Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jun 24, 2021
Migratory birds are adept at conserving their energy resources in flight by arranging themselves in V-shaped formations. The birds at the rear essentially 'surf' on the vortices of air created by the bird flying in front, which allows them to save energy during their long journey.
The German Aerospace Center is investigating the possibility of transferring this principle to commercial airc
Orlando FL (SPX) Jun 24, 2021
A new space tourism company began to sell tickets Wednesday for six-hour balloon rides to the stratosphere starting in 2024. The price of a seat: $125,000.
The company, Florida-based Space Perspective, plans up to 25 flights in the first year into what is the second major layer of the Earth's atmosphere and extends to about 31 miles, or more than 163,000 feet, above the planet's surface.
Graz, Austria (SPX) Jun 24, 2021
In the European Year of Rail 2021, Austria's key players in the rail sector will come together even more closely. Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), voestalpine, OBB, Siemens Mobility Austria and Virtual Vehicle will in future be working closely together on an even more efficient and competitive rail system of the future. To this end, the partners have founded the Research Cluster Railway
Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Jun 24, 2021
Fresh water is scarce in many parts of the world and must be obtained at great expense. Communities near the ocean can desalinate sea water for this purpose, but doing so requires a large amount of energy.
Further away from the coast, practically often the only remaining option is to condense atmospheric humidity through cooling, either through processes that similarly require high energy
Kaunas, Lithuania (SPX) Jun 24, 2021
Organic solar elements with the self-assembling molecular-thin layer (SAM) of hole-transporting material, the technology, which was used in producing a record-breaking tandem solar cell, achieved 18.4 power conversion efficiency. The invention of Lithuanian chemists working at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), commercialized by several global companies proved versatile and applicable to dif
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jun 25, 2021
Using only a pen and paper, a theoretical physicist has proved a decades-old claim that a strong force called Quantum Chromo Dynamics (QCD) leads to light-weight pions, reports a new study published on June 23 in Physical Review Letters.
The strong force is responsible for many things in our Universe, from making the Sun shine, to keeping quarks inside protons. This is important because it
Beijing (AFP) June 24, 2021
When a prefecture in northwestern China's Xinjiang region ordered a halt on cryptocurrency mining projects this month, Chris Zhu scrambled to move clients' machines southward, spending over a week to reassemble in Sichuan.
But after the shift, he received another notice - authorities in southwestern Sichuan were also putting a stop to the industry, in a turbulent year that has lost his comp
Mumbai (AFP) June 24, 2021
Indian oil-to-telecom giant Reliance Industries unveiled plans Thursday to invest $10 billion in renewable energy over the next three years as Asia's third-largest economy struggles to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
In a virtual address to shareholders, Reliance chairman and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani said the new business aims to "bridge the green energy divide in India and gl
Boston MA (SPX) Jun 25, 2021
"I'm going back. It's almost like a cycle in your life," muses physicist Abhay Ram. Ram, a principal research scientist at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) at MIT, is returning to a field he first embraced as a graduate student at the Institute 50 years ago: quantum mechanics. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, he is exploring different pathways for using the power and speed of
Vienna, Austria (SPX) Jun 24, 2021
What do pipes and anchors have to do with storing energy? More than you might think! A new IIASA-led study explored the potential of a lesser known, but promising sustainable energy storage system called Buoyancy Energy Storage.
There is general consensus that renewable energy sources will play an important role in ensuring a healthier and more sustainable future for the planet and its peo
Cambridge UK (SPX) Jun 24, 2021
Researchers have developed a simple lab-based technique that allows them to look inside lithium-ion batteries and follow lithium ions moving in real time as the batteries charge and discharge, something which has not been possible until now.
Using the low-cost technique, the researchers identified the speed-limiting processes which, if addressed, could enable the batteries in most smartpho
Amsterdam, Netherlands (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
For many years now, astronomers and physicists have been in a conflict. Is the mysterious dark matter that we observe deep in the Universe real, or is what we see the result of subtle deviations from the laws of gravity as we know them?
