Thermodynamics News

October 22, 2024

Top Headlines

Rewriting the Future: New Molecules Reversibly Change With Light and Heat

Oct. 16, 2024 — Researchers have developed photoswitching molecules that reversibly change properties not only with light, but also with heat. They showed that the molecules can be used as a rewritable recording medium as ...

Researchers Create the First Ever Visualization of Photoexcited Charges Traveling Across the Interface of Two Semiconductor Materials

Oct. 10, 2024 — Researchers have observed electric charges traveling across the interface of two different semiconductor materials. Using scanning ultrafast electron (SUEM) techniques, the research team has directly ...

New 3D Printing Technique Creates Unique Objects Quickly and With Less Waste

Oct. 11, 2024 — A new technique enables makers to finely tune the color, shade, and texture of 3D-printed objects using only one material. The method is faster and uses less material than other ...

Ice Cream-Inspired Physics: Team Uncovers a Quantum Mpemba Effect, With a Host of 'Cool' Implications

Oct. 8, 2024 — Researchers have just described the existence of the paradoxical Mpemba effect within quantum systems. Initially investigating out of pure curiosity, the discovery has bridged the gap between ...

Latest Headlines

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Feeling the Heat: New Approach to Controlling Heat Flow in Crystals

Oct. 16, 2024 — Researchers have developed a method to control the direction of heat flow in crystals. This miniature device could eventually be used to create advanced thermal-management systems in electronic ...

The New Fashion: Clothes That Help Combat Rising Temperatures

Oct. 9, 2024 — A team of international researchers has developed a natural fabric that urban residents could wear to counter rising temperatures in cities worldwide, caused by buildings, asphalt, and ...

Cool Roofs Could Have Saved Lives During London's Hottest Summer, Say Researchers

Oct. 1, 2024 — As many as 249 lives could have been saved in London during the 2018 record-setting hot summer had the city widely adopted cool roofs, estimates a ...

Squid-Inspired Fabric for Temperature-Controlled Clothing

Oct. 1, 2024 — Inspired by the dynamic color-changing properties of squid skin, researchers have developed a method to manufacture a heat-adjusting material that is breathable and washable and can be integrated ...

New Organic Thermoelectric Device That Can Harvest Energy at Room Temperature

Sep. 19, 2024 — Thermoelectric devices are devices that can convert heat into electrical energy. Researchers have now developed a thermoelectric device composed of ...

New Understanding of the Limits on Nano-Noise

Sep. 17, 2024 — Thanks to nanoscale devices as small as human cells, researchers can create groundbreaking material properties, leading to smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient electronics. However, to fully ...

Urban Heating and Cooling to Play Substantial Role in Future Energy Demand Under Climate Change

Sep. 13, 2024 — Existing global energy projections underestimate the impact of climate change on urban heating and cooling systems by roughly 50% by 2099 if ...

Hair-Thin Wire to Help Simulate Cosmic Conditions

Sep. 12, 2024 — Extreme conditions prevail inside stars and planets. The pressure reaches millions of bars, and it can be several million degrees hot. Sophisticated methods make it possible to create such states of ...

Mass Production of Metal Nanowires Possible by Breakthrough Technique

Sep. 10, 2024 — Pure metal nanowires (NWs) are nanomaterials with distinctive properties that make them useful for various applications. However, their utilization in modern electronics has been limited by the lack ...

New Discovery About Ice Layer Formation in Ice Sheets Can Improve Sea Level Rise Predictions

Sep. 12, 2024 — A newly discovered mechanism for the flow and freezing of ice sheet meltwater could improve estimates of sea level rise around the globe. Researchers ...

High Costs Slow Widespread Use of Heat Pumps, Study Shows

Oct. 1, 2024 — The high cost of installing heat pumps for home heating could slow down people widely adopting the technology and leave government targets missed, research ...

Demand-Side Actions Could Help Construction Sector Deliver on Net-Zero Targets

Sep. 20, 2024 — Researchers used a detailed mathematical model to demonstrate that the construction sector in the UK and Europe could almost eliminate its carbon emissions by 2060. This could be achieved through ...

Researchers Develop a Stretchable, Wearable Device That Lights Up an LED Using Only the Warmth of Your Skin

Sep. 11, 2024 — Researchers have developed a flexible, durable electronic prototype that can harvest energy from body heat and turn it into electricity that can be used to power small electronics, such as batteries, ...

