Producing hydrogen from water with carbon / charcoal powder

In the latest advance in efforts to find an inexpensive way to make hydrogen from ordinary water—one of the keys to the much-discussed "hydrogen economy"—scientists are reporting that powder from high-grade charcoal and ...

Boosting the sensitivity of airport security screening

Scientists are reporting a simple way to improve the sensitivity of the test often used to detect traces of explosives on the hands, carry-ons and other possessions of passengers at airport security screening stations. Their ...

Physicists turn liquid into solid using an electric field

(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists have predicted that under the influence of sufficiently high electric fields, liquid droplets of certain materials will undergo solidification, forming crystallites at temperature and pressure ...

Rare form of silver observed during routine calibration

What started out as an ordinary instrument calibration task using silver turned into research gold for scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Contradicting nearly 40 years of measurement history, the team observed ...

Gold nanoparticles create visible-light catalysis in nanowires

(PhysOrg.com) -- A scientist at the Argonne National Laboratory has created visible-light catalysis, using silver chloride nanowires decorated with gold nanoparticles, that may decompose organic molecules in polluted water.

Hunting for new zeolites

In all the world, there are about 200 types of zeolite, a compound of silicon, aluminum and oxygen that gives civilization such things as laundry detergent, kitty litter and gasoline. But thanks to computations by Rice University ...