A former tenured electrical engineering professor at the University of Arkansas who was arrested over a year ago for failing to disclose his ties with the Chinese government and Chinese companies has been sentenced to a year in prison for lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about his work on behalf of China. […]

Researchers have developed a method that doubles the amount of carbon dioxide that can be captured with a supercapacitor.1 The devices made from coconut shell-derived porous carbon, capture CO­2 as they charge, which can then be controllably released when discharging the capacitors for collection and storage. By altering the voltage applied to the supercapacitor device […]

Commercial ‘blue energy’ is one step closer with the development of a new ion-exchange membrane that dramatically increases the efficiency of energy generation from the salt concentration gradients which exist where a river meets the sea. This membrane overcomes the performance stalemate which has hindered the development of this renewable resource, using a self-assembled polymer […]

Carbon Engineering and Occidental Petroleum’s subsidiary 1PointFive, have announced plans to install 70 direct air capture (DAC) plants by 2035 – each capturing up to one million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. A first plant is expected to be operating by late 2024. If realised, those plants could be capturing just under 0.2% of […]

White able-bodied heterosexual male scientists not only avoid the disadvantages experienced by women, minoritised racial groups and other marginalised identities, but also experience exclusive benefits associated with their status. This, according to an analysis of more than 25,000 US scientists’ survey responses, allows white men more career opportunities, professional respect and higher salaries that can’t […]

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has revealed details of major research infrastructure projects that it will invest in over the next three years. In total, the funder has earmarked £481 million for more than 30 projects across many different disciplines. ‘The UK is home to world-renowned facilities in a wide range of fields, which act […]

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued stricter safety standards for four different per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, saying that these chemicals are more hazardous than previously thought. Now the agency is considering regulating these compounds as one class rather than individually. So far, the EPA has identified about 8000 different […]

A catalyst comprising tiny amounts of platinum dissolved in liquid gallium can be three orders of magnitude more active than solid platinum catalysts for electrochemical methanol oxidation, researchers have shown. In the quest to maximize atom economy in precious metal catalysts, the ultimate limit is often achieved by single atomic dispersion of the metal’s active […]

Show Fullscreen A new two-component cancer therapy uses a modified enzyme to activate a light-sensitive prodrug compound, triggering cell death exclusively in cancerous cells irradiated with a laser. The experimental treatment has already shown promise in mouse studies. Known as photodynamic therapy, this type of treatment relies on the reaction of a photosensitive molecule with […]

Polish billionaire Dominika Kulczyk has bought the 19th-century mansion near Paris, France, that was once the holiday home of Marie Skłodowska–Curie and her family. She is planning to convert it into a meeting and working space for women, and use it as a place to award what could be considered to be Nobel prizes solely […]