Most recent 40 articles: PHYS.ORG - Technology
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Morocco's automotive industry shifts gears to prep for electric vehicle era - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 15) |
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May 15 · A train that travels from rural northern Morocco to a port on the Mediterranean Sea carries no passengers. Three times a day, it brings hundreds of cars stacked bumper to bumper from a Renault factory outside Tangiers to vessels that transport them to European dealerships.
Business incentives and investing in infrastructure like the freight railway line have allowed Morocco to grow its automotive industry from virtually non-existent to Africa's largest in less than two decades. The North African kingdom supplies more cars to Europe than China, India or Japan, and has the capacity to produce 700,000 vehicles a year.
Moroccan officials are determined to maintain the ... Read more ...
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'Green grabbing' of Brazilian public and common lands a threat, says study - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 14) |
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May 14 · The study, published in Nature Sustainability, found that land privatization is the dominant means for solar and wind companies to secure land for their power generation infrastructure, which includes the transfer of control of formerly public and common lands to often international companies.
In the years between 2011and 2021, wind power in Brazil grew from 1.2% of its power generation capacity to 11.4%, and solar power grew from 0.1% to 2.6%, with plans for significant growth in place over the next several decades. While the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy reduces carbon emissions, wind parks and solar photovoltaic parks require a significant land footprint. Read more ...
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Cinematic tools can significantly improve user experience in virtual reality environments - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 14) |
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May 14 · This was the result of a recent study conducted by computer scientists at the University of Helsinki. The results were published in May in the Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
The team aimed to investigate how principles of composition and continuity, commonly used in filmmaking, could be utilized to enhance navigation around virtual environments.
Composition refers to how the elements in a scene are oriented with respect to the viewer, whereas continuity is about how camera positions between shots can help viewers to understand spatial relationships between elements in the scene.
"Using these ideas, we developed a new ... Read more ...
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Digital records can help make European homes and offices greener and healthier - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 14) |
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May 14 · The building is being digitally scanned and fitted with sensors. They count people, measure ambient temperature and detect levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) inside.
Dashboard designs
From his desk in Brindisi about 200 kilometers farther south, Italo Spada can open a file on his computer to monitor the air quality of the school and its energy consumption.
"Our system can give those who run buildings a simple dashboard so that they can see what energy is being consumed or inspect the facilities or see when routine maintenance is due," said Spada, head of the new technologies and design department of the European Research Center for Technologies, Design and Materials, ... Read more ...
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Domestic lime instead of magnesium from overseas could reduce global dependence on raw materials - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 14) |
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May 14 · Their results are published in the Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy, and a corresponding plant has already been put into operation.
The supply bottlenecks during and after the peak of the coronavirus pandemic have shown the extent to which global dependencies determine our economy. Political demands and considerations in the EU are, therefore, increasingly focused on making Europe's supply of raw materials more independent again.
The Institute for Technologies of Metals (ITM) at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), together with Fritz Winter Eisengießerei GmbH & Co. KG (FW) in Stadtallendorf and the FEhS—Building Materials Institute e.V. in Duisburg has ... Read more ...
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Investigating the origins of critical deformations in Li-ion batteries - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 14) |
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May 14 · Understanding degradations and failure mechanisms in detail opens opportunities to better predict and mitigate them.
In a new study, a team of researchers led by the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research of the CEA, the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) and the European Synchrotron (ESRF) in collaboration has examined Li-ion batteries during their lifetime using state-of-the-art, non-intrusive imaging techniques available at neutron and X-ray sources.
The team's paper is published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science.
Neutrons and photons are largely complementary. Neutrons are particularly good at seeing lithium and other light elements, while X-rays are ... Read more ...
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New industry readies for launch as researchers hone offshore wind turbines that float - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 14) |
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May 14 · The uneventful outcome is exactly what engineers aimed for.
The demonstration featuring a 13-foot-tall (4-meter-tall) floating wind turbine in an indoor pool aimed to ensure it can withstand the strain of powerful water and wind when much larger versions are deployed in the ocean.
It's the University of Maine's contribution to a worldwide race to improve floating machines to tap wind that blows across deeper waters offshore, too deep to attach turbines to the seabed with permanent pilings.
