Matter and energy from Science Daily Feed

Researchers show how biohybrid robots based on jellyfish could be used to gather climate science data from deep in the Earth's oceans.

A systematic review draws together five decades of research -- including more than 730,000 individual measurements -- to assess how a person's skin tone can influence the readings provided by some of the most common monitoring devices used in global healthcare.

Researchers have recovered gold from electronic waste. Their highly sustainable new method is based on a protein fibril sponge, which the scientists derive from whey, a food industry byproduct.

Improved neutron mirrors can increase the efficiency of material analysis in neutron sources such as the ESS. The improved mirror has been developed by coating a silicon plate with extremely thin layers of iron and silicon mixed with boron carbide.

Playing a different sound track is, physically speaking, only a minute change of the vibration spectrum, yet its impact on a dance floor is dramatic. People long for this tiny trigger, and as a salsa changes to a tango completely different collective patterns emerge. For such a tiny stimulus to have an effect, the crowd needs to know more than just one dance. Electrons in metals tend to show only one behavior at zero temperature, when all kinetic energy is quenched.

Perovskite solar cells are considered the strongest contender to replace silicon solar cells. While they achieve high power conversion energy, they also suffer from lead leakage and perovskite degradation due to moisture. Now scientists leverage the technique of interfacial passivation, where lead ions are bound by crown ether B18C6, obtaining 21.7% power conversion energy. The crown ether also resists degradation due to moisture for 300 hours at room temperature and 85% humidity.

In a first-of-its-kind development, researchers have created a new compound that can be used to 3D print telecommunication antennas and other connectivity devices. These 3D printed products, created by combining a two-dimensional compound called MXenes with a polymer, can be used as an alternative for metallic counterparts and can make a vast improvement in communication technology including elements such as antennas, waveguides and filters.

For a long time, it was thought that amorphous solids do not selectively absorb light because of their disordered atomic structure. A new study disproves this theory and shows that amorphous solids actually exhibit dichroism, meaning that they selectively absorb light of different polarizations.

Recycling facilities collect glass and mercury from thrown away fluorescent bulbs, but discarded lighting could also supply rare-earth metals for reuse. The 17 metals referred to as rare earths aren't all widely available and aren't easily extracted with existing recycling methods. Now, researchers have found a simpler way to collect slightly magnetic particles that contain rare-earth metals from spent fluorescent bulbs.

Countries in the European Union (EU) have made progress over the past decade toward Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7), which calls for 'access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all' by 2030, according to a new study.

Chemists fill a major gap in origin-of-life theories.

Researchers think they have a foundational tool for the thorny problem of how to measure and image the behavior of hydride superconductors at high pressure. They report creatively integrating quantum sensors into a diamond anvil cell, enabling direct readouts of the pressurized material's electrical and magnetic properties.

Researchers applied deep-learning approaches from vehicle routing to streamline planning trajectories for robots in an e-commerce warehouse. Their method breaks the problem down into smaller chunks and then predicts the best chunks to solve with traditional algorithms.

Embrittlement is one of the biggest obstacles facing the transition to a global hydrogen economy. A new process uncovered by researchers is helping shed light on how to better prevent it.

Researchers identified environmental factors that explain why reports of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) are more common in certain regions of the country. Most sightings occur in the American West where proximity to public lands, dark skies and military installations afford more opportunities to see strange objects in the air. Understanding the environmental context of these sightings will make it easier to find explanations for their occurrence and help identify truly anomalous objects that may be a legitimate threat.

Researchers have developed a microporous covalent organic framework with dense donor-acceptor lattices and engineered linkages for the efficient and clean production of hydrogen peroxide through the photosynthesis process with water and air.

Molecules that are induced by light to rotate bulky groups around central bonds could be developed into photo-activated bioactive systems, molecular switches, and more.

Nano- and microplastics are seemingly everywhere -- water, soil and the air. While many creative strategies have been attempted to get rid of these plastic bits, one unexpectedly effective solution for cleaning up drinking water, specifically, might be as simple as brewing a cup of tea or coffee. Boiling and filtering calcium-containing tap water could help remove nearly 90% of the nano- and microplastics present.

Protein-based drugs must be transported into cells in a way that prevents their immediate degradation. A new approach is intended to ensure that they remain intact only in certain cells, such as cancer cells. A Japanese research team has introduced a nanocarrier that can 'escape' from endosomes before its cargo is destroyed there. This ability to escape is only triggered within the endosomes of certain tumor cells.

Engineers have unveiled an encodable multifunctional material that can dynamically tune its shape and mechanical properties in real time.