How can traditional coal-fired power plants adapt to the fluctuating nature of renewable energy? A new pre-gasification burner technology offers a solution, enhancing flexibility and stability even at ultra-low loads. Learn how this innovative approach could transform power plant operations and support a more sustainable energy future.

As the demand for high-quality, healthy solid-state lighting (SSL) grows, violet-light-excited full-spectrum lighting has emerged as a promising solution—it avoids blue light hazards and mimics natural sunlight. However, the critical yellow luminescent materials for this scheme are extremely scarce, plagued by low violet-light absorption and poor photoluminescent quantum yield (PLQY). To address this gap, a research team developed glass network engineering for the B₂O₃-BaO-Sc₂O₃ system, successfully fabricating violet-light-excitable yellow-emitting Ba₂Sc₂B₄O₁₁ (BSB):Ce³⁺ glass ceramics (GCs) with a record PLQY of 95.0% and superior thermal, moisture, and irradiation stability. By optimizing the [BO₃]/[BO₄] ratio, the team promoted heterogeneous nucleation during in-situ crystallization, forming well-crystallized BSB nanocrystals (NCs) in the glass matrix. This advancement enabled the construction of LED/LD-driven full-spectrum light sources with a color rendering index (CRI) exceeding 93, accelerating the development of sun-like lighting technology.

You won't find quantum computers in your local electronics store, but in the future, these superfast computers will probably become more common. Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology are bringing this future a small step closer.

A first-of-its-kind study explored whether more accessible technologies – foot-mounted wearable sensors and a 3D depth camera – could accurately measure how people walk, offering a practical alternative to traditional gait analysis tools. Gait, or walking pattern, is a key health indicator used to detect fall risk, monitor rehabilitation and identify early signs of conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Traditional systems like the Zeno™ Walkway, the gold standard for gait analysis, are accurate but expensive, bulky and not easily used outside of lab settings.

In a paper published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences, a research team conducted a comprehensive analysis of the horizontal distribution and transport patterns of anthropogenic ¹²⁹I in the northern South China Sea. These findings reveals that terrigenous input is the primary driver of the pronounced ¹²⁹I enrichment observed off the Pearl River estuary. By quantifying the ¹²⁹I inventory across the region, the study further discriminates the relative contributions of different source terms, demonstrating that oceanic advection serves as the dominant pathway through which ¹²⁹I enters the seawater of the northern South China Sea.

A research team introduces a series of iron-doped nickel catalysts (NiO/MgAl₂₋ₓFeₓO₄) that achieve efficient hydrogen generation from methane decomposition at relatively low temperatures.