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Analysing larger-scale samples could help to show if a biphenylene anode could increase the efficiency of lithium-ion batteries, commonly used in mobile phones and electric vehicles. Image credit - Aalto University / Valeria Azovskaya

New perspectives for the future of electronics

A newly created form of carbon in a mesh just one atom thick is tantalising scientists with hints that it could sharply improve rechargeable batteries and allow wires so small that they can operate at a scale where metals fail.

The material, known as biphenylene network, is highly conductive and may prove able to store more electrical energy than even graphene, the astonishing atomic-thickness carbon honeycomb material identified nearly 20 years ago.

Space weather modeling framework simulation of the September 10, 2014, coronal mass ejection Credit: Gabor Tot

Protecting Earth from space storms

"There are only two natural disasters that could impact the entire U.S.," according to scientist Gabor Toth of the University of Michigan. "One is a pandemic, and the other is an extreme space weather event."

The U.S. is currently seeing the effects of the first in real-time. The last major space weather event struck Earth in 1859. Smaller, but still significant, space weather events occur regularly. They fry electronics and power grids, disrupt global positioning systems, cause shifts in the range of the aurora borealis, and raise the risk of radiation to astronauts or passengers on planes crossing over the poles.

Photo by Karol D from Pexels

Wearable electronics powered by the user's own body heat could help tackle the issue of how to storage energy.

Thanks to rapid computing developments in the last decade and the miniaturisation of electronic components, people can, for example, track their movements and monitor their health in real time by wearing tiny computers. Researchers are now looking at how best to power these devices by turning to the user's own body heat and working with garments, polka dots and know-how from the textile industry.