University of Science and Technology of China (USTC)

Information storage: A 60-year-old technology offers a solution to a modern problem—how to store all those bits and bytes cheaply and reliably WHEN physicists switch on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), between three and six gigabytes of data spew out of it every second. That is, admittedly, an extreme example. But the flow of data

A 3D image of a human face projected onto the back of a plastic mask   While great strides have been made in the development of humanoid robots, such as Honda’s ASIMO, giving robots a human face with natural expressions and movement has proven a difficult task. While some look to create lifelike faces and

New formula for fast, abundant H2 production may help power fuel cells, helps explain expansive chemical-eating microbial communities of the deep Scientists in Lyon, a French city famed for its cuisine, have discovered a quick-cook recipe for copious volumes of hydrogen (H2). The breakthrough suggests a better way of producing the hydrogen that propels rockets

A discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison may represent a significant advance in the quest to create a “hydrogen economy” that would use this abundant element to store and transfer energy. Theoretically, hydrogen is the ultimate non-carbon, non-polluting fuel for storing intermittent energy from the wind or sun. When burned for energy, hydrogen produces water

The strong, flapping flight of bats offers great possibilities for the design of small aircraft, among other applications. By building a robotic bat wing, Brown researchers have uncovered flight secrets of real bats: the function of ligaments, the elasticity of skin, the structural support of musculature, skeletal flexibility, upstroke, downstroke. Researchers at Brown University have

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) led by Dr. Kamal Asadi have solved a four decade long challenge of producing very thin nylon films that can be used for instance in electronic memory components. The thin nylon films are several 100 times thinner than human hair and could thus be attractive for

Researchers at The University of Manchester have made a significant breakthrough in the development of synthetic pathways that will enable renewable biosynthesis of the gas propane. This research is part of a programme of work aimed at developing the next generation of biofuels. This study provides new insight and understanding of the development of next-generation

For the first time scientists have identified how to halt kidney disease in a life-limiting genetic condition, which may pave the way for personalised treatment in the future. Experts at Newcastle University, UK, have shown in a cell model and in a mouse model that gene editing could be used for Joubert syndrome to stop

Light is an extremely useful tool for quantum communication, but it has one major disadvantage: it usually travels at the speed of light and cannot be kept in place. A team of scientists at the Vienna University of Technology has now demonstrated that this problem can be solved—not only in strange, unusual quantum systems, but