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The violent storm aimed at the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands and Guam in mid-April 2026.

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Energy can never be created or destroyed. That's basic Physics 101. You simply cannot create energy out of thin air. Yet researchers at Kyushu University in Japan say they have developed a technology that pushes the energy conversion efficiency of solar cells to 130%!Continue ReadingCategory: Energy, EngineeringTags: Solar Cell, Solar Power, Kyushu University, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, American Chemical Society

Tiny organisms on the ground—bacteria and fungi—have a "superpower" that allows them to reach up into the atmosphere and pull down the rain, according to a recent study.

In a new study published in Nature Communications, a team of chemists has unveiled a radically simple way to attach a highly sought-after "molecular handle," known as the dichloromethyl group, onto complex compounds. Instead of relying on the aggressive, heavy-metal or radiation-heavy techniques of the past, the team used a common, naturally occurring amino acid called proline to gently choreograph the assembly.

Enzymes are nature's tiny powerhouses, helping with everything from digesting food to making it quicker and safer to produce medicines, food and renewable fuels. While they can enhance chemical reactions, their fragile nature makes it difficult to use them in typical industrial processes.

In a paper just out in Nature Synthesis, researchers led by Prof. Timothy Noël of the University of Amsterdam's Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences presented a breakthrough in autonomous laboratory systems for synthesis optimization. With an estimated cost of a mere $5,000, a versatile, modular design and the option for "human in the loop" analytics, RoboChem Flex caters to all synthesis laboratories, large or small. The paper provides all the information to build their own system.

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A new study finds that the most intense and destructive rainstorms in Portugal, particularly those fueled by atmospheric rivers, are not the most chaotic but are among the most predictable. These events form within large, well-organized atmospheric systems that strengthen winds and channel moisture efficiently, producing significantly heavier rainfall while also creating clearer, more coherent signals in the atmosphere. As a result, the very storms that pose the greatest risk to infrastructure and public safety may also offer the best opportunity for earlier and more reliable forecasts.

Archaeologists have investigated genetic relationships between individuals buried in Neolithic chambered tombs in northern Scotland, suggesting monumental tombs may have been physical embodiments of prehistoric kinship, tracing lineages over centuries.

Researchers from National Taiwan University and Chulalongkorn University developed a copper-based catalyst system that improves low-temperature methanol synthesis from carbon dioxide hydrogenation by balancing two key steps in the reaction.

Light has long been known to regulate plant growth. New research from Osaka Metropolitan University has discovered a new mechanism behind this regulation. A team led by Professor Kouichi Soga of the Graduate School of Science used a unique method to measure adhesion between the epidermal (the outermost layer) and inner tissues in young pea stems. They found that those grown in light exhibit enhanced adhesion. The research is published in Physiologia Plantarum.

Two unrelated groups of nectar eaters, hummingbirds and sunbirds, have evolved different techniques to slurp the sweet liquid from flowers. The tongue suctioning employed by sunbirds is unique among vertebrates, according to recent research appearing in Current Biology.

A new study by scientists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) shows that when a pressure disturbance moves across an ultrasoft elastic material, such as a gel or a biological tissue, it generates a V-shaped wake that's strikingly similar to the waves that travel behind a boat.

An international team of scientists, including researchers from Loughborough University, has developed a method to dramatically speed up the discovery and design of advanced materials. The study, published in Physical Review Letters, shows how the new approach can map complex phase diagrams in as little as a day—rather than weeks or months—and pinpoint where important structures, including crystals and quasicrystals, are likely to form.