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A New Energy-Efficient Hydrogel Pulls Water From Air

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Using a new kind of hydrogel material, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have pulled water out of thin air at temperatures low enough to be achieved with sunlight. The UT Austin technique is aimed at the latter. The gel’s thermoreactive nature, meanwhile, is key for releasing the stored water.

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U-M leads new DOE-funded research center for ceramic ion conductors; MUSIC

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The University of Michigan (U-M) and eight partner institutions will explore the use of ceramic ion conductors as replacements for the traditional liquid or polymer electrolytes in common lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and in flow cells for storing renewable energy in the grid.

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U Texas at Austin researchers rewire yeast for high lipid generation; 60x improvement over parent strains

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Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering have rewired the native metabolism of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica for superior production of lipids (lipogenesis). Traditional methods to increase lipids yield rely on nitrogen starvation to trick yeast cells into storing fat and materials.

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ARPA-E awarding $39M to 16 projects to grow the domestic critical minerals supply chain

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The selected projects, led by universities, national laboratories, and the private sector aim to develop commercially scalable technologies that will enable greater domestic supplies of copper, nickel, lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, and other critical elements. Columbia University. Harvard University.

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UH, Toyota researchers develop new cathode and electrolyte for high-power Mg battery rivaling Li-ion

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The other circumvents the difficulties by storing magnesium cation in its complex forms. This new class of redox chemistry bypasses the need of solid-state intercalation while solely storing magnesium, instead of its complex forms, creating a new paradigm in magnesium battery electrode design. Neither approach is practical.

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Video Friday: GR-1

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Humanoids 2023 : 12–14 December 2023, AUSTIN, TEXAS Cybathlon Challenges : 2 February 2024, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND Eurobot Open 2024 : 8–11 May 2024, LA ROCHE-SUR-YON, FRANCE Enjoy today’s videos! Ayato Kanada, an assistant professor at Kyushu University, wants to build woodpecker-inspired Doc Ock tentacles. Also, woodpeckers are weird.

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UT Austin team devises new strategy for safe, low-cost, all-solid-state rechargeable Na or Li batteries suited for EVs

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Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, including Prof. —Braga et al. Maria Helena Braga, Nicholas S. Grundish, Andrew J. Murchison and John B Goodenough (2016) “Alternative Strategy for a Safe Rechargeable Battery” Energy Environ.

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