New thermocell could harvest 'waste heat'

(Phys.org) —Harvesting waste heat from power stations and even vehicle exhaust pipes could soon provide a valuable supply of electricity.

Enzyme breaks down PET plastic in record time

Plastic bottles, punnets, wrap—lightweight packaging made of PET plastic becomes a problem if it is not recycled. Scientists at Leipzig University have now discovered a highly efficient enzyme that degrades PET in record ...

How to thermally cloak an object

Can you feel the heat? To a thermal camera, which measures infrared radiation, the heat that we can feel is visible, like the heat of a traveler in an airport with a fever or the cold of a leaky window or door in the winter.

Desalinating water in a greener and more economical way

We know that excessive consumption, industrial activity and growth in the global population are some of the factors threatening access to drinking water for an increasing proportion of people around the world. According to ...

Paper waste used to make bricks

Researchers at the University of Jaen (Spain) have mixed waste from the paper industry with ceramic material used in the construction industry. The result is a brick that has low thermal conductivity meaning it acts as a ...

Squeezing out new science from material interfaces

With more than five times the thermal conductivity of copper, diamond is the ultimate heat spreader. But the slow rate of heat flow into diamond from other materials limits its use in practice. In particular, the physical ...

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