In a quest to make concrete more durable and sustainable, an international team of geologists and engineers has found inspiration in the ancient Romans, whose massive concrete structures have withstood the elements for more than 2,000 years. The discovery could help improve the durability of modern concrete, which within 50 years often shows signs of… »
Collaboration between researchers in South Korea, Case Western Reserve University and University of North Texas resulted with a discovery of an inexpensive and easily produced catalyst that performs better than platinum in oxygen-reduction reactions. The finding is a step toward eliminating what industry regards as the largest obstacle to large-scale commercialization of fuel cell technology…. »
Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are slowly fighting their way into the display market since there are various reports about improvements in their production, efficiency, and longevity. This article covers two recent advancements from European research groups – one inventing new modeling technique that can predict the output color and second group that came with… »
Researchers at the University of Minnesota managed to devise a way to use thoughts in order to control the movement of a four-blade helicopter, also known as a quadcopter. The research is conducted in hope the results could be used in systems of future robots that can help restore the autonomy of paralyzed victims or… »
The University of California recently set a minimum requirement that all new buildings meet standards equivalent to LEED Silver certification. New buildings are also required to be at least 20 percent more energy efficient than California code requirements. But the Davis campus has set their bar even higher – new buildings on the campus should… »
Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) researchers studied fire ants to uncover fundamental principles of locomotion that could be applied on teams of robots which travel through underground tunnels. Among the study’s findings, the researchers were surprised by the first observation that ants in confined spaces use their antennae for locomotion as well as for… »
Aside efforts to utilize crustacean shells by extracting chitin and turning it into pharmaceuticals with fungi, researchers in Asia successfully managed to extract polymer chitosan from shrimp shells in order to make filters, foils and wound dressings. 750,000 tones of crustacean shells are annually disposed in EU, however, crustaceans in Europe contain more lime and… »
While lithium-ion batteries present the most dominant rechargeable battery on the market, their limited energy density (energy stored per unit volume), high cost and safety problems drives various research groups to invent a battery with better performance. Stanford University researchers have developed an advanced zinc-air battery which could serve low-cost alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries…. »
