Science

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Pinholes are Pitfalls for High Performance Solar Cells

The most popular next-generation solar cells under development may have a problem - the top layer is full of tiny pinholes, researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University in Japan have found.

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Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) images show pinholes in the spiro-MeOTAD when it is first prepared (top) and after air exposure for 24 hours (bottom). The average diameter of the pinholes is about 135 nanometers, with some as large as two microns.

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CAT Scan of Nearby Supernova Remnant Reveals Frothy Interior

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ESA and Airbus DS confirm partnership to complete the full European Data Relay System

This decision follows the successful test campaign of the first multigigabit optical intersatellite link between the Copernicus Sentinel-1A and Alphasat satellites. This campaign, a precursor of the European Data Relay System, or EDRS, has paved the way for an entirely new approach of delivering data, with space systems becoming part of the global Big Data challenge.

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New method allows for greater variation in band gap tunability: The method can change a material's electronic band gap by up to 200 percent

If you can't find the ideal material, then design a new one. Northwestern University's James Rondinelli uses quantum mechanical calculations to predict and design the properties of new materials by working at the atom-level. His group's latest achievement is the discovery of a novel way to control the electronic band gap in complex oxide materials without changing the material's overall composition. The finding could potentially lead to better electro-optical devices, such as lasers, and new energy-generation and conversion materials, including more absorbent solar cells and the improved conversion of sunlight into chemical fuels through photoelectrocatalysis.

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DNA nanoswitches reveal how life's molecules connect: An accessible new way to study molecular interactions could lower cost and time associated with discovering new drugs

A complex interplay of molecular components governs almost all aspects of biological sciences - healthy organism development, disease progression, and drug efficacy are all dependent on the way life's molecules interact in the body. Understanding these bio-molecular interactions is critical for the discovery of new, more effective therapeutics and diagnostics to treat cancer and other diseases, but currently requires scientists to have access to expensive and elaborate laboratory equipment.

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Crystal light: New light-converting materials point to cheaper, more efficient solar power: University of Toronto engineers study first single crystal perovskites for new solar cell and LED applications

University of Toronto engineers study first single crystal perovskites for new applications Engineers have shone new light on an emerging family of solar-absorbing materials that could clear the way for cheaper and more efficient solar panels and LEDs.

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This is a pure perovskite crystal, orange in colour, is mounted on a cryostat.

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Gravitational Waves from Early Universe Remain Elusive

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The color scale in this image from the Planck mission represents the emission from dust, a minor but crucial component that pervades our Milky Way galaxy. The texture indicates the orientation of the galactic magnetic field. It is based on measurements of the direction of the polarized light emitted by the dust.

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Iranian Scientists Use MOFs to Eliminate Dye Pollutants

Iranian researchers succeeded in the production of nanostructures powerful enough to eliminate toxic pollutants existing in the wastewater of textile industry.

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Iranian Researchers Planning to Produce Edible Insulin

Iranian researchers of Tehran University of Medical Sciences studied and produced a Nano drug system at laboratorial scale to achieve edible insulin.

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Detecting chemical weapons with a color-changing film

In the world, in which the threat of terrorism looms, there is an urgent need for fast, reliable tools to detect the release of deadly chemical warfare agents (CWAs). Scientists are reporting new progress toward thin-film materials that could rapidly change colors in the presence of CWAs -- an advance that could help save lives and hold aggressors accountable.

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Scientists are developing thin films that change color from white to blue in response to chemical weapons.

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