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Photonic space-time crystals enhance light interaction and amplification, offering new applications in optical information processing.

Photonic space-time crystals are advanced materials designed to enhance the performance and efficiency of technologies like wireless communication and lasers. These crystals have a unique structure that is periodically arranged in three spatial dimensions and also changes over time, allowing precise control of light’s behavior. Researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), in collaboration with Aalto University, the University of Eastern Finland, and Harbin Engineering University in China, have demonstrated how these four-dimensional materials can be applied in real-world technologies. Their findings were published in Nature Photonics.

Photonic Time Crystals

MIT engineers have discovered that the mobula ray, a type of filter-feeding aquatic ray, utilizes a unique mechanism to feed and breathe simultaneously, which could revolutionize industrial water filters.

By studying the geometry of the ray’s mouth and gill structures, they developed a blueprint for more efficient filtration systems, balancing permeability with selectivity to enhance performance without increasing energy consumption.

Filter Feeding and Engineering Insights.

Li-ion batteries that last beyond the life cycle of the EV can be bundled into energy storage solution for renewable energy projects.

A team of engineers is reimagining one of the essential processes in modern manufacturing. Their goal? To transform how a chemical called acrylonitrile (ACN) is made—not by building world-scale manufacturing sites, but by using smaller-scale, modular reactors that can work if they let the catalyst, in a sense, “breathe.”

Their article, titled “Propene Ammoxidation over an Industrial Bismuth Molybdate-Based Catalyst Using Forced Dynamic Operation,” is published in Applied Catalysis A: General.

ACN is everywhere, from carbon fibers in sports equipment to acrylics in car parts and textiles. Traditionally, producing it requires a continuous, energy-intensive process. But now, researchers at the University of Virginia and the University of Houston have shown that by pausing to “inhale” fresh oxygen, a chemical catalyst can produce ACN more efficiently. This discovery could open the door to smaller, versatile production facilities that adapt to fluctuating needs.

The FCC has opened up the entire 6 GHz band for very low-power (VLP) devices and here’s how it will affect your next gadget.

Dyson spheres and rings have always held a special fascination for me. The concept is simple: build a great big structure either as a sphere or ring to harness the energy from a star. Dyson rings are far more simple and feasible to construct and in a recent paper a team of scientists explore how we might detect them by analyzing the light from distant stars. The team suggests they might be able to detect Dyson rings around pulsars using their new technique.

Like their spherical cousins, Dyson rings remain for now, a popular idea in science fiction yet they are starting to appear more and more in scientific debates. The concept of the ring is similar to the sphere, a megastructure designed to encircle a star, harnessing its energy on a gargantuan scale.

It might consist of a series of satellites or even habitats in a circular orbit with solar collectors and unlike the spheres, require far less resources to build. The concept of the sphere was first proposed by physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson in 1960. Such structures might be detectable and reveal the existence of intelligent civilizations.

Researchers have created nearly freestanding nanostructured two-dimensional (2D) gold monolayers, an impressive feat of nanomaterial engineering that could open up new avenues in catalysis, electronics, and energy conversion.

The research has been published in Nature Communications.

Gold is an inert metal which typically forms a solid three-dimensional (3D) structure. However, in its 2D form, it can unlock extraordinary properties, such as unique electronic behaviors, enhanced surface reactivity, and immense potential for revolutionary applications in catalysis and advanced electronics.

A German firm tests NASA-developed nickel-hydrogen batteries in a renewable energy project for efficient, long-lasting storage.

Mercedes-Benz’s new PV coating is expected to generate energy for up to 7,456 miles (12,000 km) a year under ideal conditions.