In the next decade, UMaine researchers said, they envision turbine platforms floating in the ocean beyond the horizon, stretching more than 700 feet (210 meters) skyward and ... Read more ...
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Researchers compile most comprehensive power outage dataset for the US - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 14) |
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May 14 · In a recent study published in the journal Scientific Data, researchers from the Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have produced the most comprehensive power outage dataset ever compiled for the United States.
This dataset, showing electricity outages from 2014–22 in the 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, details outages at 15-minute intervals for up to 92% of customers for the eight-year period.
According to the researchers, this dataset will prove to be a vital tool in several ways, including assessing the consequences of extreme weather on electricity infrastructure and the power grid and in identifying vulnerability ... Read more ...
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Swedish researchers develop eco-friendly and affordable battery for low-income countries - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 14) |
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May 14 · A battery made from zinc and lignin that can be used over 8,000 times has been developed by researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, with a vision to provide a cheap and sustainable battery solution for countries where access to electricity is limited. The study has been published in the journal Energy & Environmental Materials.
"Solar panels have become relatively inexpensive, and many people in low-income countries have adopted them. However, near the equator, the sun sets at around 6 pm, leaving households and businesses without electricity. The hope is that this battery technology, even with lower performance than the expensive Li-ion batteries, will eventually ... Read more ...
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The true cost: Deploying electric vehicle charging infrastructure nationwide - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 14) |
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May 14 · One of those questions involves determining the true cost of electric vehicle operation to ultimately enable their widespread adoption. Understanding this cost will allow the transportation sector to provide an equitable and affordable solution for all Americans.
In response, INL researchers published a report that demonstrates a model to standardize cost data for charging infrastructure. This report will help policymakers understand how much it would cost to deploy a national charging network. Amid this research, though, researchers realized their original cost model couldn't give them the answers they needed.
"We had worked on a report last year where we analyzed ... Read more ...
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New free analysis platform shines light on how solar energy projects will affect utilities' power systems - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 13) |
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May 13 · "This web portal and the unique set of functions it offers to the power systems analysis research and development community will improve electricity grid's reliability and resiliency while we move to rapidly incorporate as much renewable energy as we can," said ORNL's Jin Dong, lead researcher on the project.
The new software platform, called Open Energy Data Initiative Solar Systems Integration Data and Modeling, is unlike data repositories developed previously because it is designed for free use, with any power system datasets, by any user. The online web portal was created in equal partnership with Argonne National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the ... Read more ...
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Q&A: Climate change solution can carry environmental costs - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 13) |
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May 13 · Solar power, widely seen as humanity's best hope for avoiding catastrophic climate change, can carry a heavy environmental cost, depending on where panels and transmission lines are built.
Some of that infrastructure - providing electricity to millions of Californians - is going into places it should not, says San Jose State University environmental studies professor and sustainable energy expert, Dustin Mulvaney. Killing plants and animals, of course, is not a goal for solar developers, but the collateral damage has sparked bitter debate over where panels and lines belong.
California has done a good job of protecting its public lands while facilitating solar ... Read more ...
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Small, well-built Chinese EV called the Seagull poses a big threat to the US auto industry - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 13) |
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May 13 · The car, launched last year by Chinese automaker BYD, sells for around $12,000 in China, but drives well and is put together with craftsmanship that rivals U.S.-made electric vehicles that cost three times as much. A shorter-range version costs under $10,000.
Tariffs on imported Chinese vehicles probably will keep the Seagull away from America's shores for now, and it likely would sell for more than 12 grand if imported.
But the rapid emergence of low-priced EVs from China could shake up the global auto industry in ways not seen since Japanese makers exploded on the scene during the oil crises of the 1970s. BYD, which stands for "Build Your Dreams," could be a nightmare ... Read more ...
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Understanding turbulence through artificial intelligence - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 13) |
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May 13 · Actually, turbulence is a significant factor in energy dissipation within these modes of transportation, accounting for up to 15% of the annual CO2 emissions generated by humanity.
Now, an international team composed of scientists from the Universitat Politècnica de València and the universities of Edinburgh and Melbourne, led by Ricardo Vinuesa from the Flow Institute of the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, has developed a new technique that allows us to study turbulence in a completely different way from that used in the last 100 years. Their work has been published in Nature Communications.
