Better batteries
A fundamental physics technique shows promise in energy materials research. It allows researchers to map the chemical states of battery electrodes to better understand battery performance.
Covid opportunity for India
Indian drug companies think the current coronavirus crisis could be a boost for India’s bulk drug manufacturing companies and an opportunity to again become a preferred active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) supplier of pharma products for the world.
Reinfection or reactivation
In April 2020, reports surfaced in China and South Korea that some patients who recovered from Covid-19 have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the disease again.
Japanese drug for Covid
In mid-March 2020, Chinese minister Xinmin Zhang reported that Japanese drug favipiravir was effective in treating Covid-19 patients. Administered under the brand name Avigan, the drug was developed by Toyama Chemical, now owned by Fujifilm.
Vulnerable organs
Initial reports of infection with the Covid-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) focused on the lungs and pneumonia caused by severe infection. But increasingly there are reports that other organs, such as the heart and kidneys, are also affected.
Air quality boost for India
Air pollution kills 1.25m people in India every year. India’s capital New Delhi has the worst air pollution of any capital city. However, air pollution has dropped dramatically as a result of lockdown to control coronavirus.
Harder than diamonds
More than 100 years ago, telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell developed strong, yet lightweight kites based on a lattice arrangement of triangular cells and tetrahedra. Fast forward to the present day, and inventors are using similar principles in the fabrication of nanolattice materials – lattice structures composed of nanoscale constituents.
Improving perovskite solar cells
A way to detect imperfections in next generation solar cells has been reported by researchers in Australia. The method, based on light modulation, promises improved quality control for commercial production to compete with silicon-based devices.
New X-ray vision
Researchers have developed a new type of X-ray detector that does not require an external power source, and which is claimed to be 100 times more sensitive than conventional silicon-based detectors. Its high sensitivity and increased resolution could lead to lower exposure to X-rays for patients and imaging staff at hospitals and dentist surgeries.