Lifeboat Foundation

Lithium iron phosphate is one of the most important materials for batteries in electric cars, stationary energy storage systems and tools. It has a long service life, is comparatively inexpensive and does not tend to spontaneously combust. Energy density is also making progress. However, experts are still puzzled as to why lithium iron phosphate batteries undercut their theoretical electricity storage capacity by up to 25% in practice.

In order to utilize this dormant capacity reserve, it would be crucial to know exactly where and how lithium ions are stored in and released from the battery material during the charging and discharging cycles.

Researchers at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) have now taken a significant step in this direction. Using transmission electron microscopes, they were able to systematically track the lithium ions as they traveled through the battery material, map their arrangement in the crystal lattice of an iron phosphate cathode with unprecedented resolution and precisely quantify their distribution in the crystal.

Transistors, the building blocks of integrated circuits, face growing challenges as their size decreases. Developing transistors that use novel operating principles has become crucial to enhancing circuit performance.

Hot carrier transistors, which utilize the excess kinetic energy of carriers, have the potential to improve the speed and functionality of transistors. However, their performance has been limited by how hot carriers have traditionally been generated.

A team of researchers led by Prof. Liu Chi, Prof. Sun Dongming, and Prof. CHeng Huiming from the Institute of Metal Research (IMR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has proposed a novel hot carrier generation mechanism called stimulated emission of heated carriers (SEHC).

University of Queensland researchers have discovered a mechanism in DNA that regulates how disease-causing mutations are inherited.

Dr Anne Hahn and Associate Professor Steven Zuryn from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute said the findings could provide a promising therapeutic avenue to stop the onset of heritable and age-related diseases.

“Mitochondrial DNA is essential for cell function,” Dr Hahn said.

With the summer Covid wave still rising, experts say the timing for getting vaccinated is important.

A new study involving an AI scientist that can run its own experiments is both fascinating and terrifying, changing science forever.

Researchers from North Carolina State University and Johns Hopkins University have demonstrated a technology capable of a suite of data storage and computing functions—repeatedly storing, retrieving, computing, erasing or rewriting data—that uses DNA rather than conventional electronics. Previous DNA data storage and computing technologies could complete some but not all of these tasks.

Robotic automation has become a game-changer in addressing labor shortages. While traditional rigid grippers have effectively automated various routine tasks, boosting efficiency and productivity in industries that deal with objects of well-defined specifications, they fall short in sectors like the food industry, where delicate objects of varying sizes and shapes need to be handled. In these cases, a more specialized type of gripper is required.

“Bioinspired soft robotics seeks to develop technologies that draw inspiration from nature and leverage advanced materials and fabrication processes,” said Dr. Pablo Valdivia y Alvarado, Associate Professor at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

Soft grippers inspired by the natural dexterity and control of human hands are particularly well-suited to the food industry. They can adapt to objects of varying sizes and shapes while distributing forces more evenly, making them ideal for handling delicate items.

Australia can still reach its net-zero energy goal by 2050, according to BloombergNEF (BNEF), but there is no time to waste, with a need for significant investments in solar, wind, and energy storage to stay on track.

The Standard Model of particle physics is the mathematical description of the fundamental constituents and interactions of matter. While it is the accepted theory encapsulating our current state-of-the-art knowledge in particle physics, it is incomplete as it is unable to describe many glaring phenomena in nature.

Crivellin and Mellado’s article describes deviations in the decay of multi-lepton particles in the LHC, compared to how they should behave according to the Standard Model. These deviations, or anomalies, constitute excesses in the production of particles called electrons and its heavy cousin, the muon, on top of the predictions from the Standard Model.

“An anomaly is something that stands out as unusual or different from what is normal or expected. In this case, this is a deviation from the Standard Model of Particle physics. Anomalies can be important because they often signal that something unexpected or significant has happened,” says Crivellin.