, scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have developed thin film solar cells on flexible polymer foils with a new record efficiency of 20.4 percent for ...

Unlocking nature's quantum engineering for efficient solar energy

(Phys.org)—Quantum scale photosynthesis in biological systems which inhabit extreme environments could hold key to new designs for solar energy and nanoscale devices. Certain biological systems living in low light environments ...

Scientists "waltz" closer to using spintronics in computing

(Phys.org) -- Aiming to use electron spins for storing, transporting and processing information, researchers from IBM and scientists at ETH Zurich, a leading European university, today revealed the first-ever direct mapping ...

Sharing data links in networks of cars

Wi-Fi is coming to our cars. Ford Motor Co. has been equipping cars with Wi-Fi transmitters since 2010; according to an Agence France-Presse story last year, the company expects that by 2015, 80 percent of the cars it sells ...

page 4 from 40