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A chemical strategy to separate troublesome americium from lanthanides could help reduce the radiological hazards of spent nuclear fuel and create opportunities for waste re-processing.
Findings from a recent publication in Energy and Buildings show that “net-zero energy” renovations can lead to net-positive energy buildings. But the results also raise concerns for the energy grid and overheating in the summer. The analysis of energy consumption of residential buildings give insight into future performance of a Dutch neighborhood’s deep energy-saving refurbishments.
A 3D model of a lithium-ion battery reveals that in-plane temperature nonuniformity within electrodes as they charge and discharge is strongly affected by solid-state diffusion processes. The findings hint at methods to diagnose the microscopic mechanisms underlying battery performance.
Space is becoming congested. To manage satellite traffic, Nils Bartels and colleagues introduce and test the feasibility of polarization-modulated satellite laser ranging. This concept could enable precise orbit determination and rapid satellite identification.
Conventional electromagnetic servomotors are incompatible with MRI scanners. Here, Lorne Hofstetter and colleagues design and build an electromagnetic servomotor constructed from non-magnetic components and test their device in a robot operating in a clinical MRI during imaging.
Kevin Wyss and colleagues report the flash synthesis of graphene from end-of-life vehicle plastic waste. A polyurethane/flash graphene composite is also re-flashed back into more graphene. A life cycle assessment suggests environmental benefits compared to other graphene synthetic routes.
Pierre-Alexis Mouthuy and colleagues report the actuation of cell-material constructs in flexible bioreactor chambers inserted into musculoskeletal humanoid robots. This opens up the opportunity of applying realistic biomechanical stresses to tissue engineered constructs during culture.
Michele Polese and colleagues report a dual-band backhaul prototype operating above 100 GHz. It can be dynamically re-configured in real time to avoid interference to passive satellite sensing systems, enabling safe coexistence of active and passive users in this portion of the spectrum.
