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Category: energy – Page 21

Scientists Create Compact Laser That Could Revolutionize Chipmaking and Quantum Devices

A new solid-state laser produces 193-nm light for precision chipmaking and even creates vortex beams with orbital angular momentum – a first that could transform quantum tech and manufacturing.

Deep ultraviolet (DUV) lasers, which emit high-energy light at very short wavelengths, play a vital role in areas like semiconductor manufacturing, high-resolution spectroscopy, precision material processing, and quantum technology. Compared to traditional excimer or gas discharge lasers, DUV lasers offer better coherence and lower power consumption, making it possible to build smaller, more efficient systems.

Breakthrough in Solid-State Laser Development.

Scientists Discover Safer Way to Extract Lithium-6

Is there a cleaner and more environmentally friendly way for scientists to create lithium-6, which is a primary component in creating nuclear fusion fuel? This is what a recent study published in Chem hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated safer methods for separating lithium-6 from lithium-7, which is a common procedure for creating nuclear fusion fuel. However, this procedure has long-required liquid mercury, whose exposure often results in sever neurodevelopmental disorders, including memory loss, along with lung, kidney, and nervous system damage.

For the study, the researchers discovered their novel method purely by accident while they were working with “produced water”, which is groundwater that is forced to the surface during drilling processes for gas and oil that needs cleaning before it’s pumped back underground, and this process repeats. To accomplish this cleaning process, a membrane is used to filter out unwanted components, during which the researchers found they were filtering lithium within this now-surface groundwater.

“We saw that we could extract lithium quite selectively given that there was a lot more salt than lithium present in the water,” said Dr. Sarbajit Banerjee, who is a professor of chemistry at ETH Zurich and a co-author on the study. “That led us to wonder whether this material might also have some selectivity for the 6-lithium isotope.”

When systems suddenly tip: New insights into hard-to-predict transitions

Many systems in nature—and in society—can suddenly change their properties: Water freezes at normal pressure at 32°F, a power grid collapses when a central substation fails, or a society splits into opposing factions following a major event. All of these processes are examples of so-called phase transitions—tipping points where a system abruptly shifts into a new state.

“Often, we can predict these transitions easily. We know at what temperature water freezes. But sometimes, it is extremely difficult to foresee when and how these changes will occur,” explains CSH researcher Jan Korbel, one of the authors of the study, which was published in Nature Communications.

Upgraded anode moves seawater batteries step closer to primetime

As the world makes more use of renewable energy sources, new battery technology is needed to store electricity for the times when the sun isn’t shining, and the wind isn’t blowing.

“Current lithium batteries have reached their limitations in terms of energy storage capability, life cycle, and safety,” says Xiaolei Wang, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. “They’re good for applications like and portable electronics, but they’re not suitable for large-scale grid-level energy storage.”

With the help of the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan, Wang and his team are developing new technologies to help make grid-level aqueous batteries that can use seawater as an electrolyte. The study is published in the journal Advanced Materials.

Finland Breaks Records with an Energy Giant That Can Power 30,000 Homes and Transform Electricity Production

In a groundbreaking step toward sustainable energy, Helsinki has just unveiled the world’s largest heat pump, a game-changing system capable of providing heat to 30,000 homes. This massive infrastructure not only represents a technological breakthrough, but also signals a major shift in how cities can transition to greener energy sources. By harnessing renewable power and cutting dependence on fossil fuels, Finland is setting a new standard for efficient, low-emission heating solutions.

Physicists Think They’ve Found a Way to Harvest Energy from Earth’s Rotation — And It Might Be Just Crazy Enough to Work

Chyba and his team tilted the cylinder precisely at 57 degrees, orienting it perpendicular to both Earth’s magnetic field and its rotational motion. Electrodes attached at each end measured an unmistakable — but minuscule — direct current voltage of about 18 microvolts. Rotate the cylinder 90 degrees, and the voltage vanished. Reverse the cylinder, and the voltage flipped. Control tests with solid cylinders produced no voltage at all. The device was carefully shielded from external interference, such as temperature fluctuations and background electromagnetic noise, to ensure the results were accurate.

“It has a whiff of a perpetual motion machine,” Chyba told Physics Magazine, acknowledging the skepticism his results would inevitably invite. But the physics, he insisted, was sound. The electricity, though tiny, genuinely appeared to flow from Earth’s spin.

The current generated by the device is proportional to its size and the strength of Earth’s magnetic field, which is relatively weak. To produce meaningful amounts of power, the device would need to be much larger or made of materials with even more favorable properties. The researchers speculate that future versions could be miniaturized and connected in series to amplify the voltage, or deployed in space where Earth’s magnetic field is stronger.

IoT vs. IIoT

The IoT world is a big world that everybody is talking about. IoT products nowadays come in different forms — some are labelled as IoT, but in fact they represent only a small portion of what an IoT product really entails. A fully fledged IoT project not only requires programming and hardware expertise but also expertise on a broad range of domains from energy to smart home and even automotive.

The purpose of this article is to highlight the significant differences among the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and while walking through the listed considerations, the reader will have the chance to learn about their ecosystems and the particularities of their applications. Moreover, the gaps in the standardization of the technologies related to the IoT are presented along with the current initiatives from various institutions for mitigating these gaps.

Before talking about the differences between the IoT and IIoT, let’s look first at the similarities of the two. Both have the same fundamental layer on top of which they are built. With IIoT being a subset of the larger IoT, they automatically share common technologies like sensors, cloud platforms, connectivity and analytics.

New device could capture electricity from Earth’s rotational dynamics

However, their idea faced skepticism because conventional physics suggested it was impossible. The established theories indicated that any generated voltage would be nullified by electron rearrangement.

However, these researchers questioned this assumption.

They experimented to see if they could create electricity by using a specially designed hollow magnetic cylinder to capture energy using the Earth’s magnetic field.