Bottom: Platinum atoms attached to layers of lithium cobalt oxide contract when electricity is applied, boosting platinum catalytic efficiency by 90 percent. Top: Removing electrons separates the atoms and lowers efficiency by 40 percent. (1 Ångstrom = 0.1 nanometer) (Image credit: Haotian Wang)

A nanosize squeeze can significantly boost the performance of platinum catalysts that help generate energy in fuel cells, according to a new study by Stanford scientists. The team bonded a platinum catalyst to a thin material that expands and contracts as electrons move in and out, and found that squeezing the platinum a fraction of a nanometer nearly doubled its catalytic activity.

“In this study, we present a new way to fine...

Single crystals of the perovskite developed in this study; on the right a diagram showing the melting of the ferromagnetic state © M. Spina, E. Horváth/EPFL

EPFL scientists have developed a new perovskite material with unique properties to build next-gen hard drives. As we generate more and more data, we need storage systems, e.g. hard drives, with higher density and efficiency. But this also requires materials whose magnetic properties can be quickly and easily manipulated in order to write and access data on them. EPFL scientists have now developed a perovskite material whose magnetic order can be rapidly changed without disrupting it due to heating.

The lab of Laszló Forró synthesized a ferromagnetic photovoltaic material...

Scientists behind a theory that the speed of light is variable – and not constant as Einstein suggested – have made a prediction that could be tested.

Scientists behind a theory that the speed of light is variable – and not constant as Einstein suggested – have made a prediction that could be tested. Einstein observed that the speed of light remains the same in any situation, and this meant that space and time could be different in different situations.The assumption that the speed of light is constant, and always has been, underpins many theories in physics, such as Einstein’s theory of general relativity. In particular, it plays a role in models of what happened in the very early universe, seconds after the Big Bang.

But some researchers have suggested that the speed of light could have ...

The attached image shows microscope images of the engineered cells (nuclei in blue) with HIF-1 visualized (in red). In the left hand panel, cells are in hypoxia but no doxyxyclin is present, therefore HIF-1 remains active (red dots). In the right hand panel, the cells are grown in hypoxia and in the presence of doxyxyxlin, therefore the cyclic peptide inhibitor is produced and HIF-1 is inhibited, as demonstrated by the absence of the red dots. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Southampton

Researchers at the University of Southampton have engineered cells with a ‘built-in genetic circuit’ that produces a molecule that inhibits the ability of tumors to survive and grow in their low oxygen environment...