Researchers from the Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), one of the centers under the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan, report an inexpensive iron hydroxide catalyst that could support the use of sodium borohydride as a hydrogen storage material.

Scientists at the Department of Applied Physics II of the University of Malaga have participated in the design of a new technology that controls fluids and particles in three dimensions through virtual thermal barriers generated using light.

An international study led by researchers from the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) of Pompeu Fabra University and Stanford University (California) has designed a system to identify highly selective peptides with high therapeutic potential. The method is based on the use of biologically- and chemically-modified bacteriophages to screen, with a high degree of precision, up to 1 billion peptides simultaneously. This allows identifying those that can successfully distinguish very similar proteins that play a significant role in the development of cancer and diabetes, respectively, and that are currently being treated with non-specific drugs.

Researchers from The University of Osaka, AIST, Okayama University, and the University of Tokyo applied an innovative computational-analysis technique to clarify the atomic structure of soft, easily deformable regions in amorphous silicon. They discovered that these regions combine medium-range order with local disorder, a finding that will guide the design of more durable amorphous materials.

Typhoons and their Atlantic counterparts—hurricanes—can develop into massively destructive storms that can take a severe toll on both infrastructure and human life. To date, collecting in situ tropical cyclone data has been too dangerous and cost prohibitive to routinely collect on a larger scale. Researchers have just developed a submersible vehicle, the “Blue Whale,” designed to withstand the adverse conditions of these storms and collect the in situ data necessary for more accurate typhoon intensity forecasts and marine condition warnings.

Researchers from the Institute of Solid State Physics at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with the Shenzhen International Graduate School of Tsinghua University and Suzhou University of Technology, have successfully developed a natural electron donor–assisted healing and targeted surface reconstruction strategy that enables the direct regeneration of degraded lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO₄) cathode materials from retired power batteries.