Despite efforts to promote recycling and reuse of plastic materials, the plastic problem continues to be a global problem. West Virginia University engineers hope to debottleneck the remaining challenges for recycling of single-use plastic packaging by upcycling them into petrochemicals. “Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags annually, that’s about 307 bags per person,” said Yuxin Wang, research assistant professor of chemical and biomedical engineering and principal investigator of the project. “Single-use plastic waste ends up in landfills or the water, harming the…
Rice bioscientists’ microfluidic platform refines study of how infectious bacteria evolve. A new experimental platform developed at Rice University promises to speed up the discovery of how infectious bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. The microfluidic application by Rice bioscientist Yousif Shamoo and his team quickly encapsulates bacteria with varying concentrations of antibiotics to analyze how they evolve to become resistant. The details appear in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Infectious Diseases. “The idea of using microfluidics to encapsulate cells isn’t new; there…
There are 6,500 satellites in orbit, but only about half of them are functional. Once a satellite breaks down or runs out of fuel, it is essentially useless. Repairs, maintenance and upgrades are nearly impossible in orbit. It’s launch once, use once. But as satellites have become more robust, their operators often find that fleets outlast their projected lifespans and need new technology, repairs, refueling or maintenance to stay competitive, relevant and operational. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University will head…
Microplastic researchers compare health risks of microparticles. Researchers at the University of Bayreuth want to find out the consequences of inhaled microplastics. In order to better understand them, they have conducted an interdisciplinary study to find out how the health risks of particles such as soot, grinding dust or asbestos are related to their physical properties. By comparing them with the properties of microplastic particles, more precise statements can be made about their potentially hazardous effects on health. Microplastics are…
Mickael L. Perrin wants to build tiny power plants from graphene nanoribbons that generate electricity from heat. His ambitious project won him one of the prestigious ERC Starting Grants from the EU and one of the 32 Eccellenza Professorial Fellowships by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). He will take up an assistant professorship at ETH Zurich – and continue his research at Empa. Machines and electronic devices often generate waste heat that is difficult to utilize. If electricity could…
Young research team publishes new method for accurate prediction of epidemic dynamics. Country comparisons included. The COVID-19 pandemic still poses major challenges in crisis management to governments and health systems. Epidemiologic models play a critical role in this effort, supporting policymakers by predicting future infection progression and hospitalization rates. A key challenge here is to determine non-measurable epidemiological states such as susceptibility to infection in real time. Young researchers at TU Wien have now published a new method that can…
The need for development of aircraft observations of cumulus cloud physical characteristics. In precipitating clouds, the vertical cloud structure reflects the dynamic and thermal structural characteristics and microphysical characteristics of precipitating cloud clusters. Aircraft cloud detection has become a basic method to determine the characteristics of cloud particle concentrations, liquid water content, and particle spectrum distributions. The airborne Ka-band cloud radar is able to observe the macrostructure of cloud particle characteristics in precipitating clouds during the process of the aircraft…
Gas giants are made of a massive solid core surrounded by an even larger mass of helium and hydrogen. But even though these planets are quite common in the Universe, scientists still don’t fully understand how they form. Now, astrophysicists Hiroshi Kobayashi of Nagoya University and Hidekazu Tanaka of Tohoku University have developed computer simulations that simultaneously use multiple types of celestial matter to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how these colossal planets grow from tiny specks of dust….
A novel, simple and extremely compact radiation source for terahertz waves has been developed at TU Wien. The possible applications are manifold. Terahertz radiation has a wavelength of typically a little less than one millimetre – a technically difficult range. Electromagnetic waves with longer wavelengths can be generated with ordinary electronic components (such as transistors) and antennas. Smaller wavelengths can be obtained with ordinary light sources, such as lasers or LEDs. However, the terahertz range in between is still a…
A group of chemists from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania synthesised materials that were used for constructing a record-breaking perovskite solar module, with an efficiency of 21.4 per cent. This was achieved through the passivation of the active solar cell layer, which increases the efficiency of the cell and significantly improves its stability. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are one of the world’s fastest-growing solar cell technologies. These elements are thin-layered, lightweight, flexible, and are made of low-cost materials. However,…
NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Mars on Aug. 6, 2012, and since then has roamed Gale Crater taking samples and sending the results back home for researchers to interpret. Analysis of carbon isotopes in sediment samples taken from half a dozen exposed locations, including an exposed cliff, leave researchers with three plausible explanations for the carbon’s origin — cosmic dust, ultraviolet degradation of carbon dioxide, or ultraviolet degradation of biologically produced methane. The researchers note today (Jan.17) in Proceedings of…
Water dynamics can trap lightweight microplastics that otherwise might float. Microplastics can deposit and linger within riverbeds for as long as seven years before washing into the ocean, a new study has found. Because rivers are in near-constant motion, researchers previously assumed lightweight microplastics quickly flowed through rivers, rarely interacting with riverbed sediments. Now, researchers led by Northwestern University and the University of Birmingham in England, have found hyporheic exchange — a process in which surface water mixes with water…
Achieving climate targets in turbomachinery engineering through digitization. Manufacturers and suppliers of engines and stationary turbomachinery have long recognized that the overriding goals of conserving resources and reducing emissions can now only be achieved if they are able to implement both evolutionary and revolutionary concepts along the entire product life cycle. How to succeed in meeting the associated challenges in the manufacture and repair of turbomachinery is the central question of the sixth ICTM Conference, which will be held on…
Maps are essential for exploring trackless wilderness or vast expanses of ocean. The same is true for scientific studies that try to open up new fields and develop brand-new devices. A journey without maps and signposts tends to end in vain. In the world of “neuromorphic devices,” an electronic device that mimics neural cells such as our brain, researchers have long been forced to travel without maps. Such devices will lead to a fresh field of brain-inspired computers with substantial…
Scientists unravel a bit more of the mystery underlying how wave-particle interactions generate other plasma waves in Geospace. In a new study published in Physical Review Letters, researchers from Japan show that high-frequency plasma waves in the Geospace can generate low-frequency plasma waves through wave-particle interactions by heating up low-energy ions, unveiling a new energy transfer pathway in collisionless plasma. A prominent signature of plasma — a state of matter characterized by freely roaming charged particles interacting via electromagnetic forces…
Scientists have pinpointed a gene that helps deadly E. coli bacteria evade antibiotics, potentially leading to better treatments for millions of people worldwide. The University of Queensland-led study found a particular form of the bacteria – E. coli ST131 – had a previously unnoticed gene that made it highly resistant to commonly prescribed antibiotics. Professor Mark Schembri, from UQ’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, said this ‘resistance gene’ can spread incredibly quickly. “Unlike gene transfer in humans, where sex is…
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