In the race to make solar energy cheaper and more efficient, a team of UNSW Sydney scientists and engineers have found a way to push past one of the biggest limits in renewable technology.

Singlet fission is a process where a single particle of light—a photon—can be split into two packets of energy, effectively doubling the electrical output when applied to technologies harnessing the sun.

In a study appearing in ACS Energy Letters , the UNSW team—known as “Omega Silicon”—showed how this works on an organic material that could one day be mass-produced specifically for use with solar panels.

“A lot of the energy from light in...

An interstellar comet that originated outside our solar system has just made its closest pass to the sun, brightening dramatically and rapidly as it did so. The reason for the sudden extreme activity is currently puzzling scientists.

A stranger in the neighborhood
The latest visitor to our corner of the galaxy was f...

Don’t be fooled by the fog machine, spooky lights and fake bats: the robotics lab at Worcester Polytechnic Institute lab isn’t hosting a Halloween party.

Instead, it’s a testing ground for tiny drones that can be deployed in search and rescue missions even in dark, smoky or stormy conditions.

“We all know that when there’s an earthquake or a tsunami, the first thing that goes down is power lines. A lot of times, it’s at night, and you’re not going to wait until the next morning to go and rescue survivors,” said Nitin Sanket, assistant professor of robotics engineering...