Tech

ANN ARBOR--Changing climate conditions--including warmer temperatures and an increased frequency of heavy rainstorms--represent "an emerging threat to public health in Michigan," according to a new report from university researchers and state health officials.

Tokyo, April 25, 2016 - A thermoelectric (TE) device*1 using cutting edge thermoelectric conversion technology has been created by a team comprising NEC Corporation, NEC TOKIN Corporation and Tohoku University.

The new technology, known as the spin Seebeck effect *2, has conversion efficiency 10 times higher than the conventional method *3.

While infrared waves are available in short, mid, and long lengths, most detection devices are unable to harness all three at the same time.

Now Northwestern University's Manijeh Razeghi and her team have developed a new approach in device design to realize a three-color, shortwave-midwave-longwave infrared photodetector. With the new design, the devices can detect different infrared wavebands by simply varying the applied bias voltage. This could open up a range of potential applications, including infrared color televisions and three-color infrared imaging.

A switch to propane from diesel by a major Midwest bakery fleet showed promising results, including a significant displacement of petroleum, a drop in greenhouse gases and a fuel cost savings of seven cents per mile, according to a study recently completed by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory.

The secret to making the best energy storage materials is growing them with as much surface area as possible. Like baking, it requires just the right mixture of ingredients prepared in a specific amount and order at just the right temperature to produce a thin sheet of material with the perfect chemical consistency to be useful for storing energy.

A test has been developed to check for contamination of shallow groundwater from unconventional gas extraction techniques, such as fracking.

The development could help monitor the safety of shale gas and coal bed methane extraction, which has sparked debate because of the perceived risks of water contamination.

RICHLAND, Wash. - Hybrid batteries that charge faster than conventional ones could have significantly better electrical capacity and long-term stability when prepared with a gentle-sounding way of making electrodes.

Plastics are all around us. They are found in containers and packing materials, children's toys, medical devices and electronics.

Unfortunately, plastics are also found in the ocean.

A 2015 paper published in Science estimates that anywhere from 4.8 million to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic were dumped into the ocean in 2010 alone. One metric ton equals approximately 2,200 pounds, roughly the weight of a Mazda Miata.

The current effort by the United States and its coalition partners is insufficient to achieve the lasting defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria, according to a new RAND report.

Successful conclusion of the campaign will require significantly increased effort by the United States across two fronts, said Linda Robinson, author of the study and a senior international policy analyst at RAND, a non-profit research organization.

LOGAN, UTAH, USA - All living things require nitrogen for survival, but the world depends on only two known processes to break nitrogen's ultra-strong bonds to allow conversion to a form humans, animals and plants can consume. One is a natural, bacterial process on which farmers have relied since the dawn of agriculture. The other is the century-old Haber-Bösch process, which revolutionized fertilizer production and spurred unprecedented growth of the global food supply.

The current effort by the United States and its coalition partners is insufficient to achieve the lasting defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria, according to a new RAND report.

Successful conclusion of the campaign will require significantly increased effort by the United States across two fronts, said Linda Robinson, author of the study and a senior international policy analyst at RAND, a non-profit research organization.

Planning algorithms for teams of robots fall into two categories: centralized algorithms, in which a single computer makes decisions for the whole team, and decentralized algorithms, in which each robot makes its own decisions based on local observations.

No one is telling you what time to go to bed with this, but researchers are making a strong case that the duration and timing of your sleep are closely associated with whether your behavior is heart-healthy.

Night owls should take special note of a new study by University of Delaware researcher Freda Patterson and collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and the University of Arizona College of Medicine, who found that the early-to-bed, early-to-rise approach aligns much better with cardiovascular health.

In the microscopic world, where the modern miniaturized machines at the new frontiers of technology operate, as long as there are only two particles, things are relatively simple. When other particles are added, however, the situation soon becomes more complicate than common sense would suggest. Imagine there are two people pushing a broken-down car: the total force is the sum of their forces. Similarly, if there are three people, it would be the sum of the force of these three people, and so on.

Irvine, Calif., April 20, 2016 -- University of California, Irvine researchers have invented nanowire-based battery material that can be recharged hundreds of thousands of times, moving us closer to a battery that would never require replacement. The breakthrough work could lead to commercial batteries with greatly lengthened lifespans for computers, smartphones, appliances, cars and spacecraft.