Tech

DURHAM, N.C. -- A Duke University study of coal ash ponds near 21 power plants in five Southeastern U.S. states has found evidence that nearby surface waters and groundwater are consistently and lastingly contaminated by the unlined ponds.

High levels of toxic heavy metals including arsenic and selenium were found in surface waters or groundwater at all of the sites tested. Concentrations of trace elements in 29 percent of the surface water samples exceeded EPA standards for drinking water and aquatic life.

Magicians could join composers and artists in finding new ideas for their performances by using computers to create new magic effects, according to computer scientists at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

Writing in the open access journal Frontiers in Psychology, the scientists, one of whom is also practicing magician, have looked at modelling particular human perceptual quirks and processes, and building computer systems able to search and find designs for new tricks based on these potential responses from the audience.

The rise of big data and advances in information technology has serious implications for our ability to deliver sufficient bandwidth to meet the growing demand.

Researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are looking at alternative sources that will be able to take over where traditional optical communications systems are likely to fail in future.

Researchers have developed a compound that can transform near-infrared light into broadband white-light, offering a cheap, efficient means to produce visible light. The emitted light is also exceedingly directional, a desirable quality for devices like microscopes that require high spatial resolution, or for applications with high throughput, such as projection systems. Nils Wilhelm Rosemann and colleagues designed their compound of tin and sulfur, and with a diamondoid-like structure, then coating this scaffolding with organic ligands.

Researchers have identified a technique for developing perovskite solar cells that significantly increases the area of the cell while maintaining high conversion efficiency, which has been difficult to date. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are appealing because they have very high solar-to-electric power conversion efficiency (PCE), and are cheap to manufacture. However, a major drawback of PSCs is their lack of scalability; they currently only reach a maximum area of about 0.1 cm2 while maintaining an attractive PCE of roughly 20%.

EPFL researchers are pushing the limits of perovskite solar cell performance by exploring the best way to grow these crystals.

Michael Graetzel and his team found that, by briefly reducing the pressure while fabricating perovskite crystals, they were able to achieve the highest performance ever measured for larger-size perovskite solar cells, reaching over 20% efficiency and matching the performance of conventional thin-film solar cells of similar sizes. Their results are published in Science.

EUGENE, Ore. - June 9, 2016 -- University of Oregon chemists have synthesized a stable and long-lasting carbon-based molecule that, they say, potentially could be applicable in solar cells and electronic devices.

The molecule changes its bonding patterns to a magnetic biradical state when heated; it then returns to a fully bonded non-magnetic closed state at room temperature. That transition, they report, can be done repeatedly without decomposition. It remains stable in the presence of both heat and oxygen.

Decades of unregulated industrial waste dumping in areas of the Great Lakes have created a host of environmental and wildlife problems. Now it appears that Lake Michigan painted and snapping turtles could be a useful source for measuring the resulting pollution.

June 9, 2016 - Many new robots look less like the metal humanoids of pop culture and more like high-tech extensions of ourselves and our capabilities.

In the same way eyeglasses, wheelchairs, pacemakers and other items enable people to see and move more easily in the world, so will many cutting-edge robotic systems. Their aim is to help people be better, stronger and faster. Further, due to recent advances, most are far less expensive than the Six Million Dollar Man.

The U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station today released a general technical report presenting raw data and dot maps for 22 elements measured in moss samples in 2013 as part of its Portland moss and air quality study.

The data and maps, which show the concentrations and distributions of elements in 346 moss samples gathered across the city, can help regulators, researchers, and citizens further investigate the importance and possible sources of moss-identified "hotspots."

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY'S HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS -- If you purchased a Toyota Prius, you may have been driven by the desire to conserve the environment or to save yourself some money at the gas pump. But consumers may also choose to buy sustainable products to make themselves appear socially responsible to others. Before making purchases, they evaluate how their decisions will stack up against their peers', according to a new study.

Clermont, Fla, (June 9, 2016) ­ Rather than make appointments to see their family doctor on a regular basis, men are often more likely to make excuses for not going, according to a new survey that lists the top excuses men most often make.

Scientists at UC San Diego, MIT and Harvard University have engineered "topological plexcitons," energy-carrying particles that could help make possible the design of new kinds of solar cells and miniaturized optical circuitry.

The researchers report their advance in an article published in the current issue of Nature Communications.

Within the Lilliputian world of solid state physics, light and matter interact in strange ways, exchanging energy back and forth between them.

As you read this paragraph, a NASA satellite orbits around planet Earth, gathering data on -- of all things -- soil moisture. Moisture in the soil acts like a thermostat for the planet. Along with affecting agricultural production, it has a large influence on the weather and climate. Its impact on the planet is so important, NASA has sent a satellite into space to measure it.

The Materials Project, a Google-like database of material properties aimed at accelerating innovation, has released an enormous trove of data to the public, giving scientists working on fuel cells, photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, and a host of other advanced materials a powerful tool to explore new research avenues. But it has become a particularly important resource for researchers working on batteries.