Photo-catalyst converts CO2 into CO

Researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (California, United States) have developed a material that under the influence of light converts carbon dioxide (CO2) chemically into carbon monoxide (CO). By itself this is not really remarkable; however, the exceptional part is that this reaction does not create any undesirable byproducts. This discovery therefore means an important step in the direction of developing a technology that can produce fuels and other energy-dense compounds with the aid of a catalyst that operates from solar energy; at the same time this method would reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere (one of the infamous greenhouse gases)...

With a small ceremony at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota (United States) the construction has begun of a large international experiment that could deliver an important contribution to our knowledge of the universe. The Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) will (in 10 years, when the construction is completed) house the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). During the construction and later when DUNE is in use, a group of about 1000 researchers and engineers from 30 countries will be participating.

Lithium/sulfur batteries offer interesting possibilities for application as a cheap energy source with large power density for mobile and stationary applications. The advantages of this technology are that the raw material (sulfur) costs almost nothing and that the capacity to store energy is much greater than that of a lithium/ion battery. The big problem, however, is that the capacity reduces quickly. Researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have, however, made an unexpected discovery that can change this…

Duke and University of California (Berkeley) researchers have found that vanadium dioxide (that vanadium dioxide (VO2) conducts electricity but not heat! Loud hoorays were heard from designers of heat pump and power supply components.