Imagine you're on your way to Mars, and you lose a crucial tool during a spacewalk. Not to worry, you'll simply re-enter your spacecraft and use some microorganisms to convert your urine and exhaled carbon dioxide (CO2) into chemicals to make a new one. That's one of the ultimate goals of scientists who are developing ways to make long space trips feasible.
The edible coating on produce has drawn a great deal of attention in the food and agricultural industry. It could not only prolong postharvest shelf life of produce against external changes in the environment but also provide additional nutrients to be useful for human health.
Photosynthesis provides energy for the vast majority of life on Earth. But chlorophyll, the green pigment that plants use to harvest sunlight, is relatively inefficient. To enable humans to capture more of the sun's energy than natural photosynthesis can, scientists have taught bacteria to cover themselves in tiny, highly efficient solar panels to produce useful compounds.
Making a biocell that is as effective as a platinum fuel cell: that's the feat that researchers in the Laboratoire de Bioénergétique et Ingénierie des Protéines (CNRS/Aix-Marseille Université) have achieved... This biocell could, in the long run, offer an alternative to fuel cells that require rare and costly metals, such as platinum.
Too many mussels can make for a sticky situation. The bivalves will take any opportunity to attach themselves to an underwater object. They can clog pipes, destroy scientific equipment, and damage dams and boats. Now, scientists have found a way to fight back.
NewAtlas.com When spiders are given water laced with graphene or carbon nanotubes, the material gets passed into their silk
ScienceDaily.com As graphene's popularity grows as an advanced 'wonder' material, the speed and quality at which it can be manufactured will be paramount.
Phys.org Flatter materials have fewer imperfections, which makes for better solar cells and light sensors
ScienceDaily.com Physicists have managed to create optical hollows and more complex patterns into which the light of a Bose-Einstein condensate flows.
Wired.com COMPUTERS USED TO require entire buildings to operate. Now they fit in our pockets. Similarly, factory-size electronics manufacturing is approaching a contraction. Want proof? Look at that $50 printer on your desk and imagine, instead of using it to spit out a hard copy of that thank-you note, that you used it to print some digital memory.
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