The main difficulty of fluid mechanics is that "although the ... Read more ...
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US energy panel approves rule to expand transmission of renewable power - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 13) |
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May 13 · The rule, under development for two years, is aimed at boosting the nation's aging power grid to meet surging demand fueled by huge data centers, electrification of vehicles and buildings, artificial intelligence and other uses.
The increased demand comes as coal-fired power plants continue to be retired amid competition from natural gas, and other energy sources face increasingly strict federal pollution rules, setting up what experts say could be a crisis for electric reliability.
The grid is also being tested by more frequent service disruptions during extreme weather events driven by climate change.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the new ... Read more ...
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Microsoft, Amazon to invest billions in French tech - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 12) |
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May 12 · Microsoft on Sunday announced four billion euros in investment for developing data centers in France, joining fellow US giant Amazon in committing to the country's tech infrastructure.
The announcements came on the eve of the seventh Choose France Summit, the aim of which is to attract foreign investors to the country. Macron will host it at the Chateau of Versailles near Paris.
Microsoft's president Brad Smith told AFP the move to strengthen its artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure was the tech giant's biggest-ever investment in France since its arrival 41 years ago.
France's "longstanding commitment to carbon-free energy markets" and its ... Read more ...
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Musk says Tesla charger network will grow, days after layoffs - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 11) |
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May 11 · Tesla boss Elon Musk said Friday the electric vehicle manufacturer would invest over $500 million this year to install new superchargers, just days after a report of massive layoffs in this branch of the company.
"Just to reiterate: Tesla will spend well over $500M expanding our Supercharger network to create thousands of NEW chargers this year," Elon said on X.
"That's just on new sites and expansions, not counting operations costs, which are much higher," he added.
According to tech news outlet The Information on Monday, Tesla was moving to disband its supercharger department, laying off most of its 500 workers as well as its senior director.
The revelation ... Read more ...
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Amazon's new fees on sellers likened to 'kick in the gut' - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 10) |
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May 10 · Amazon.com Inc. merchants have found themselves caught in an economic vice. Earlier this year, the e-commerce giant rolled out changes to the fees its charges them - essentially shifting more of its operating costs onto the small businesses that account for most of the products sold on the site. Making matters worse for merchants, shoppers are trading down.
In the first four months of the year, American consumers have increasingly opted for the least expensive products in nearly all categories, according to a report released Thursday by Adobe Inc. That makes it harder to pass price hikes along to shoppers, and online merchants are struggling to make money.
Duncan Freer, ... Read more ...
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Biden's clean energy tax credits likely to remain 'law of the land': Brainard - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 10) |
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May 10 · Most of Joe Biden's clean energy tax credits are now law and are unlikely to be reversed by Donald Trump if he wins November's presidential election, a senior administration official said Friday.
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) - one of Biden's most significant policy achievements as president - contains tax credits, subsidies and grants worth hundreds of billions of dollars designed to turbo-charge America's energy transition.
The legislation has been opposed by some Republicans, including Trump, who is reportedly looking at ways to gut Biden's signature law if he wins in November.
But speaking in Washington on Friday, White House national economic advisor ... Read more ...
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Environmentalists battle to get Peco to increase its use of green energy, but the oil industry calls it a job killer - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 10) |
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May 10 · The nation is in the middle of a contentious transformation from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
It's a change either hailed by environmentalists for addressing climate change and public health or loathed by the oil and gas industry for killing jobs and being less reliable, efficient and affordable. And what the increase in renewables will mean for consumers' pocketbooks is still unclear.
The latest battle played out before the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission, which every four years has to approve Peco's energy procurement, or default service plan, where the utility explains how it intends to buy electricity.
Peco's current DSP is set to expire next May. Read more ...
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Global analysis of 30M hydrogen energy tweets shows increase from 2015 Paris Agreement - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 10) |
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May 10 · The multi-lingual study's first author Ph.D. researcher Deepak Uniyal, who conducted the study with Professor Richi Nayak from the School of Computer Science, said analyzing public discourse on hydrogen energy was essential for understanding the public's behavior and acceptance of hydrogen technology. "Twitter's pulse on hydrogen energy in 280 characters: a data perspective" was published in Social Network Analysis and Mining.
