Stretchable electronics that quadruple in length

Water generates electricity (with a pinch of salt!)

EPFL researchers have developed a system that generates electricity from osmosis with unparalleled efficiency. Their work, featured in "Nature", uses seawater, fresh water, and a new type of membrane just three atoms thick. more

Getting hydrogen out of banana peels

As the world’s energy demands increase, so does our consumption of fossil fuels. The result is a massive rise in greenhouse gases emissions with severely adverse environmental effects. To address this, scientists have been searching for alternative, renewable sources of energy. A main candi ... more

Molecular device turns infrared into visible light

Light is an electromagnetic wave: it consists of oscillating electric and magnetic fields propagating through space. Every wave is characterized by its frequency, which refers to the number of oscillations per second, measured in Hertz (Hz). Our eyes can detect frequencies between 400 and 7 ... more

A new approach for recycling plastics

Each human being uses, on average, 30 kg of plastic per year. Given that global life expectancy currently stands at approximately 70 years, each person will discard some two metric tons of plastic in his or her lifetime. Multiply that by the number people on earth – which is growing constan ... more