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Category: energy – Page 4

A research team led by physicists Ming Yi and Emilia Morosan from Rice University has developed a new material with unique electronic properties that could enable more powerful and energy-efficient electronic devices.

The material, known as a Kramers nodal line metal, was produced by introducing a small amount of indium into a layered compound based on tantalum and sulfur. The addition of indium changes the symmetry of the crystal structure, and the result promotes the novel physical properties associated with the Kramers nodal line behavior. The research, published in Nature Communications, represents a step toward low-energy-loss electronics and paves the way for more sustainable technologies.

“Our work provides a clear path for discovering and designing new quantum materials with desirable properties for future electronics,” said Yi, associate professor of physics and astronomy.

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An SMU-led research team has developed a more cost-effective, energy-efficient material called high-entropy oxide (HEO) nanoribbons that can resist heat, corrosion and other harsh conditions better than current materials.

These HEO nanoribbons— featured in the journal Science —can be especially useful in fields like aerospace, energy, and electronics, where materials need to perform well in extreme conditions.

And unlike high entropy materials that have been created in the past, the nanoribbons that SMU’s Amin Salehi-Khojin and his team developed can be 3D-printed or spray-coated at room temperature for manufacturing components or coating surfaces. This makes them more energy-efficient and cost-effective than traditional high-entropy materials, which typically exist as bulk structures and require high-temperature casting.

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Fuel cells that run on hydrogen are efficient and emit water vapor instead of exhaust. But so far, the technology is still expensive and therefore not competitive with the electric motor alternative.

Norwegian researchers have now figured out how they can accelerate competitiveness by reducing two critical components. This could make fuel cells both cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

The technology has great potential to cut in the transportation sectors, especially in heavy transport, the maritime sector and—in a somewhat longer timeframe—also in aviation.

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A dual resonance vibration electromagnetic energy harvester (EMEH) is proposed in this paper to extend frequency range. Compared with the conventional dual resonance harvester, the proposed system realizes an enhanced “band-pass” harvesting characteristic by increasing the relative displacement between magnet and coil among two resonance frequencies with a significant improvement in the average harvested power. Furthermore, two resonant frequencies are decoupled in the proposed system, which leads to a more straightforward design. The proposed dual resonance EMEH is constructed with a tubular dual spring-mass structure. It is designed with a serpentine planar spring and the coil position is optimized for higher power density with an overall size of 53.9 cm3 for the dual resonance EMEH. It realizes an output power of 11 mW at the first resonant frequency of 58 Hz, 14.9 mW at the second resonant frequency of 74.5 Hz, and 0.52 mW at 65 Hz, which is in the middle of the two resonance frequencies. The frequency range of output power above 0.5 mW is from 55.8 Hz to 79.1 Hz. The maximum normalized power density (NPD) reaches up to 2.77 mW/(cm3·g2). Compared with a single resonance harvester design under the same topology and outer dimension at a resonant frequency of 74.5 Hz, the frequency range in the proposed EMEH achieves more than a 2× times extension. The proposed dual resonance EMEH also has more than 2 times wider frequency range than other state-of-art wideband EMEHs. Therefore, the proposed dual resonance EMEH is demonstrated in this paper for a high maximum NPD and higher NPD over a wide frequency range.

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A groundbreaking fuel cell could be the key to unlocking electric planes, according to a new study.

The researchers suggest that these devices could hold three times as much energy per kg compared to today’s top-performing EV batteries, providing a lightweight solution for powering not just planes, but lorries and ships too.

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Ultrasound is more tissue-friendly and less absorbed by the body, making it a reliable option for powering implantable and skin-adherent devices. As a result, ultrasonic energy is emerging as a next-generation solution for wireless charging.

A flexible, biocompatible solution

A research team led by Dr. Sunghoon Hur from the Electronic and Hybrid Materials Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), along with Professor Hyun-Cheol Song of Korea University, has developed a biocompatible ultrasonic receiver that maintains consistent performance even when bent.

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IN A NUTSHELL 🔋 Revolutionary water-based flow battery offers safer, more affordable, and efficient energy storage for households. ⚡ Developed by researchers at Monash University, the battery features a new membrane that enhances speed and scalability. 🔍 The design improves ion selectivity, allowing fast and stable operation, outperforming industry-standard membranes. 🌿 Non-toxic and non-flammable, the

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“To boldly go… where anime has never gone before.” 🌌🚀

Star Trek: The Anime Voyage (2025) is a fan-made concept teaser trailer, reimagining the legendary science fiction saga as an epic anime series.

With breathtaking cosmic visuals, stylized characters, and emotionally charged storytelling, this animated vision explores new worlds, strange civilizations, and the inner conflicts of Starfleet’s finest.

🚀 Featuring anime-inspired versions of:

Captain Kirk, reimagined with bold, stylized energy.

Spock, the logical soul with a conflicted heart.

Continue reading “Star Trek: The Anime Voyage (2025) | First Teaser Trailer” | >

Separating crude oil into products such as gasoline, diesel, and heating oil is an energy-intensive process that accounts for about 6% of the world’s CO2 emissions. Most of that energy goes into the heat needed to separate the components by their boiling point.

In an advance that could dramatically reduce the amount of energy needed for fractionation, MIT engineers have developed a that filters the components of crude oil by their molecular size.

“This is a whole new way of envisioning a separation process. Instead of boiling mixtures to purify them, why not separate components based on shape and size? The key innovation is that the filters we developed can separate very at an atomistic length scale,” says Zachary P. Smith, an associate professor of chemical engineering at MIT and the senior author of the new study.

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