A team at TU Wien has discovered a surprising new way to turn heat into electricity—using metals instead of traditional semiconductors. By creating a kind of “electron traffic jam,” they achieved an unusually strong thermoelectric effect, potentially unlocking a powerful new method for converting waste heat from industry into usable power. This unexpected twist on a centuries-old principle could mark a turning point in energy technology.

A new UC Riverside-led study reveals how common small particles produced by nature as well as human activities can transform upon entering plant cells and weaken plants’ ability to turn sunlight into food. The discovery offers a path to control this issue. 

Fluorinated compounds are used everywhere—from pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals to advanced materials in imaging techniques. One promising method for the synthesis of fluorinated compounds is using quaternary ammonium fluorides, but these fluorinating agents tend to absorb moisture (hygroscopic), which affects their reactivity. To overcome this challenge, researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, have synthesized a new fluorinating agent (R4NF(HFIP)3) using KF salt through ion-exchange reaction—with promising applications in electrochemical fluorination. 

A five-dimensional (5D) Langevin approach developed by an international team of researchers, including members from Science Tokyo, accurately reproduces complex fission fragment distributions and kinetic energies in medium-mass mercury isotopes (¹⁸⁰Hg and ¹⁹⁰Hg). The model successfully captures the unusual “double-humped” fragment mass distribution observed in mercury-180 and offers new insights into how nuclear shell effects influence fission dynamics—even at higher excitation energies than previously thought—advancing our understanding of fission in the sub-lead region.

Hydrogen interactions play a crucial role in organic chemistry. The position of hydrogen in many molecules can completely change what happens to the other atoms in the rings. The international research team, led by Dr. Dariusz Piekarski from the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, and Dr. Jaroslav Kočišek from the Czech Academy of Sciences, explored the role of hydrogen in the molecules under the hit with low-energy electrons, revealing mechanisms behind it. Their study helps us to understand how small changes in molecule structure affect the dynamics of the molecular target, i.e., particular breaking of it, which is important for both environmental cleanup and designing new materials. Let’s take a closer look at their studies.

Scientists at the University of Nottingham have discovered surface patterns that can drastically reduce bacteria’s ability to multiply on plastics, which means that infections on medical devices, such as catheters, could be prevented.

New research reveals the importance of winter sea ice in the year-to-year variability of the amount of atmospheric CO₂ absorbed by a region of the Southern Ocean.

In years when sea ice lasts longer in winter, the ocean will overall absorb 20% more CO₂ from the atmosphere than in years when sea ice forms late or disappears early. This is because sea ice protects the ocean from strong winter winds that drive mixing between the surface of the ocean and its deeper, carbon-rich layers.

The findings, based on data collected in a coastal system along the west Antarctic Peninsula, show that what happens in winter is crucial in explaining this variability in CO₂ uptake.