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New smartphone game lets you solve real-world ecological puzzles (w/video)

EcoBuilder, which is downloadable now on smartphones and tablets, teaches players how ecosystems work and aims to crowdsource solutions to unsolved ecological puzzles.

Jul 31st, 2020

Solar energy converter creates power and heat for cheap

The hybrid solar energy converter uses an approach that more fully captures the whole spectrum of sunlight. It generates electricity from high efficiency multi-junction solar cells that also redirect infrared rays of sunlight to a thermal receiver, which converts those rays to thermal energy.

Jul 28th, 2020

Scientists use photonics to make wastewater eco-friendly

Wastewater will soon become cleaner and less harmful to plants and animals thanks to a new, ultra-sensitive water sensor being developed by scientists to detect tiny amounts of toxic substances with light.

Jul 28th, 2020

Make your own greenhouse gas logger

Facilitating the use of low-cost methane sensors in flux chambers - calibration, data processing, and an open-source make-it-yourself logger.

Jul 27th, 2020

Chemists make tough plastics recyclable

New method for producing thermoset plastics allows them to be broken down more easily after use.

Jul 23rd, 2020

E-waste eating protein creates rare earth elements

Researchers have designed a new process, based on a naturally occurring protein, that could extract and purify rare earth elements (REE) from low-grade sources. It could offer a new avenue toward a more diversified and sustainable REE sector.

Jul 15th, 2020

Scaled-up perovskite solar cells achieve highest recorded power conversion

Researchers have created a perovskite solar mini module that has recorded the highest power conversion efficiency of any perovskite-based device larger than 10 square centimeters.

Jul 14th, 2020

What comes after the lithium-ion battery?

The demand for batteries to store renewable energy will grow drastically in the coming years. Could we develop more sustainable technologies to save precious natural resources, besides the familiar lithium-ion batteries?

Jul 13th, 2020

Five must-read novels on the environment and climate crisis

Since the start of lockdown, more of us have taken to our bicycles, grown our own vegetables and baked our own bread. So it's not surprising it has been suggested we should use this experience to rethink our approach to the climate crisis. Reading some environmental literature can also give us the opportunity to think about the world around us in different ways.

Jul 10th, 2020

Using electricity to break down pollutants left over after wastewater treatment

Pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and endocrine disruptors are some of the emerging contaminants often found in treated domestic wastewater, even after secondary treatment. Researchers have tested the effectiveness of a tertiary treatment process using electricity.

Jul 9th, 2020

Carbon-loving materials designed to reduce industrial emissions

Researchers are advancing gas membrane materials to expand practical technology options for reducing industrial carbon emissions.

Jul 3rd, 2020

Unorthodox desalination method could transform global water management

Engineers apply their pioneering technique to attain energy-efficient zero-liquid discharge - the last frontier of desalination - of ultrahigh salinity brines.

Jul 1st, 2020

Semiconductors could transform how we disinfect surfaces, spaces, PPE

Materials scientists work on the semiconductors that could transform how we disinfect surfaces, spaces, personal protective equipment - even the air we breathe.

Jun 25th, 2020

Efficient laser technique can convert cellulose into biofuel

Scientists developed a novel laser-based strategy for the effective degradation of cellulose into useful products.

Jun 23rd, 2020

Research in land plants shows nanoplastics accumulating in tissues

As concern grows among environmentalists and consumers about micro- and nanoplastics in the oceans and in seafood, they are increasingly studied in marine environments.

Jun 22nd, 2020

The exhaust gas from a power plant can be recovered and used as a raw reaction material

Energy-saving CO2 capture technology with H2 gas is developed by integrating the CO2 separation and conversion process.

Jun 19th, 2020

Water vapor in the atmosphere may be prime renewable energy source

Electricity generated by interactions between water molecules and metals may be turned into a source of energy.

Jun 9th, 2020

'Living bricks' create building blocks for a circular economy

An EU project has developed highly innovative 'living bricks' that contain chambers of microbes capable of turning human waste, such as urine and grey water, into valuable resources, electricity and clean water.

Jun 9th, 2020