Category Technology/Electronics

Window Film Could Even out the Indoor Temperature using Solar Energy

Image showing the technology
The molecule captures energy from the sun and releases it later as heat. Illustration: Yen Strandqvist / Chalmers

A window film with a specially designed molecule could be capable of taking the edge off the worst midday heat and instead distributing it evenly from morning to evening. The molecule has the unique ability to capture energy from the sun’s rays and release it later as heat. This is shown by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, in the scientific journal Advanced Science.

On sunny summer days it can be little short of unbearable to stay indoors or in cars. The heat radiates in and creates an unpleasantly high temperature for people, animals and plants...

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AI-designed Heat Pumps Consume Less Energy

Data-Driven Predesign Tool for Small-Scale Centrifugal Compressor in RefrigerationJournal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 2018; 140 (12) DOI: 10.1115/1.4040845

Researchers at EPFL have developed a method that uses artificial intelligence to design next-generation heat-pump compressors. Their method can cut the pumps’ power requirement by around 25%. In Switzerland, 50 – 60% of new homes are equipped with heat pumps. These systems draw in thermal energy from the surrounding environment – such as from the ground, air, or a nearby lake or river – and turn it into heat for buildings.

While today’s heat pumps generally work well and are environmentally friendly, they still have substantial room for improvement...

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Molecular Thumb Drives: Researchers store Digital Images in Metabolite Molecules

Experimental setup
The approach maps the ones the zeros of digital data to the presence or absence of particular molecules in solutions. The researchers used the scheme to encode image files in solutions.

In a step toward molecular storage systems that could hold vast amounts of data in tiny spaces, researchers have shown it’s possible to store image files in solutions of common biological small molecules.

DNA molecules are well known as carriers of huge amounts of biological information, and there is growing interest in using DNA in engineered data storage devices that can hold vastly more data than our current hard drives. But new research shows that DNA isn’t the only game in town when it comes to molecular data storage.

A study led by Brown University researchers shows that it’s possible to s...

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Ultra-Small Nanoprobes could be a leap forward in High-Resolution Human-Machine Interfaces

nano_probes
U-shaped nanowires can record electrical chatter inside a brain or heart cell without causing any damage. The devices are 100 times smaller than their biggest competitors, which kill a cell after recording. Credit: Lieber Group, Harvard University

Machine enhanced humans – or cyborgs as they are known in science fiction – could be one step closer to becoming a reality, thanks to new research Lieber Group at Harvard University, as well as scientists from University of Surrey and Yonsei University.

Researchers have conquered the monumental task of manufacturing scalable nanoprobe arrays small enough to record the inner workings of human cardiac cells and primary neurons.

The ability to read electrical activities from cells is the foundation of many biomedical procedures, such as ...

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