Stanford engineers have found out how to simultaneously use the light and heat of the sun to generate electricity in a way that could make solar power production more than twice as efficient as existing methods and potentially cheap enough to compete with oil. Unlike photovoltaic technology currently used in solar panels (which become less… »

Within the sludge of wastewater treatment plants is an invisible world teeming with microbes. Here, diverse species of bacteria convert solid and liquid wastes into gases, some of which contribute to global warming. Two Stanford University engineers are developing a new sewage treatment process that would actually increase the production of nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”)… »

The past few years have given rise to a growing number of microrobots, miniaturized mobile machines designed to perform specific tasks. Researchers at the University of Washington and Stanford University have developed an insect-like robot with hundreds of tiny legs. The robot is able to carry loads more than seven times of its own weight… »

Stanford scientists are harnessing nanotechnology to quickly produce ultra-lightweight, bendable batteries and supercapacitors in the form of everyday paper. The research team led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, includes postdoctoral scholars Liangbing Hu and JangWook Choi, and graduate student Yuan Yang. Simply coating a sheet of paper with ink made… »

You remember we wrote about carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in one of our previous articles? Two groups of researchers have found ways to unfold CNTs in order to make nanoribbons of graphene. The experts claim that the development could point the way towards a new generation of electronics, including computer chips that are faster and tinier… »