Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin)

At 77, Jackson is a big man with big ideas. A few weeks ago at the annual Prairie Festival in Salina, Kan. — a celebration, essentially, of true sustainability — I sat down with Wes Jackson to drink rich beer and eat delicious, chewy bread made from the perennial grain Kernza. The Kernza we ate

Graphene and metal nitrides improve the performance and stability of energy storage devices Supercapacitors can be charged and discharged tens of thousands of times, but their relatively low energy density compared to conventional batteries limits their application for energy storage. Now, A*STAR researchers have developed an ‘asymmetric’ supercapacitor based on metal nitrides and graphene that

Researchers at Tohoku University in Japan have developed a new low-cost flat panel light source that could pioneer a new generation of brighter, cheaper and greener lighting devices to rival LEDs. The device uses arrays of highly conductive carbon nanotubes to deliver evenly-distributed illumination with high efficiency and a power consumption as low as 0.1

Networking neurons thrive in 3-D human “organoid” A patient tormented by suicidal thoughts gives his psychiatrist a few strands of his hair. She derives stem cells from them to grow budding brain tissue harboring the secrets of his unique illness in a petri dish. She uses the information to genetically engineer a personalized treatment to

At the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, researchers have realized the swap of electron spins between distant quantum dots. The discovery brings us a step closer to future applications of quantum information, as the tiny dots have to leave enough room on the microchip for delicate control electrodes. The distance between the dots has

Watson may have won Jeopardy, but the supercomputer’s real-world uses–in medicine, education, and beyond–are only now coming into play. Terrell Jones, the founder of Travelocity and the founding chairman of Kayak.com, let the world in on a secret yesterday: “The guy that started the online travel revolution–me–I use travel agents.” Not to book a flight to

Material could be used in fabrics and water purification Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology have discovered an antibacterial polymer that can be used in everyday products such as sportswear, diapers and bandages, without causing resistant bacteria. “We have managed to find an antibacterial polymer that attaches stably to cellulose and therefore cannot be

Image via Wikipedia Pretty well, once the technology to automatically respond to peak demand and store renewable energy matures The heat wave in which much of the nation remains mired comes as a handful of communities across the country take their first steps toward implementing smart grid technology. The new meters, electricity distribution management systems,