Mr. Uniyal said an analysis of tweet geolocation found that Australia ranked seventh among the top 35 countries engaged in discussions about hydrogen energy on Twitter from 2013 to 2022.
"Japan led the distribution of discussion across the top ... Read more ...
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Honda posts record profit, issues cautious forecasts - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 10) |
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May 10 · Japanese auto giant Honda on Friday logged a record annual profit thanks to improving global vehicle sales, but issued a cautious outlook for the current fiscal year.
The company said net profit for the year to March soared 70 percent to 1.1 trillion yen ($7.1 billion) on sales of 20.4 trillion yen, up 20.8 percent from the previous year.
Honda has made big outlays as it aggressively pursues a target set three years ago of achieving 100 percent electric vehicle sales by 2040.
Its 2023-24 results come two weeks after it announced the largest automotive investment in Canada's history for a new US$11 billion EV battery and vehicle assembly plant.
The company ... Read more ...
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Making batteries takes lots of lithium: Almost half of it could come from Pennsylvania wastewater - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 10) |
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May 10 · A new analysis using compliance data from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection suggests that if it could be extracted with complete efficiency, lithium from the wastewater of Marcellus shale gas wells could supply up to 40% of the country's demand.
Already, researchers in the lab can extract lithium from water with more than 90% efficiency according to Justin Mackey, a researcher at the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and his Ph.D. advisor Daniel Bain, associate professor of geology and environmental sciences at the University of Pittsburgh's Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.
The U.S. Geological Survey lists lithium as a critical ... Read more ...
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Scientists convert chicken fat into energy storage devices - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 10) |
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May 10 · In 2023, global renewable energy capacity experienced an unprecedented almost 50 percent increase versus the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency. But that excess energy must be stored somewhere for the world to benefit from its production later. For example, sunny days in California have recently triggered negative energy prices due to excess supply from rooftop solar panels.
Recent efforts to design high-performance storage devices have taken advantage of carbon materials, such as graphene, because of their efficient charge transportation and natural abundance, but their fabrication is expensive and generates pollution and greenhouse ... Read more ...
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Sky-high vanity: Constructing the world's tallest buildings creates high emissions, researchers say - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 10) |
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May 10 · Burj Khalifa isn't unique in this respect. "Vanity height"—the extra height from a skyscraper's highest occupied floor to its architectural top—shapes city skylines around the globe.
In a world where environmental concerns are paramount, is such architectural vanity justifiable?
Building tall is not just about architecture; it's big business. Being ranked among the world's tallest buildings can transform an otherwise ordinary skyscraper into a globally recognized icon. This creates an incentive to add vanity height.
Our proposed solution is to rethink the global standard for ranking the world's tallest buildings.
The way we measure the height of ... Read more ...
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First transatlantic sustainable aviation fuel flight saved 95 metric tons of CO2, results show - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 9) |
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May 9 · SAFs are fuels derived from non-petroleum based renewable sources, like waste cooking fats or plant matter, that are capable of being used as a replacement for, or blended with, fossil fuels.
The trial flight from London Heathrow to New York JFK in November last year also showed that SAF can improve local air quality, contribute to a reduction in persistent contrail formation and reduce fuel use.
Crucially, Flight100 did not require any engine, airframe or fuel infrastructure changes and operated on safety standards equivalent to every other commercial flight.
Imperial and Sheffield researchers led the scientific work to assess the climate effects of the flight, ... Read more ...
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How Duluth, Minnesota, is preparing for the EV future - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 9) |
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May 9 · That is why NREL researchers enthusiastically stepped up to the challenge when the opportunity to collaborate with the community in Duluth, Minnesota, arose in an effort to expand their local EV infrastructure.
"Attainable, local solutions to EV charging access will help us achieve expanded, nationwide impact," said NREL's Emily Kotz, transportation research project manager who led the Communities LEAP (Local Energy Action Program)-funded effort for the transportation related tasks.
"Duluth presented a great opportunity to collaborate with both the city and community-based partners like Ecolibrium3 to work together to identify strategies to improve planning for EV ... Read more ...
