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By replicating biological machinery with non-biological components, scientists have created artificial cells that convert light into chemical energy.

Channels: All Journal News, Energy, Engineering, Materials Science, Nanotechnology,

Keywords: Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Materials Science, Nanoscience, Scientific User Facilities, Biosciences, Center For Nanoscale Materials, Computing, Environment & Life Sciences, Physical Science and Engineering

Power generation, the heat in our homes, air-conditioning, even the manufacturing of some of the products we use each day rely on evaporation and condensation processes. Improving and controlling these phase-change phenomena could increase energy efficiency across a vast number of industries. Shankar Narayanan, assistant professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is leading a team that will be supported by a new NSF CAREER grant to study how evaporation and condensation processes can be improved or controlled at the micro level.

Channels: All Journal News, Engineering, Nanotechnology,

Keywords: Nanomaterial

Space is getting crowded. The biggest challenge is space junk—the debris that results when satellites break up or get shot down. If we aren’t careful, space junk, and space conflict, could cause a lot of problems down here on Earth.

Channels: Engineering, Space and Astronomy, Technology, International Law, U.S. Foreign Relations, U.S. National Security,

Keywords: Space, Space Junk, Satellites, Outer Space, Council On Foreign Relations, United States, Geopolitics, International Relations, Militarization, Militarization of Space, Catastrophe, Space Debris, Space Exploration, U.S. Competitiveness, Security, Threat Assessment

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Government Relations Committee Chair, Dr. Mica Endsley, will testify tomorrow on behalf of the Society during a U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing The Boeing 737 MAX: Examining the Federal Aviation Administration’s Oversight of the Aircraft’s Certification.

Channels: Engineering, Government/Law,

Keywords: Human Factor Engineering, Boeing 737, Aircraft Safety, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and The Ohio State University has developed a soft polymer material, called magnetic shape memory polymer, that uses magnetic fields to transform into a variety of shapes. The material could enable a range of new applications from antennas that change frequencies on the fly to gripper arms for delicate or heavy objects.

Channels: All Journal News, Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, Technology, Grant Funded News,

Keywords: magnetic shape memory polymers, Georgia Institute Of Technology, Ohio State University

Many technologies that are essential for daily life — from communications to GPS navigation to weather forecasting — rely on the thousands of satellites that are orbiting Earth. When those satellites run out of gas and stop working, there’s not much that can currently be done to fix them. It’s a costly, time-consuming, and increasingly problematic reality as broken-down satellites become part of the growing population of space debris. A team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, led by Wen, are working with NASA on a solution: a robot that could capture a satellite in space and pull it in to dock, where it would refuel.

Channels: All Journal News, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, Space and Astronomy, Technology, Staff Picks,

A roar of approval rang out at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Argonne National Laboratory upon the announcement in October that John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino had won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. On December 10th in Stockholm, they received this highly coveted prize for their major contributions to the invention of the lithium-ion battery, which is a long-standing major focus of research at Argonne.

Channels: All Journal News, DOE Science News, Energy, Engineering, Materials Science, Nanotechnology, Technology, DOE Science News,

Keywords: Advanced Photon Source, Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS), Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), Cell Analysis, Modeling, and Prototyping (CAMP) Facility, Center for Electrochemical Energy Science, Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM), Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), Energy Technology and S

At a conference held by the ReCell Center, an advanced battery recycling collaboration based at Argonne, representatives from industry, government, and academia discussed innovative approaches for lithium-ion battery recycling.

Channels: All Journal News, Business Ethics, DOE Science News, Energy, Engineering, Technology, DOE Science News,

Keywords: Energy Technology and Storage, Batteries and Fuel Cells, Environmental and Earth Science, Modeling And Simulation, waste management, Business Development, Commercialization, Industry Engagement, Business partnerships, business opportunities, Business Relationships, Batteries, Lithium-ion batteries , Battery, Business capture, Energy and Global Security, E

Penn State researchers have developed a novel method that could enable the widespread use of silicon-based anodes, which allow electricity to enter a device, in rechargeable lithium ion batteries.

Channels: All Journal News, Energy, Engineering, Materials Science, Technology, Nature (journal),

Keywords: Chemical Engineering, Donghai Wang, electrical vehicles, Energy, Lithium Ion Batteries, Mechanical Engineering, Smartphones