Seawater is one of the most abundant resources on earth, offering promise both as a source of hydrogen—desirable as a source of clean energy—and of drinking water in arid climates. But even as water-splitting technologies ...
Materials Science
Nov 11, 2019
0
555
Theoretical physicists at Trinity College Dublin are among an international collaboration that has built the world's smallest engine—which, as a single calcium ion, is approximately ten billion times smaller than a car ...
Quantum Physics
Aug 21, 2019
7
2550
Absorption heat transformers can effectively reuse the waste heat generated in various industries. In these devices, specialised liquids form thin films as they flow downward due to gravity. These liquid films can absorb ...
Materials Science
Jul 15, 2019
1
101
The ever-more-humble carbon nanotube may be just the device to make solar panels—and anything else that loses energy through heat—far more efficient.
Nanophysics
Jul 12, 2019
4
2135
Unlike water, liquid refrigerants and other fluids that have a low surface tension tend to spread quickly into a sheet when they come into contact with a surface. But for many industrial process it would be better if the ...
Materials Science
May 15, 2019
0
99
Scientists of the Department of Physics at the University of Hamburg, Germany, detected the magnetic states of atoms on a surface using only heat. The respective study is published in a recent volume of Science. A magnetic ...
General Physics
Mar 8, 2019
0
269
Physicists have discovered a new effect, which makes it possible to create excellent thermal insulators which conduct electricity. Such materials can be used to convert waste heat into electrical energy.
General Physics
Feb 21, 2019
0
456
Generally speaking, magnetism and the lossless flow of electrical current ("superconductivity") are competing phenomena that cannot coexist in the same sample. However, for building supercomputers, synergetically combining ...
General Physics
Dec 10, 2018
3
103
Directly converting electrical power to heat is easy. It regularly happens in your toaster, that is, if you make toast regularly. The opposite, converting heat into electrical power, isn't so easy.
General Physics
Jul 9, 2018
2
522
Neutron facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are aiding scientists in research to boost the power and efficiency of thermoelectric materials. These performance increases could enable more cost-effective and practical ...
General Physics
Jun 18, 2018
0
1199
