Better droplet condensation could boost power efficiency

Researchers at MIT have developed an innovative approach to improving heat transfer in power plants and cooling systems. The new system could provide a 100 percent improvement in the efficiency of heat transfer over conventional ...

A path to better multivariate metal organic frameworks

(Phys.org) —Scientists would like to apply the same principles by which baking soda removes food odors from refrigerators or silica powder keeps moisture away from electronic devices to scrub carbon dioxide from the exhaust ...

What ancient pollen tells us about future climate change

Around 56 million years ago, Earth's climate underwent a major climatic transition. A huge release of carbon into the ocean and atmosphere raised atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations—which meant temperatures ...

Asia's nuclear drive on despite Japan crisis

Asian governments that are ramping up nuclear power will face huge pressure to curb their programmes in the wake of Japan's atomic crisis, but dozens of reactors will still be built in the near future.

First rainforests arose when plants solved plumbing problem

A team of scientists, including several from the Smithsonian Institution, discovered that leaves of flowering plants in the world's first rainforests had more veins per unit area than leaves ever had before. They suggest ...

Newly discovered plant fossil reveals more than age

Over 100 million years ago, the understory of late Mesozoic forests was dominated by a diverse group of plants of the class Equisetopsida. Today, only one genus from this group, Equisetum (also known as horsetail or scouring ...

From price shock to independence from fossil fuels

Oil and gas prices are currently on the rise, raising questions about the security of Switzerland's energy supply. In a policy brief, researchers from the Energy Science Center at ETH Zurich have now shown what Switzerland ...

Carbon sequestration: Boon or burden

The idea to sequester carbon is gaining support as a way to avoid global warming. For example, the European Union plans to invest billions of Euros within the next ten years to develop carbon capture and storage whereby CO2 ...

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