(Phys.org)—A new study predicts that large-scale power plants based on thermoelectric effects, such as small temperature differences in ocean water, could generate electricity at a lower cost than photovoltaic power plants.
Plants lack eyes and ears, but they can still see, hear, smell and respond to environmental cues and dangers—especially to virulent pathogens. They do this with the aid of hundreds of membrane proteins that can sense microbes ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 19, 2018
0
1870
(Phys.org) —NASA is planning to launch a milestone experiment involving growing plants on the moon. The target date is 2015, when the agency will deposit plants on the moon's surface. The initiative is being driven by the ...
A new transparent, bioinspired coating makes ordinary glass tough, self-cleaning and incredibly slippery, a team from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Harvard School of Engineering ...
Materials Science
Aug 2, 2013
13
0
What does a modern combine harvester and a Diplodocus have in common? One answer, it seems, may be their big footprints on the soil. A new study led by researchers from Sweden and Switzerland has found that the weight of ...
Agriculture
May 17, 2022
17
3572
(Phys.org) —In a basement lab on BYU's campus, mechanical engineering professor Julie Crockett analyzes water as it bounces like a ball and rolls down a ramp.
Soft Matter
May 20, 2014
5
0
A Duke University study of coal ash ponds near 21 power plants in five Southeastern U.S. states has found evidence that nearby surface waters and groundwater are consistently and lastingly contaminated by the unlined ponds.
Environment
Jun 10, 2016
16
1327
A decade ago a new idea was brought into the general scientific community—shedding water from condensers was more efficient by using surface tension to make microscopic water droplets "jump" off the surface. The idea took ...
Condensed Matter
May 28, 2019
3
134
Whether it's water flowing across a condenser plate in an industrial plant, or air whooshing through heating and cooling ducts, the flow of fluid across flat surfaces is a phenomenon at the heart of many of the processes ...
General Physics
Apr 28, 2020
0
3077
Boiling is not just for heating up dinner. It's also for cooling things down. Turning liquid into gas removes energy from hot surfaces, and keeps everything from nuclear power plants to powerful computer chips from overheating. ...
General Physics
Jul 8, 2021
0
259