Scientists Use Magnetic Nanotech to Safely Rewarm Frozen Tissues for Transplant

Sep. 4, 2024 — Every day, people die waiting for an organ transplant. Time is at a premium, not just for those awaiting organs, but also for the organs themselves, which can deteriorate rapidly during ...

Researchers Unveil Scalable Graphene Technology to Revolutionize Battery Safety and Performance

Aug. 29, 2024 — Researchers have developed a pioneering technique for producing large-scale graphene current collectors. This breakthrough promises to significantly enhance the safety and performance of lithium-ion ...

Thermochromic Material Could Make Indoor Temperature Control More Energy-Efficient

Aug. 28, 2024 — Engineers have developed a smart material that could significantly enhance energy efficiency for indoor space cooling. The new thermochromic polymer blend has an estimated lifespan of 60 years and is ...

Scientists Propose Guidelines for Solar Geoengineering Research

Aug. 23, 2024 — To guide future research into solar geoengineering, an international group of scientists is making specific recommendations for evaluating proposals in order to identify the most feasible and ...

New Gels Could Protect Buildings During Wildfires

Aug. 22, 2024 — Researchers have developed a sprayable gel that creates a shield to protect buildings from wildfire damage. It lasts longer and is more effective than existing commercial ...

Chalk-Based Coating Creates a Cooling Fabric

Aug. 21, 2024 — In the scorching heat of summer, anyone who spends time outside could benefit from a cooling fabric. While there are some textiles that reflect the sun's rays or wick heat away, current options ...

Eco-Friendly Cooling Device With Record-Breaking Efficiency

Aug. 21, 2024 — Researchers have developed an eco-friendly refrigeration device with record-breaking cooling performance in the world, setting to transform industries reliant on cooling and reduce global energy use. ...

Quenching the Intense Heat of a Fusion Plasma May Require a Well-Placed Liquid Metal Evaporator

Aug. 21, 2024 — New fusion simulations of the inside of a tokamak reveal the ideal spot for a 'cave' with flowing liquid lithium is near the bottom by the center stack, as the evaporating metal particles ...

Sharing Risk to Avoid Power Outages in an Era of Extreme Weather

Aug. 20, 2024 — Heat waves, droughts, and fires place growing stress on the West's electric grid. New research suggests that more integrated management of electricity resources across the region could ...

New Twist on Synthesis Technique Promises Sustainable Manufacturing

Aug. 16, 2024 — Researchers developed a new method known as flash-within-flash Joule heating (FWF) that could transform the synthesis of high-quality solid-state materials, offering a cleaner, faster and more ...

Revolutionizing Thermoelectric Technology: Hourglass-Shaped Materials Achieve a 360% Efficiency Boost

Aug. 16, 2024 — A groundbreaking technology has been unveiled that improves the efficiency of thermoelectric materials, which are key in converting waste heat into electricity, by altering their geometry to resemble ...

Intelligent Soft Robotic Clothing for Automatic Thermal Adaptation in Extreme Heat

Aug. 15, 2024 — As global warming intensifies, people increasingly suffer from extreme heat. For those working in a high-temperature environment indoors or outdoors, keeping thermally comfortable becomes ...

New Mechanism to Cool Buildings While Saving Energy

Aug. 11, 2024 — The movement of radiant heat -- felt when a hot surface warms our bodies and homes -- between buildings and their surroundings at ground level makes buildings with less skyward-facing surfaces harder ...

New Technology Uses Light to Engrave Erasable 3D Images

Aug. 9, 2024 — Researchers invented a technique that uses a specialized light projector and a photosensitive chemical additive to imprint two- and three-dimensional images inside any polymer. The light-based ...

Researchers Solve Long-Standing Challenge for Piezoelectric Materials

Aug. 6, 2024 — Heat and pressure can deteriorate the properties of piezoelectric materials that make state-of-the-art ultrasound and sonar technologies possible -- and fixing that damage has historically required ...

Heating for Fusion: Why Toast Plasma When You Can Microwave It!

Aug. 6, 2024 — Can plasma be sufficiently heated inside a tokamak using only microwaves? New research suggests it can! Eliminating the central ohmic heating coil normally used in tokamaks will free up much-needed ...

Revolutionary Loop Heat Pipe Transports 10 kW of Waste Heat -- No Electricity Required

Aug. 2, 2024 — Researchers have unveiled a new loop heat pipe capable of transporting up to 10 kW of heat without using electric power. The loop heat pipe's design aims to contribute to energy savings and ...