Hot battery boosts range
Battery scientists have described a selfheating battery that quickly reaches 60°C and is rapidly charged and discharged. The battery, based on lithium iron phosphate (LFP), could boast a range of 250 miles and be charged in 10 minutes.
Chilli boost for solar
A dab of chilli spice boosts the amount of energy solar cells can harvest from sunlight. The compound capsaicin, which puts the heat into chilli peppers, allowed the surface of a perovskite solar cell to reach an efficiency of 21.88% (Joule, doi: 10.1016/j.joule.2020.12.009).
H2S for Alzheimer’s
Hydrogen sulfide – responsible for rotten egg odours – appears to protect brains from a key protein abnormality seen in Alzheimer’s disease, at least in mice.
One-two punch hits bacteria
A two-pronged antibiotic strategy has shown promise against difficult-to-treat bacteria. Researchers at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia targeted an enzyme IspH used by bacteria to make isoprenoids, essential for cell walls and energy production
100 million for AMR Institute
Chemicals major Ineos has donated £100m to the University of Oxford to establish a new antimicrobials research facility in the city – claimed to be ‘one of the largest ever donations to a UK university’. Read more in C&I Magazine.
Reprogrammable material
Scientists have constructed for the first time a metamaterial with mechanical properties that can be reprogrammed after manufacture – by applying an applied external magnetic field (Nature, doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03123-5).
Tracking cancer metastasis
Gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 has been used to track metastasis in mice implanted with thousands of modified human cancer cells. The technology enabled the creation of a map of cell divisions visualised using coloured phylogenetic trees, where each colour represents a different location in the body. Read the article in C&I Magazine.