In 2016, Dutch physicist Erik Verlinde proposed a theory of the second kind: emergent gravity. New research, published in Astronomy and Astrophysics this w
Boston MA (SPX) Jun 25, 2021
A new study by engineers at MIT, Caltech, and ETH Zurich shows that "nanoarchitected" materials - materials designed from precisely patterned nanoscale structures - may be a promising route to lightweight armor, protective coatings, blast shields, and other impact-resistant materials.
The researchers have fabricated an ultralight material made from nanometer-scale carbon struts that give t
Osaka, Japan (SPX) Jun 25, 2021
Scientists from the Department of Physics and the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP) at Osaka University, in collaboration with Kyoto University, used alpha particle inelastic scattering to show that the theorized "5a condensed state" does exist in neon-20. This work may help us obtain a better understanding the low-density nucleon many-body systems.
All elements besides hydrogen a
Charlottesville Va (SPX) Jun 24, 2021
Using data for more than 500 young stars observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA), scientists have uncovered a direct link between protoplanetary disk structures - the planet-forming disks that surround stars - and planet demographics.
The survey proves that higher mass stars are more likely to be surrounded by disks with "gaps" in them and that these gaps dire
Baltimore MD (SPX) Jun 24, 2021
Quasars are very bright, distant and active supermassive black holes that are millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun. Typically located at the centers of galaxies, they feed on infalling matter and unleash fantastic torrents of radiation. Among the brightest objects in the universe, a quasar's light outshines that of all the stars in its host galaxy combined, and its jets and winds sh
Leicester UK (SPX) Jun 25, 2021
Samples from other worlds will be examined by space scientists at the University of Leicester as they continue to study the building blocks of the Solar System.
Some of the first particles from asteroid Ryugu - returned by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) probe Hayabusa2 in 2020 - and samples from the Winchcombe meteorite, which fell to Earth earlier this year, will be scrutinised
Bern, Germany (SPX) Jun 18, 2021
Left hands and right hands are almost perfect mirror images of each other. But whatever way they are twisted and turned, they cannot be superimposed onto each other. This is why the left glove simply won't fit the right hand as well as it fits the left. In science, this property is referred to as chirality.
Just like hands are chiral, molecules can be chiral, too. In fact, most molecules i
London, UK (SPX) Jun 24, 2021
Monitoring and tackling climate change and tracking endangered wildlife are among the exciting features of three UK-built satellites set to launch on a SpaceX rocket on Friday 25th June.
UK companies have received nearly 15 million pounds from the UK Space Agency, through the European Space Agency's Pioneer Partnership Programme, to develop the trio of satellites due to lift off from NASA'
Wallops Island VA (SPX) Jun 25, 2021
The launch of the Terrier-Improved Orion carrying the RockOn/RockSat-C payloads has been postponed to 8 - 10 a.m., Friday, June 25. The launch attempt for June 24 was postponed due to expected rough seas that would prevent the ability to recover the payloads.
After being developed via a virtual learning experience, more than 70 experiments built by university students across the United Sta
Washington DC (Sputnik) Jun 25, 2021
NASA's 2024 deadline to return humans to the Moon looks increasingly unlikely due to reliance on technology that has yet to be fully developed, the General Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report on Thursday.
"A fast-tracked schedule to meet this ambitious date - along with some technical risks - mean that it's less likely a lunar landing will happen in 2024," a GAO press release expl
Chelmsford, MA (SPX) Jun 25, 2021
AiRANACULUS, a private, Massachusetts-based technology company providing early stage research, development, prototyping and consulting services, announced it has been awarded a second NASA Small Business Innovation Research contract for development of an advanced space communications system to support upcoming missions to the Moon and Mars.
Under the new contract, AiRANACULUS will develop
Bellingham WA (SPX) Jun 25, 2021
The open access Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS) has published a special section on the latest science, engineering, research, and programmatic advances of starshades, the starlight-suppression technology integral to extra-solar and exoplanet detection.
Section topics range from starshade programs and missions, to various aspects of related technologies,
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 25, 2021
A new paper finds more radar signals suggesting the presence of subsurface 'lakes,' but many are in areas too cold for water to remain liquid.
In 2018, scientists working with data from ESA's (the European Space Agency's) Mars Express orbiter announced a surprising discovery: Signals from a radar instrument reflected off the Red Planet's south pole appeared to reveal a liquid subsurface la
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