Collaborate Disseminate
Lightning rods have been used to guide lightning strikes for centuries, but now scientists have demonstrated something a bit more advanced than a humble metal stick. Beaming a high-powered laser into the sky was shown to deflect lightning bolts, which … Continue reading Scientists guide lightning bolts with laser beams for first time
Perovskite and silicon are proving to be a formidable duo in the world of solar cells, and now they’ve hit a new record efficiency. A team at Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have developed solar cells with an efficiency of over 32%.
Tags: Solar Power, Solar Cell, Silicon, Perovskite, tandem, Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, Electricity, Efficiency, World’s Most Efficient
Continue reading Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell advance breaks efficiency record
By tinkering with fine details within wood, engineers in Sweden have come up with an interesting new way of harvesting electricity. The technology leverages natural processes that already take place in drying wood, but supercharges it to capture enough… Continue reading Engineered wood generates electricity as it dries
With an ability to turn friction into small amounts of electricity, triboelectric generators may one day be used in clothes that turn movement into power, in battery-free brain implants, and a host of other scenarios. Scientists working on cheap and ea… Continue reading Simpler, cheaper electrical generator can be made with store-bought tape
Engineers have developed a new solar cell with a record voltage and (arguably) a record efficiency for its kind. The all-perovskite tandem solar cell uses two layers of perovskite that tap into different wavelengths of light, plus a special surface tre… Continue reading All-perovskite tandem solar cell boasts high efficiency, record voltage
Scientists working with an experimental class of materials have made a breakthrough that could shape a new generation of electronic devices. The researchers’ creation is likened to a conductive “Play-Doh” that can be easily shaped, combining two charac… Continue reading Novel rule-breaking material behaves like “conductive Play-Doh”
Insects have been known to sense and tap into electric fields, but new research shows that swarms can actually produce atmospheric electric charges. By measuring the extent of this influence, the scientists found that large swarms could produce as much… Continue reading Insect swarms can generate as much static electricity as a storm cloud
We’re all used to receiving data wirelessly, but transmitting power over the air has been much trickier. Now Korean engineers have demonstrated a new system that uses infrared lasers to beam power as far as 100 ft (30 m), which could eventually lead to… Continue reading Infrared laser charger wirelessly beams power to devices 100 ft away
Researchers at EPFL have discovered a material that seems to be able to “remember” all of its past encounters with stimuli, such as electrical currents. The compound could come in handy for better data storage and processing.Continue ReadingCategory: M… Continue reading First material found to “remember” its own history
While a thunderstorm can put on quite a show for spectators on the ground, the best bits often happen above the clouds. Scientists have now described in detail the most powerful “gigantic jet” of lightning ever observed, which blasted energy equivalent… Continue reading “Gigantic jet” lightning blasts record-breaking bolt upwards into space