Many Americans are deficient in vitamin D, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids, all of which affect energy levels.
Category: energy – Page 21
Two new families of PFAS-free solvents for next-generation batteries
Chibueze Amanchukwu wants to fix batteries that haven’t been built yet. Demand for batteries is on the rise for EVs and the grid-level energy storage needed to transition Earth off fossil fuels. But more batteries will mean more of a dangerous suite of materials used to build them: PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”
“To address our needs as a society for electric vehicles and energy storage, we are coming up with more environmental challenges,” said Amanchukwu, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Molecular Engineering in the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME). “You can see the dilemma.”
PFAS are a family of thousands of chemicals found in batteries but also everything from fast food wrappers and shampoo to firefighting foam and yoga pants. They keep scrambled eggs from sticking to pans and rain from soaking into jackets and paint, but the same water resistance that makes them useful also make them difficult to remove when they get into the water supply. This earned them the nickname “forever chemicals.”
How cells respond to stress is more nuanced than previously believed
The body’s cells respond to stress—toxins, mutations, starvation or other assaults—by pausing normal functions to focus on conserving energy, repairing damaged components and boosting defenses.
If the stress is manageable, cells resume normal activity; if not, they self-destruct.
Scientists have believed for decades this response happens as a linear chain of events: sensors in the cell “sound an alarm” and modify a key protein, which then changes a second protein that slows or shuts down the cell’s normal function.
Denmark’s molten salt storage could power 100,000 homes for 10 hrs
The large-scale renewable energy storage sphere is set to get a massive boost with the development of a 1 GWh molten salt storage system, which will be capable of powering approximately 100,000 homes for 10 hours with an efficiency of up to 90%.
This breakthrough is the result of a collaboration between Danish thermal energy storage developer Hyme Energy and Swiss fluid engineering specialist Sulzer.
Mach 16 Mayhem: Supercomputer Uncovers Chaos in Hypersonic Flows
Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have unlocked new insights into the turbulent behavior of hypersonic flows by using advanced 3D simulations.
Leveraging supercomputing power and custom-built software, they discovered unexpected instabilities and flow breaks around cone-shaped models at Mach 16, disturbances never seen before in previous 2D or experimental studies. These findings could significantly impact the design of future hypersonic vehicles by helping engineers understand how extreme speeds interact with surface geometries in new ways.
Hypersonic Flows and New Discoveries.
Quantum entanglement reveals strange metals’ unique electron behavior at critical point
Scientists have long sought to unravel the mysteries of strange metals—materials that defy conventional rules of electricity and magnetism. Now, a team of physicists at Rice University has made a breakthrough in this area using a tool from quantum information science. Their study, published recently in Nature Communications, reveals that electrons in strange metals become more entangled at a crucial tipping point, shedding new light on the behavior of these enigmatic materials. The discovery could pave the way for advances in superconductors with the potential to transform energy use in the future.
Unlike conventional metals such as copper or gold that have well-understood electrical properties, strange metals behave in much more complex ways, making their inner workings beyond the realm of textbook description. Led by Qimiao Si, the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Physics and Astronomy, the research team turned to quantum Fisher information (QFI), a concept from quantum metrology used to measure how electron interactions evolve under extreme conditions, to find answers. Their research shows that electron entanglement, a fundamental quantum phenomenon, peaks at a quantum critical point: the transition between two states of matter.
“Our findings reveal that strange metals exhibit a unique entanglement pattern, which offers a new lens to understand their exotic behavior,” Si said. “By leveraging quantum information theory, we are uncovering deep quantum correlations that were previously inaccessible.”
Elusive electronic rotons, detected for first time, reveal formation of Wigner crystallites in 2D electron liquid
For decades, researchers have explored how electrons behave in quantum materials. Under certain conditions, electrons interact strongly with each other instead of moving independently, leading to exotic quantum states. One such state, first proposed by Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner, is the Wigner crystal—a structured electron arrangement caused by their mutual repulsion. Although widely theorized, experimental proof has been rare.
Researchers at Yonsei University have now provided evidence of Wigner crystallization and the associated electronic rotons. In a study published in the journal Nature, Prof. Keun Su Kim and his team used angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) to analyze black phosphorus doped with alkali metals. Their data revealed aperiodic energy variations, a hallmark of electronic rotons.
Crucially, as they decreased the dopant density within the material, the roton energy gap shrank to zero. This observation confirmed a transition from a fluid-like quantum state to a structured electron lattice, characteristic of Wigner crystallization.
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.