AUSTIN, Texas — A technological leap sits on the horizon, with exciting capabilities like quantum computing, soft robotics and more coming down the pike. To bring these ideas to reality will require engineering new classes of materials that make up their building blocks. (more…)
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, but turning it into a practical renewable fuel has long been a challenge for researchers. Producing it through the process of water-splitting has shown promise, but it requires finding a way to do so efficiently and inexpensively. One obstacle to this has been finding the right catalyst for the water-splitting process. Platinum has proved to work well, but it’s prohibitively costly, and researchers have been on the hunt for something cheaper. (more…)
Bubble baths and soapy dishwater, the refreshing head on a beer and the luscious froth on a cappuccino. All are foams, beautiful yet ephemeral as the bubbles pop one by one. Now, two researchers from the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California, Berkeley have described mathematically the successive stages in the complex evolution and disappearance of foamy bubbles, a feat that could help in modeling industrial processes in which liquids mix or in the formation of solid foams such as those used to cushion bicycle helmets. (more…)
