Researchers Can Now Make Clean Hydrogen Fuel By Pulling it Directly From Seawater:
By Daniel Sallai, CC license
Researchers in Australia, an island nation, have successfully split seawater to produce green hydrogen without pre-treatment. An international chemical engineering team, led by the University of Adelaide’s Professor Shizhang Qiao and Associate Professor Yao Zheng, were motivated by the fact that the only thing emitted by hydrogen fuel is water. The team was able to split seawater into both hydrogen and water at 100% efficiency, allowing the creation of hydrogen without the extra steps of pre-treating. This process also needs cheaper components and resources overall compared to alternatives. This discovery moves the research of created energy through water electrolysis (conversion of seawater into energy) further forward, allowing it to increase the efficiency of current methods.
Deep in a South Dakota Gold Mine, Physicists Prospect for Dark Matter:
A mile below the surface in South Dakota in an abandoned gold mine, using a detector that is part of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, a UMD physics team is hunting for a yet-undiscovered particle that could explain the mystery of dark matter in the universe. Credit: Matthew Kapust, Sanford Underground Research Facility
A research team in the South Dakota mountain town of Lead are trying to lure particles of dark matter from outer space. They're prospecting for WIMPs or "weakly interacting massive particles," which are thought to have formed when the universe was just a microsecond old and which may exist unseen all around us. They are conducting LZ experiments where particle collisions produce bursts of light. Researchers then work backward, using the characteristics of these flashes of light to determine the type of particle. If WIMPs are observed, they could hold clues to some of the most perplexing problems in physics: the nature of the mysterious, hypothetical substance called "dark matter" and the very structure of the universe itself. However, many of the current scientists working there say that the chances are slim, but the possibility of other new observed particles may give them clues.
Muons spill secrets about Earth’s hidden structures:
Measuring subatomic particles called muons that reach the earth from cosmic rays in outer space, scientists have found a new strategy for exploring archaeological sites. This discovery was made when scientists working with archaeologists near the Giza pyramid found interesting signatures from muons from the inside of the structure. What was discovered was a secret chamber that had never been found before. How it works is researchers measure how many of these muons are absorbed into a structure as they pass through and from this the density of an object can be measured, as well as any gaps within the structure. The result is a mapping of the internal structure of things without ever going inside. The process also has other applications to construction and building management since it can detect structural deficiencies before it causes an accident or collapse.
Sources:
Deep in a South Dakota gold mine, physicists prospect for dark matter
Muons spill secrets about Earth’s hidden structures (sciencenews.org)