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Category: sustainability – Page 16

Imagine if we could take the energy of the sun, put it in a container, and use it to provide green, sustainable power for the world. Creating commercial fusion power plants would essentially make this idea a reality. However, there are several scientific challenges to overcome before we can successfully harness fusion power in this way.

Researchers from the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) Ames National Laboratory and Iowa State University are leading efforts to overcome material challenges that could make commercial fusion power a reality. The research teams are part of a DOE Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program called Creating Hardened And Durable fusion first Wall Incorporating Centralized Knowledge (CHADWICK). They will investigate materials for the first wall of a fusion reactor. The first wall is the structure that surrounds the fusion reaction, so it bears the brunt of the extreme environment in the fusion reactor core.

ARPA-E recently selected 13 projects under the CHADWICK program. Of those 13, Ames Lab leads one of the projects and is collaborating alongside Iowa State on another project, which is led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

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Modern materials must be recyclable and sustainable. Consumer electronics is no exception, with organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) taking over modern televisions and portable device displays. However, the development of suitable materials—from the synthesis of molecules to the production of display components—is very time-consuming.

Scientists led by Denis Andrienko of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and Falk May from Display Solutions at Merck have now developed a simulation method that could significantly speed up the development of new materials.

High contrast and are key features of innovative . OLEDs use thin films of organic molecules, i.e. carbon-containing molecules, to achieve these goals.

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Researchers at the University of Virginia have made significant advancements in understanding how heat flows through thin metal films, critical for designing more efficient computer chips.

This study confirms Matthiessen’s rule at the nanoscale, enhancing heat management in ultra-thin copper films used in next-generation devices, thereby improving performance and sustainability.

Breakthrough in Chip Technology.

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The LOREX experiment utilizes lorandite ore to gauge historical solar neutrino flux, revealing insights about the Sun’s development and climatic effects through advanced decay rate measurements.

The Sun, Earth’s life-sustaining powerhouse, generates immense energy through nuclear fusion while emitting a steady stream of neutrinos — subatomic particles that reveal its inner workings. While modern neutrino detectors shed light on the Sun’s current behavior, key questions remain about its stability over millions of years — a timeframe encompassing human evolution and major climate changes.

Addressing these questions is the mission of the LORandite EXperiment (LOREX), which depends on accurately determining the solar neutrino cross-section for thallium. An international team of scientists has now achieved this crucial measurement using the unique Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) at GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt. Their groundbreaking results, advancing our understanding of the Sun’s long-term stability, have been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

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I believe that vertical farming will be able to meet the demand of 9.7 billion people by 2050 or even be able to feed eventually the entire globe or even space stations. The leading vertical farming company I like is aero farms:3.

By 2050, we’ll need to produce 70% more food to feed over 9 billion mouths. Luckily, a wide range of vertical farming companies are developing innovative solutions to redefine production, expand urban agriculture and transform consumers into green-fingered growers.

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Researchers at MIT are developing innovative agricultural technologies such as stress-signaling plants, microbial fertilizers, and protective seed coatings to adapt farming to climate change and enhance food security.

With global temperatures on the rise, agricultural practices must adapt to new challenges. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of droughts, and some land may no longer be arable. Additionally, it is becoming increasingly difficult to feed an ever-growing population without expanding the production of fertilizer and other agrochemicals, which have a large carbon footprint that is contributing to global warming.

Now, scientists across MIT are tackling these issues from a variety of angles, including the development of plants that sound an alarm when they’re under stress and making seeds more resilient to drought. These technologies, and more yet to be devised, will be essential to feed the world’s population as the climate changes.

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A new technology that can generate electricity from vibrations or even small body movements means you could charge your laptop by typing or power your smartphone’s battery on your morning run.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a tiny, wearable generator in response to the urgent need for sustainable, clean energy. It is also scalable for larger machines. Their paper, “Breaking Dielectric Dilemma: Polymer Functionalized Perovskite Piezocomposite with Large Current Density Output,” is published in the November edition of Nature Communications.

“This is a real game changer,” said Dr. Asif Khan, the project’s lead researcher and a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Waterloo. “We have made the first device of its kind that can power electronics at low cost and with unprecedented efficiency.”

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Recent scientific efforts have advanced the development of a comprehensive primate evolutionary timetree, filling significant gaps in our understanding of primate biodiversity and evolutionary history.

The primate order includes not only humanity’s closest relatives—the seven great apes—but also more than 450 species of monkeys, lemurs, lorises, and galagos. This group is remarkably diverse, ranging from 400-pound gorillas to tiny mouse lemurs (Microcebus) that weigh just one ounce. Primates display some of the most fascinating behaviors in the animal kingdom: chimpanzees use sticks to ‘fish’ for termites in hollow logs, while orangutans fashion leaf gloves to handle prickly durian fruit.

Despite being among the most thoroughly studied animals on Earth, primates still lack a complete molecular phylogenetic tree—a comprehensive evolutionary map detailing when different species emerged and how they are related. A robust phylogenetic tree would use genetic data to trace the timing of species’ appearances and identify their closest evolutionary relatives. Currently, the largest molecular timetree for primates includes just over 200 species. Even the most extensive synthetic timetree, based on more than 4,000 published studies, covers only about 400 species, leaving roughly one-fifth of the primate evolutionary tree unresolved.

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A study published in the journal Optica demonstrates live plant imaging of several representative plant samples, including the biofuel crop sorghum. By employing a novel detector, researchers obtained clear images of living sorghum plants with a light far dimmer than starlight. This advance enables imaging of delicate, light-sensitive samples, such as biofuel crops, without disturbing or damaging the plants.

A method called quantum ghost imaging (QGI) allows scientists to capture images at extremely low light levels. QGI also enables the use of one low intensity color, best matched to the sample and a different color at higher intensity, sufficient to form the image of the sample. This approach improves imaging in regions of light where traditional cameras struggle.

By using label-free infrared imaging, researchers can gather critical information about important plant processes, such as and photosynthesis, even in low-light conditions. This is particularly beneficial for studying , where researchers want to optimize plant growth and health to maximize yield and sustainability.

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