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Manganese sprinkled with iridium reduces need for rare metal without altering rate of green hydrogen production - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 9) |
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May 9 · In a study published May 10 in Science, researchers led by Ryuhei Nakamura at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan report a new method that reduces the amount of iridium needed for the reaction by 95%, without altering the rate of hydrogen production. This breakthrough could revolutionize our ability to produce ecologically friendly hydrogen and help usher in a carbon-neutral hydrogen economy.
With 70% of the world covered in water, hydrogen is truly a renewable source of energy. However, extracting hydrogen from water on a scale that can rival fossil fuel-based energy production is not yet possible. Current global energy production is almost 18 ... Read more ...
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US forges new 'battery belt' in hopes of electric future - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 9) |
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May 9 · Growing up, Devante Cuthbertson assumed he might have to leave his North Carolina hometown to pursue a career, but a new multi-billion-dollar Toyota battery plant is offering him a reason to stay put.
The 28-year-old from Greensboro is among students of an apprenticeship program at Guilford Technical Community College, working three days weekly with the automaker with an eye on future employment.
"At one point, I felt maybe I'd go to a different state or a different country and try different job avenues," Cuthbertson told AFP.
But when the Toyota tie-in "came along, it was like wow, maybe North Carolina isn't that bad."
The United States is seeing an ... Read more ...
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Why US offshore wind energy is struggling - the good, the bad and the opportunity - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 9) |
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May 9 · Several big hitters, including Ørsted, Equinor, BP and Avangrid, have canceled contracts or sought to renegotiate them in recent months. Pulling out meant the companies faced cancellation penalties ranging from US$16 million to several hundred million dollars per project. It also resulted in Siemens Energy, the world's largest maker of offshore wind turbines, anticipating financial losses in 2024 of around $2.2 billion.
Altogether, projects that had been canceled by the end of 2023 were expected to total more than 12 gigawatts of power, representing more than half of the capacity in the project pipeline.
So, what happened, and can the U.S. offshore wind industry ... Read more ...
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A low-energy process for high-performance solar cells could simplify the manufacturing process - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 8) |
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May 8 · Perovskite solar cells have emerged as a promising alternative to conventional, silicon solar cells, boasting a number of advantages. But processing the material has been a complicated affair.
Perovskite is a class of materials characterized by its specific crystal structure, exemplified by the mineral of the same name. Solar cells made from this material boast many advantages compared to silicon-based solar cells. They're lightweight, flexible and can be applied as a spray or printed like ink. Perovskite solar cell production also has the potential for a smaller carbon footprint than silicon photovoltaics, which require high temperatures and a cleanroom ... Read more ...
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Accelerating the practical application of next-gen batteries that are fire-resistant through dual-layer coating - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 8) |
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May 8 · Professor Hongkyung Lee of DGIST's Energy Science and Engineering collaborated with Dr. Chanhoon Kim's Clean Energy Conversion Group at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) to introduce a stabilization technology for unstable battery systems through the adoption of a dual-layer coating method. The work is published in the Chemical Engineering Journal.
Lithium metal, renowned as an ideal anode material for batteries, has a theoretical capacity ten times higher than commercially used graphite, thereby allowing the creation of batteries surpassing energy density limits of existing secondary lithium batteries. However, lithium-ion batteries pose fire and explosion ... Read more ...
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BMW says EU probe into China EV subsidies against free trade - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 8) |
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May 8 · The chief executive of German luxury carmaker BMW on Wednesday warned the European Union's investigation into Chinese electric car subsidies runs counter to free trade.
The EU launched the inquiry last year, fearing that Chinese subsidies are a threat to Europe's own vast automotive industry.
The move enraged Beijing, sparking fears of a trade war between the bloc and the world's second-biggest economy.
Oliver Zipse - CEO of BMW, which has major investments in China, the world's biggest car market - said that the Munich-based group "always strives for free trade".
"What we are experiencing today with the anti-subsidy investigation against China is exactly the ... Read more ...
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Chemists present roadmap to a carbon-neutral refinery by 2050 - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 8) |
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May 8 · Refineries form the source of most of the world's transport fuels and are the basis of many products that are essential for everyday life. Refinery processes nowadays predominantly run on fossil fuels, and fossil resources are used for the production of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other useful substances. Nevertheless, the use of fossil fuels is the largest contributor to CO2 emissions that drive global climate change.
