No, smartphones aren't that innovative: Why pay is lagging
It's a dreary thought. America's most innovative days are gone. A lack of truly groundbreaking inventions has imposed a long-term drag on economic growth—and with it the prospect of meaningful pay...
View ArticleThe complex chemistry of combustion
A billionth of a second: That's how quickly some of the most critical chemical reactions of combustion occur.
View ArticleArgonne and Marathon join forces to optimize fuels and engines
The modern internal combustion engine is a complex and finely tuned system where small changes in one area can have important ramifications on the whole. Decades of dedicated work to maximize...
View ArticleMetals smart enough to save gas
Imagine engines that conserve fuel by automatically dialing down internal friction, water pipes that seal their own cracks and iPhones that protect themselves when dropped. Metallurgist Pradeep Rohatgi...
View ArticleEngine design takes a major leap at Argonne
The search for a truly revolutionary engine design that can make dramatic gains in efficiency requires deep scientific understanding and tools. Lots and lots of tools.
View ArticleMeet the nanomachines that could drive a medical revolution
A group of physicists recently built the smallest engine ever created from just a single atom. Like any other engine it converts heat energy into movement – but it does so on a smaller scale than seen...
View ArticleDesigning acoustic devices using thin materials
Acoustic devices like mufflers and loudspeakers are all around us. In the design of such devices, computer simulations and numerical optimisation algorithms are becoming increasingly useful in order to...
View ArticleGraphene device puts fuel-efficient cars in pole position
A graphene-based electrical nano-device has been created which could substantially increase the energy efficiency of fossil fuel-powered cars.
View ArticleJohnson Controls to spend $245M on N. America battery plants
Auto parts supplier Johnson Controls says it will sink $245 million into building automotive batteries to handle increasing demand for electrical devices in cars and trucks.
View ArticleNREL assesses strategies needed for light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas reduction
The White House wants to cut U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80 percent by 2050, but the goal raises questions about one of the greatest sources of those pollutants, light-duty vehicles (LDVs)....
View ArticleResearchers discover more efficient way to split water, produce hydrogen
Hydrogen is often considered a fuel for the future, in the form of fuel cells to power electric motors or burned in internal combustion engines. But finding a practical, inexpensive and nontoxic way to...
View ArticleElectrics touted at Paris car show, but await their moment
When will electric-powered cars become a practical choice for ordinary people? The question hangs in the air at the Paris auto show, where Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and General Motors are showing off...
View ArticleFrom Ferraris to SUVs: Five cars that shone at the Paris show
An obscenely powerful hybrid sports car, a family-friendly SUV with enough space for seven adults, and an electric vehicle that promises to keep going for over 300 miles (500 kilometers) on a single...
View ArticleIsrael firm wants super-efficient engine to power car revolution
An Israeli firm says a super-efficient engine it has created could drastically reduce fuel consumption and help power an auto industry revolution as manufacturers search for environmentally sound...
View ArticleSpeeding up the rate of reaction of a potential catalyst for energy storage
One reason we can't bottle summer sunshine and save the solar energy for rainy days is that we don't have an efficient way to store it. Nature stores energy in chemical bonds, like when plants...
View ArticleFour-stroke engine cycle produces hydrogen from methane and captures CO2
When is an internal combustion engine not an internal combustion engine? When it's been transformed into a modular reforming reactor that could make hydrogen available to power fuel cells wherever...
View ArticleSeven tips for surviving the apocalypse
Billionaires who have made their fortunes in Silicon Valley seem to be worried about the future. So worried in fact, that some of them are reportedly buying vast estates in places such as New Zealand,...
View ArticleFocus on pickup trucks, not Priuses, to reduce gasoline use, emissions
Larger trucks and SUVs with powerful, high-displacement engines are the low-hanging fruit for any policymaker seeking the most efficient path to reducing gasoline use and the associated emissions,...
View ArticleMost drivers could go electric within 10 years
Electric and hybrid electric vehicles are in the fast lane to wider adoption, according to a new study by University of Michigan researchers.
View ArticleSynthetic options for the diesel engine
Synthetic fuels, such as oxymethylene ether, could prepare Diesel vehicles to play a major role in the drive train mix of tomorrow. Scientists at the TU Darmstadt are carrying out research into the...
View ArticleNeutrons peer into a running engine
In a first-of-a-kind experiment, researchers used neutrons to investigate the performance of a new aluminum alloy in a gasoline-powered engine—while the engine was running.
View ArticleHow realistic are plans to ban new gas and diesel cars?
Ban the sale of gasoline and diesel cars by a deadline—2040, 2030, even 2025. More and more governments are proposing just that.
View ArticleResearchers develop new technology that could speed up commercialization of...
A team of engineers at the University of Delaware has developed a technology that could make fuel cells cheaper and more durable, a breakthrough that could speed up the commercialization of fuel cell...
View ArticleJaguar cars set to go electric from 2020
Jaguar Land Rover will make all its new vehicles available in electric or hybrid models from 2020, it said on Thursday, two months after a similar announcement from Volvo.
View ArticleE-cars to shine at Frankfurt show as diesel takes backseat
Hundreds of thousands of car enthusiasts are set to flock to Frankfurt's IAA motor show next week where auto giants hope to show off their electric prowess as scandal-plagued diesels take a backseat.
View ArticleWith fossil fuel bans, e-cars shift into higher gear
Beijing's announcement that it is considering joining France and Britain in banning petrol and diesel cars from its smog-clogged roads promises to accelerate a push towards electric vehicles—a race in...
View ArticleVolkswagen to electrify entire range by 2030
German carmaker Volkswagen doubled down Monday on efforts to clean up its image tarnished by the dieselgate scandal, vowing ahead of the IAA auto industry show to electrify its entire range by 2030.
View ArticleMaking lithium-ion batteries safer, stronger
Today's rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are good, but they could be much better in the future.
View ArticleCreating longer-lasting fuel cells
Fuel cells could someday generate electricity for nearly any device that's battery-powered, including automobiles, laptops and cellphones. Typically using hydrogen as fuel and air as an oxidant, fuel...
View ArticleEvaporation dynamics at the nano- and micro-scale
A new evaporation dynamics study finds that very small droplets evaporate more slowly than predicted by current models. Researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of...
View Article
