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The Seebeck effect is a thermoelectric phenomenon by which a voltage or current is generated when a temperature difference exists across a conductor. This effect is the basis of established and emerging thermoelectric applications alike, such as heat-to-electricity energy harvesters, sensing devices, and temperature control.

In line with the unrelenting demand for ever-smaller devices, scientists are looking for new ways to leverage the Seebeck effect at the nanoscale. One way to achieve this is by using molecular junctions, which are miniature devices consisting of two electrodes bridged by one or a few individual molecules. Depending on how sensitive these molecules are to temperature, it is possible to fine tune the thermoelectric properties of molecular junctions to match their intended application.

Thus far, most studies on molecular thermoelectrics have been limited to rather simple organic molecules. This has led to molecular junctions with a low Seebeck coefficient, which translates to poor temperature-to-voltage conversion and performance. There is therefore an ongoing challenge to design molecular junctions with better characteristics and, most importantly, a higher Seebeck coefficient.

Russia has focused its aerial attack on destroying Ukraine’s energy grid. Are all countries with national grids vulnerable to this type of assault?

National grids are not just vulnerable to third-party cyberattacks. In war, if the grid is targeted, it can be a country’s Achilles’ heel.

The technology system will enable the Yanghuopan Power Station in Yulin City, Shaanxi, to save 24,500 tonnes of coal and cut 54,100 tonnes of carbon emissions annually, claims Chinese media.

China claims the “world’s first” power plant equipped with a “natural direct cooling” (NDC) system is now connected to the grid in the Shaanxi Province of the country.

“The technology, described as ‘a revolution in industrial air cooling’ by local newspaper Shaanxi Daily, makes use of the natural airflow in the plant to guide the heat to the air condenser,” said the report.

Continue reading “China claims ‘revolutionary breakthrough’ in cooling power plants” »

With its tail flipping rhythmically from side to side, this strange synthetic fish scoots around in its salt and glucose solution, using the same power as our beating hearts.

This nifty miniaturized circulatory system, developed by scientists at Harvard and Emory universities, can keep swimming to the beat for more than 100 days.

Turns out, sending millions to the landfills need not be the case.

A new study is finding that pine needles from discarded Christmas trees could be used to produce renewable fuels and value-added chemicals using only water as a solvent, according to a press release by the University of Sheffield published on Thursday.

Releasing dangerous methane gas.

As part of Conversations on the Quantum World, a webinar series hosted by the Caltech Science Exchange, Professor of Theoretical Physics Kathryn Zurek and Professor of Physics Rana Adhikari talk about one of the biggest mysteries in physics today: quantum gravity.

Quantum gravity refers to a set of theories attempting to unify the microscopic world of quantum physics with the macroscopic world of gravity and space itself. Zurek, a theorist, and Adhikari, an experimentalist, have teamed up with others to design a new tabletop-size experiment with the potential to detect signatures of quantum gravity.

Continue reading “Ask a Caltech Expert: Physicists Explain Quantum Gravity” »

More energy out than in. For 7 decades, fusion scientists have chased this elusive goal, known as energy gain. At 1 a.m. on 5 December, researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California finally did it, focusing 2.05 megajoules of laser light onto a tiny capsule of fusion fuel and sparking an explosion that produced 3.15 MJ of energy—the equivalent of about three sticks of dynamite.

“This is extremely exciting, it’s a major breakthrough,” says Anne White, a plasma physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who was not involved in the work.

Mark Herrmann, who leads NIF as the program director for weapons physics and design at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, says it feels “wonderful,” adding: “I’m so proud of the team.”

As gasoline continues to lose its cachet as a reliable energy source, auto manufacturers have started to turn toward cleaner-burning fuels. However, they’re still trying to figure out how to use the cleanest fuel of all — the air we breathe.

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Illinois Institute of Technology Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Mohammad Asadi has developed solutions to two major problems facing lithium-air batteries. Lithium-air batteries hold more energy in a smaller battery size than their more common counterpart, the lithium-ion battery, but until now, lithium-air batteries have been overlooked in commercial applications because lithium-air batteries tended to die after fewer recharges and require a lot more energy to charge than can be generated by the battery later.

After almost a decade working in the oil and gas industry, Asadi turned his focus to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, particularly caused by the transportation industry, which consumes around 38 to 40 percent of the world’s energy. “With more widespread use of electric vehicles, you can drastically reduce transportation-based carbon emissions,” says Asadi. “But to put more electric vehicles on the road, we’ll need batteries—lots of them.”

Continue reading “Breakthrough in Lithium-air Batteries Could Help Put More Electric Vehicles On The Road” »