Although there are clear paths for renewable electricity to largely replace fossil-fuel-based energy, the transport fuels and chemicals produced in current oil refineries will still be needed.
Publishing in the journal Nature—accompanied by an ... Read more ...
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Flexible pseudocapacitor defies climate extremes, packs energy punch - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 8) |
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May 8 · For decades, batteries have been the cornerstone of energy storage, offering high energy density but plagued by safety concerns and limited performance in extreme temperatures. Meanwhile, capacitors, known for their high power and durability, have struggled to match the energy density of batteries. Enter pseudocapacitors—devices that bridge the gap between batteries and capacitors, offering high power and energy density.
Driven by a curiosity to explore alternative solutions to traditional batteries, I embarked on a journey to unlock the potential of pseudocapacitors. The work is published in the journal Small.
Alongside my colleagues, Dr. Chirodeep Bakli (IIT ... Read more ...
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Global car giants seek tech allies in China's cutthroat EV market - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 8) |
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May 8 · Struggling foreign automakers in China are looking for help from local tech giants to try to stay competitive in the world's biggest electric car market, where shiny smart screens, assisted driving and sophisticated map technology are in high demand.
At the recent Beijing Auto Show, China's biggest car expo, a number of foreign firms announced tech partnerships - from Nissan joining forces with Baidu to Toyota signing a cooperation agreement with Tencent.
The two Japanese companies are among a number of traditional auto juggernauts, once dominant in China, that are now struggling to keep pace with a new generation of local EV startups.
"They are notoriously ... Read more ...
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Lab's AI work results in increased revenue, decreased land requirements for wind power industry - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 8) |
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May 8 · The wind industry could benefit from the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to design and deploy wind plants, according to an article in Nature Energy written by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The AI then took that information to determine the optimal design of a wind plant. The AI facilitates the calculation of ideal plant layouts and operations to achieve different outcomes, such as reducing land requirements or increasing revenue.
The use of AI enabled the researchers to determine the impacts wake steering would have on three different objectives: land use, cost, and revenue.
The benefits of wake ... Read more ...
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More and faster: Electricity from clean sources reaches 30% of global total - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 8) |
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May 8 · For the first time, 30% of electricity produced worldwide was from clean energy sources as the number of solar and wind farms continued to grow fast.
Of the types of clean energy generated last year, hydroelectric dams produced the most. That's the same as in most years. Yet droughts in India, China, North America and Mexico meant hydropower hit a five-year low. Research shows climate change is causing droughts to develop more quickly and be more severe.
People used more electricity than ever last year, about 2% more, an increase of about as much as Canada uses in a year. Some of this new demand was for heat pumps, which are an efficient way to both heat and cool ... Read more ...
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Researchers identify cause of electron-hole separation in thin-film solar cells to increase solar cell efficiency - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 8) |
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May 8 · A team of researchers have collaborated to characterize electron-hole separation in the light-absorbing layer of kesterite thin-film solar cells. This study is expected to improve the efficiency of solar cells and promote the use of green energy. The research is published in the journal Carbon Energy.
As a device that generates electricity by converting light energy from the sun into electrical energy, solar cells are garnering attention as the next source of energy as they are eco-friendly and can utilize unlimited solar resources. In particular, kesterite thin-film solar cells made of materials, such as copper, zinc, and tin, have the advantages of being balanced with ... Read more ...
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Samsung to buy French medical AI firm Sonio - PHYS.ORG - Technology (May 8) |
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May 8 · South Korean tech giant Samsung said Wednesday it will buy French artificial intelligence company Sonio to boost its cutting-edge medical diagnostic systems.
The use of AI has exploded in recent years in a wide range of disciplines and industries, including medical care, and firms around the world are investing heavily to incorporate it into their products.
The purchase of Sonio by medical equipment maker Samsung Medison, an affiliate of global chip and smartphone giant Samsung Electronics, would boost maternal care through AI-enhanced ultrasound systems, according to a company statement.
"Collaboration with Sonio will bring together best-in-class ultrasound AI ... Read more ...
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