ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

A research team offers a practical way to make ships CO2 neutral -- or even CO2 negative -- with CO2-capturing solid oxide fuel cells. After 'burning' traditional carbon-based fuels, the fuel cell generates concentrated CO2 that can be stored on-board the ship. From there, the CO2 can either be sequestered or recycled into a renewable hydrocarbon fuel.

Engineers have devised a new approach to using sound waves to conduct complex manipulations of tiny particles suspended in liquid. Dubbed a 'shadow waveguide,' the technique uses only two sound sources to create a tightly confined, spatially complex acoustic field inside a chamber without requiring any interior structure. The technology offers acoustic tweezers abilities with applications in fields such as chemical reaction control, micro-robotics, drug delivery, and cell and tissue engineering.

Researchers have developed a new strategy that could offer much more precise control of prosthetic limbs. After inserting small magnetic beads into muscle tissue, they can accurately measure the length of a muscle as it contracts, and this measurement can be relayed to a robotic prosthesis within milliseconds.

As wildfire fronts advance through landscapes or communities on the ground, they also attack from above, launching volleys of glowing embers into the air. Also known as firebrands, these specks of burning debris can glide for up to 40 kilometers (approximately 24 miles) before landing and can cause up to 90% of home and business fires during wildfires.

Whether a robot or a person delivers your package, the carbon footprint would essentially be the same, according to a new study that could help inform the future of automated delivery as the pandemic fuels a dramatic rise in online shopping.

An international study has found evidence of a long-sought effect in accelerator data. The so-called 'triangle singularity' describes how particles can change their identities by exchanging quarks, thereby mimicking a new particle. The mechanism also provides new insights into a mystery that has long puzzled particle physicists: Protons, neutrons and many other particles are much heavier than one would expect. This is due to peculiarities of the strong interaction that holds the quarks together. The triangle singularity could help to better understand these properties.

Mathematical research is aiding in the analysis of fMRI data. fMRI is the preeminent class of signals collected from the brain in vivo and is irreplaceable in the study of brain dysfunction in many medical fields, including psychiatry, neurology and pediatrics.

Wearable health technologies are vastly popular with people wanting to improve their physical and mental health. Everything from exercise, sleep patterns, calories consumed and heart rhythms can be tracked by a wearable device. But timely and accurate data is also especially valuable for doctors treating patients with complicated health conditions using virtual care.

A breakthrough could pave the way for better products, such as improved batteries, automobile paint and cellphone screens.

A team of scientists has discovered chemical systems that self-assemble into molecular capsules which are highly toxic towards human cancer cells of a range of different tumor types, and which have demonstrated unprecedented cancer selectivity in the laboratory that in some cases are many thousands of times more toxic to the cancer cells compared to healthy, normal cells.

Researchers describe a simple model that captures the key mechanics of hand-washing, estimating the time scales on which particles, like viruses and bacteria, were removed. Particles are trapped on the rough surfaces of the hand in potential wells, as though they are at the bottom of a valley and the energy from the water flow must be high enough to get them up and out of the valley.

To fully harness the potential of sunlight, scientists have been trying to maximize the amount of energy that can be extracted from the sun. Researchers now describe how pairing metal halide perovskites with conventional silicon leads to a more powerful solar cell that overcomes the 26% practical efficiency limit of using silicon cells alone. Perovskites fulfill all the optoelectronic requirements for a photovoltaic cell, and they can be manufactured using existing processes.

Prediction models based on clinical characteristics and imaging findings may help reduce the false-positive rate in women with dense breasts who undergo supplemental breast cancer screening with MRI, according to a new study.

New prototype tech can double the power harvested from ocean waves, an advance that could finally make wave energy a viable renewable alternative.

Scientists have developed a soft and stretchable battery that is powered by human perspiration.