Putting the squeeze on planets outside our solar system

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using high-powered lasers, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and collaborators discovered that molten magnesium silicate undergoes a phase change in the liquid state, abruptly transforming ...

Making liquid crystals stand tall

Most liquid-crystalline displays contain rod-like molecules that quickly switch from one orientation to another when subjected to electric fields. This movement creates a shutter effect that turns light on and off at high ...

Challenges for biofuels -- new life cycle assessment report

(PhysOrg.com) -- A combination of rising costs, shrinking supplies, and concerns about global climate change are spurring the development of alternatives to the burning of fossil fuels to meet our transportation energy needs. ...

Researchers develop first stable bio-oil for transportation use

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Virginia Tech are using science to control unstable components in biomass to develop stable oils that can be readily upgraded to transportation fuels for the first time. Biomass comprises recently ...

It's a grind to make Mars red

(PhysOrg.com) -- The widespread idea that Mars is red due to rocks being rusted by the water that once flooded the red planet may be wrong. Recent laboratory studies show that the red dust may be formed by ongoing grinding ...

Gold solution for enhancing nanocrystal electrical conductance

In a development that holds much promise for the future of solar cells made from nanocrystals, and the use of solar energy to produce clean and renewable liquid transportation fuels, researchers with the U.S. Department of ...

Washington forests may be solution to state's green-energy quest

(PhysOrg.com) -- Wood is a popular fuel for heating homes in the Northwest but few people might see it as an important source of liquid fuels for motor vehicles. However, a new University of Washington report commissioned ...

WFU researchers are developing a cheaper way to make biodiesel

Biodiesel is not likely to replace gasoline as the main source of transportation fuel in most of our lifetimes. But researchers at Wake Forest University are convinced that they have a formula for a catalyst that could lower ...

page 3 from 3