Thermodynamics News

May 20, 2025

Top Headlines

Chemists Develop Compact Catenane With Tuneable Mechanical Chirality

May 19, 2025 — A team of chemists has made significant strides in the field of mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs). Their work showcases the development of a compact catenane with tuneable mechanical chirality, offering promising applications in areas such ...

Uncovering Compounds That Tame the Heat of Chili Peppers

May 14, 2025 — When biting into a chili pepper, you expect a fiery sensation on your tongue. This spiciness is detected because of capsaicinoid compounds. But for some peppers, despite high levels of capsaicinoids, the heat is mysteriously dull. Now, researchers ...

Tapping a New Toolbox, Engineers Buck Tradition in New High-Performing Heat Exchanger

May 12, 2025 — A team engineers created a twisty high-temperature heat exchanger that outperformed a traditional straight channel design in heat transfer, power density and effectiveness and used an innovative ...

New Microscope Reveals Heat Flow in Materials for Green Energy

May 8, 2025 — Scientists have developed a new microscope that significantly improves the way heat flow in materials can be measured. This advancement could lead to better designs for electronic devices and energy ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:17am EDT

New Discovery Shows How Molecules Can Mute Heat Like Music

May 7, 2025 — Using a thermal sensor smaller than a grain of sand, engineers have measured the vibrations, or phonons, within individual ...

Study of Velvet Worm Slime Could Revolutionize Sustainable Material Design

May 6, 2025 — A new discovery about the slime ejected by velvet worms could revolutionize sustainable material design. The findings outline how a naturally occurring protein structure, conserved across species ...

Manipulating Microbubbles to Control Fluids

May 2, 2025 — A watched pot never boils, goes the old saying, but many of us have at least kept an eye on the pot, waiting for the bubbling to start. It's satisfying to finally see the rolling boil, behind which ...

Shelters at Bus Stops Intended to Provide Relief from Heat Can Actually Result in Higher Temperatures

May 1, 2025 — Some public transit shelter designs can actually do more harm than good when it comes to shielding from summer temperatures, according to a new ...

Crystal Clear Design for High-Performance Flexible Thermoelectric Semiconductor

Apr. 23, 2025 — Researchers have identified a new material which could be used as a flexible semiconductor in wearable devices by using a technique that focuses on ...

Some Protective Resin Coatings May Damage Metal Artifacts

Apr. 23, 2025 — Conservators and museum technicians protect precious archaeological metal objects, such as tools and weapons, with clear coatings, leaving preserved and unobstructed views of these detailed ...

New Electronic 'Skin' Could Enable Lightweight Night-Vision Glasses

Apr. 23, 2025 — Engineers developed a technique to grow and peel ultrathin 'skins' of electronic material that could be used in applications such as night-vision eyewear and autonomous driving in foggy ...

A Cool Fix for Hot Chips: Advanced Thermal Management Technology for Electronic Devices

Apr. 17, 2025 — Researchers have demonstrated a significant performance increase in cooling technology for high-power electronic devices. They designed novel ...

New Hybrid Materials as Efficient Thermoelectrics

Apr. 17, 2025 — An international team has succeeded in producing new, efficient thermoelectric materials that could compete with state-of-the-art materials, offering greater stability and lower ...

A New Super Metal Stands Strong, No Matter the Temperature

Apr. 16, 2025 — A research team develops a new alloy that maintains tensile properties from -196 degrees Celsius to 600 degrees ...

Holiday Flights Could Carry Fewer Passengers as World Warms

Apr. 16, 2025 — By the 2060s, some airports with shorter runways may need to reduce their maximum take-off weight by the equivalent of approximately 10 passengers per flight during summer ...

Physics Reveals the Optimal Roof Ratios for Energy Efficiency

Apr. 14, 2025 — There are roof shapes and ratios that maximize heat retainment and energy efficiency and, interestingly, ancient Italian architects and builders seemed to know it, ...

Cooler Faster Better: Engineers Uncover a New Way to Stop Electronics from Overheating

Apr. 14, 2025 — Engineers discovered a way to move heat ultrafast using crystal waves, offering a breakthrough in cooling advanced ...

