Matter and energy from Science Daily Feed

Chemists break down barriers between labs and institutions to join forces for a new way of doing organic synthesis.

Mechanical engineers have developed a system of artificial cilia capable of monitoring mucus conditions in human airways to better detect infection, airway obstruction, or the severity of diseases like Cystic Fibrosis (CF), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) and lung cancer.

Scientists are developing a formula for success -- by studying how a new type of battery fails. The team's goal is the design for long-term storage of wind and solar energy, which are produced intermittently, enabling their broader use as reliable energy sources for the electric grid.

Researchers now reveal how various physical manipulations of graphene, such as layering and twisting, impact its optical properties and conductivity.

Scientists have created a robot that can learn tasks like cleaning a washbasin just by watching humans. A special sponge with sensors is used to show the robot how to clean. Using an advanced machine learning system, the robot learns how it is supposed to behave and can apply this knowledge to cleaning different washbasins.

Recommendations from DEFRA's Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee (HSAC) have set out steps that could make the UK a leader in more ethical, safer, and cost-effective chemical testing, through early adoption of a risk-based approach to regulation (also called next generation risk assessment).

A study is the first to describe an electrochemical strategy to capture, concentrate and destroy mixtures of diverse chemicals known as PFAS -- including the increasingly prevalent ultra-short-chain PFAS -- from water in a single process. This new development is poised to address the growing industrial problem of contamination with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, particularly in semiconductor manufacturing.

Researchers have developed an innovative technique to search for black hole light echoes. Their novel method, which will make it easier for the mass and the spin of black holes to be measured, represents a major step forward, since it operates independently of many of the other ways in which scientists have probed these parameters in the past.

Hip implants with a delta ceramic or oxidized zirconium head and highly crosslinked polyethylene liner or cup had the lowest risk of revision during the 15 years after surgery, a new study has found. The research could help hospitals, surgeons and patients to choose what hip implant to use for replacement surgery.

A team has developed a plastic surgical field expansion plate that can help surgeons during robot-assisted heart surgery.

A research team developed an AI tool that traces back the most recent places you have been to. The tool acts like a satellite navigation system, but instead of guiding you to your hotel, it identifies the geographical source of microorganisms. This means you can use bacteria to determine whether someone has just been to the beach, got off the train in the city center or taken a walk in the woods. This opens up new possibilities within medicine, epidemiology and forensics.

Readily available thermoelectric generators operating under modest temperature differences can power CO2 conversion, according to a proof-of-concept study by chemists. The findings open up the intriguing possibility that the temperature differentials encountered in an array of environments -- from a typical geothermal installation on Earth to the cold, desolate surface of Mars -- could power the conversion of CO2 into a range of useful fuels and chemicals.

Scientists have spotted microplastics, tiny pieces of plastic smaller than 5 millimeters, in some of the most pristine environments on Earth, from the depths of the Mariana Trench to the snow on Mt. Everest to the mountaintop clouds of China and Japan. Microplastics have been detected in human brains, the bellies of sea turtles and the roots of plants. Now, research reveals that microplastics in the atmosphere could be affecting weather and climate.

New research into the vulnerability of power grids served by weather-dependent renewable energy sources (WD-RESs) such as solar and wind paints a hopeful picture as various countries around the globe attempt to meet their climate emissions targets -- with the research showing grids with high penetration of WD-RESs tend to have reduced blackout intensities in the US.

Calculations of charge distribution in mesons provide benchmark for experimental measurements and validate widely used 'factorization' method for imaging the building blocks of matter.

Wastewater treatment fails to kill several human pathogens when they hide out on microplastics in the water, according to a new study.

Researchers have discovered a new way to detect per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water. This marks an important step forward in creating testing devices that are simpler, more cost-effective, faster and generally more accessible than existing methods.

Researchers designed bioinspired hydrogels capable of using sunlight to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water. Hydrogels contain polymer networks that facilitate energy conversion, offering a breakthrough approach to generating renewable hydrogen energy. This research shows how polymer-based systems could revolutionize sustainable energy production.

A research team unveils a next-generation transparent cooling film using the principles of radiative cooling.

The CRISPR tool is capable of repairing the genetic defect responsible for the immune disease chronic granulomatous disease. However, researchers have now shown that there is a risk of inadvertently introducing other defects.