news 2016

Scientists discover a process that could enhance our ability to harvest energy from the Sun for electricity and fuels. A process to enhance the performance of solar technologies such as solar cells and photocatalysts, and potentially make their production cheaper, has been discovered by scientists. Solar cells take energy from the Sun and convert it into electricity.

Researchers have discovered that some solar cells could be more efficient than previously thought possible, opening new doors for their development. A team led by scientists from Imperial College London have revealed how a particular molecular structure can boost the effectiveness of polymer solar cells.

A UK research team has discovered that a cell's protective layer acts like a turnstile, allowing proteins to be exported while preventing them from moving back in. All cells are surrounded by a protective layer - a membrane - which keeps the contents of the cell together and protects it from damage.

Scientists have mixed a molecule with light between gold particles, creating a new way to manipulate the physical and chemical properties of matter. Light and matter are usually separate and have distinct properties. However, molecules of matter can emit particles of light called photons. Normally, emitted photons leave the molecule and the two do not mix again.

In the search for low emission plant-based fuels, new research may help avoid having to choose between growing crops for food or fuel. By using cellulosic plant materials we get around the problem of food-versus-fuel scenario that is problematic when using corn as a basis for bioethanol Paul Dupree Scientists have identified new steps in the way plants produce cellulose, the component of plant cell walls that provides strength, and forms insoluble fibre in the human diet.

Lessons from the field of medicine could help provide clearer answers to questions about chemical safety, according to researchers. Are the chemicals in my baby's plastic bottle harmful? Can cosmetics cause cancer? Which pesticides are safe? The aim of scientific research is to answer questions like these, but what happens when two or more studies produce conflicting results? Since the 1990s medical science has relied upon a process called 'systematic review' as a means of weighing up the available evidence and coming up with a reliable answer.

A Lancaster University scientist has successfully tested a new analytical approach that will help advance our understanding of molecules used in the biopharmaceutical sector. Dr Lorna Ashton , of Lancaster University's Chemistry department, has used Ramen spectroscopy to determine the topology, or shape, of plasmid DNA (small DNA molecules).

Scientists have gleaned fresh insights into the chemistry of early Earth's atmosphere 2.7 billion years ago by analysing fossilised micrometeorites. The study, published today , indicates that ancient Earth's upper atmosphere contained about the same amount of oxygen as today, and that a methane haze layer separated it from an oxygen-starved lower atmosphere.

Scientists at the Universities of Bristol and Newcastle have uncovered the secret of the 'Mona Lisa of chemical reactions' - in a bacterium that lives at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. It is hoped the discovery could lead to the development of new antibiotics and other medical treatments. The Diels-Alder reaction, discovered by Nobel Prize-wining chemists Otto Diels and Kurt Alder, is one of the most powerful chemical reactions known, and is used extensively by synthetic chemists to produce many important molecules, including antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs and agrochemicals.

New research shows how silver could solve issues of touch-screen technologies Physicists at the University of Sussex are developing a new material for touch-screen devices that has already proved to be more flexible and to have higher conductivity than current technologies.

Researchers have discovered a material that could compensate for the damaging expansion that takes place when electronic components are heated. Most materials expand when heated, but a few rare materials do the opposite and contract. The contraction usually occurs only over a narrow temperature range and is not easy to tune, but now researchers have discovered a material that can be chemically tailored to either expand or contract in a precise way and over a wide temperature range.

University of Bristol scientists researching how drones can be used to speed up landmine clearance will fly a drone over Old Trafford today [Monday 4 April] - UN International Day for Mine Awareness - to demonstrate how large, football pitch-sized areas can be mapped quickly. The research, led by Dr John Day of the Interface Analysis Centre in Bristol's School of Physics , is funded by Find A Better Way , the charity founded by England and Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton.

Scientists at the University of Liverpool and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich have developed a new method to assess the impact of volcanic ash on jet engines. Little is known scientifically about the effects of volcanic ash on aircraft but the impact it can have on the aviation industry was evidenced when the Eyjafjalla volcano in Iceland erupted in 2010 resulting in prolonged disruption to air travel and significant economic losses exceeding £1 billion.

An artificial mimic of a key light-sensitive molecule has been made by scientists at the University of Bristol. Professor Jonathan Clayden and colleagues in Bristol's School of Chemistry , along with collaborators at the Universities of Manchester and Hull, created an artificial mimic of rhodopsin, a protein that resides in cell membranes in the retina.

Researchers have found that quantum effects are the reason that hydrogen sulphide - which has the distinct smell of rotten eggs -behaves as a superconductor at record-breaking temperatures, which may aid in the search for room temperature superconductors. That we are able to make quantitative predictions with such a good agreement with the experiments is exciting and means that computation can be confidently used to accelerate the discovery of high temperature superconductors.

An international team of scientists have provided insights into the working of a "signaling molecule", which will provide new strategies for medicines in areas such as pain medication. In a study published in Nature today, the team, led by scientists at the University Würzburg, Germany and including the University of Glasgow, have discovered that β-arrestins are independent signalling molecules that are activated by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs).

New research could pave the way for mass production of new forms of nanotech devices for use in the renewables and medical sectors. In a new paper published today (Thursday March 10) in the journal Nature , researchers from the Universities of Glasgow, Ohio and Massachusetts discuss how they have been able for the first time to limit chemical reactions to specific areas of nanostructures they create.

Eating meat from animals grazed on land treated with commonly-used agricultural fertilisers might have serious implications for pregnant women and the future reproductive health of their unborn children, according to a new study involving sheep.

PA 41/16 An international team of researchers has discovered a gene in snails that determines whether their shells twist clockwise or anti-clockwise - and could offer clues to how the same gene affects body asymmetry in other animals including humans.

Method devised for making large quantities of georgeite with unprecedented ability as a catalyst to produce hydrogen from water An extremely rare mineral, found only in two locations around the world, including an old copper mine in Snowdonia , has been manufactured in large quantities for the very first time by researchers at Cardiff.