Potable Water Happy Byproduct of Low-Cost Green Hydrogen Technology

Apr. 9, 2025 — Engineers have hit the trifecta of sustainability technology: A group has developed a low-cost method to produce carbon-free 'green' hydrogen via solar-powered electrolysis of seawater. A ...

Making the Physics of Glass More Transparent

Apr. 7, 2025 — A scientist gives an answer to a long-standing question in theoretical glass physics: what does it mean to be an order parameter for an inherently out-of-equilibrium system? Starting from first ...

Polymers With Flawed Fillers Boost Heat Transfer in Plastics

Apr. 4, 2025 — In the quest to design the next generation of materials for modern devices -- ones that are lightweight, flexible and excellent at dissipating heat -- a team of researchers made a discovery: ...

Runaway Battery Improves Safety

Apr. 3, 2025 — Overheating batteries are a serious risk, in the worst cases leading to fires and explosion. A team has now developed a simple, cost-effective method to test the safety of lithium-ion batteries, ...

Metamaterials: Highly Twisted Rods Store Large Amounts of Energy

Apr. 2, 2025 — An international research team has developed mechanical metamaterials with a high elastic energy density. Highly twisted rods that deform helically provide these metamaterials with a high stiffness ...

Researchers Explore Using Soil for Heat Storage

Apr. 2, 2025 — When spring arrives and the heating season comes to an end, keeping warm becomes less of an issue. However, scientists remind us that it is not just a seasonal necessity -- heat is also a valuable ...

Breakthrough Copper Alloy Achieves Unprecedented High-Temperature Performance

Mar. 27, 2025 — A team of researchers has developed a groundbreaking high-temperature copper alloy with exceptional thermal stability and mechanical strength. The research team's findings on the new copper ...

Engineers Redefine How Heat Transfers on Advanced Surfaces

Mar. 26, 2025 — Scientists have developed a new theory to explain heat transfer on advanced surfaces. The theory is critical to the researchers' work to develop innovative surfaces for applications such as ...

Uniquely Shaped, Fast-Heating Nanoparticles Halt Ovarian Tumor Growth

Mar. 19, 2025 — New magnetic nanoparticles in the shape of a cube sandwiched between two pyramids represent a breakthrough for treating ovarian tumors and possibly other types of ...

Quantum Heat Dynamics Toggled by Magnetic Fields

Mar. 19, 2025 — The ability to conduct heat is one of the most fundamental properties of matter, crucial for engineering applications. Scientists know well how conventional materials, such as metals and insulators, ...

Good Vibrations: Scientists Discover a Groundbreaking Method for Exciting Phonon-Polaritons

Mar. 19, 2025 — Newly published research demonstrates a novel way of generating phonon-polaritons by making electrons collide with crystal lattice structures. The discovery paves the way for cheaper, smaller ...

Nature-Inspired 3D-Printing Method Shoots Up Faster Than Bamboo

Mar. 11, 2025 — Researchers created 'growth printing,' which mimics tree trunks' outward expansion to print polymer parts quickly and efficiently without the molds and expensive equipment typically ...

Seismic Study of Singapore Could Guide Urban Construction and Renewable Energy Development

Mar. 5, 2025 — A new seismic study of Singapore could guide urban growth and renewable energy development in the coastal city nation, where 5.6 million residents live within an area of 734 square ...

Using Computer Science to Save the Bees

Mar. 4, 2025 — Researchers have created a system to help beekeepers monitor and analyze the health of their beehives and take corrective actions to prevent colony collapse -- when a majority of the worker bees ...

Cooling Materials -- Out of the 3D Printer

Feb. 20, 2025 — Rapid, localized heat management is essential for electronic devices and could have applications ranging from wearable materials to burn treatment. While so-called thermoelectric materials convert ...

New Environmentally-Friendly Mortar Reduces Heat Loss

Feb. 19, 2025 — A mortar made from recycled plastic and silica aerogel which improves insulation and reduces plastic waste has been ...

Harnessing Failure as an Asset: How Researchers Are Innovating Smarter Wearable Tech

Feb. 18, 2025 — In the world of soft robotics and wearable technology, sheet-based fluidic devices are revolutionizing how lightweight, flexible and multifunctional systems are designed. But with innovation comes ...