Perovskite solar cells are a flexible and sustainable alternative to conventional silicon-based solar cells. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are part of an international team that was able to find – within only a few weeks – new organic molecules that increase the efficiency of perovskite solar cells. The team used a clever combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated high-throughput synthesis. Their strategy can also be applied to other areas of materials research, such as the search for new battery materials. The researchers report their findings in Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.ads0901).

Numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems use large amounts of observational data gathered daily using satellite-based and ground-based instruments to make forecasts, but maintaining them is costly and time-consuming. Now, researchers from Japan have tested the feasibility of using drones equipped with meteorological sensors to complement NWP systems. The results highlight the potential of using commercial drones in densely populated urban areas and sparse meteorological observation areas, to make NWP data collection more convenient and inexpensive.  

A new study suggests that countries with stronger commitments to protect the natural environment—regardless of national oil dependence or other economic interests—are more likely to see the establishment of counter climate change groups that aim to obstruct climate change action. Jared Furuta and Patricia Bromley of Stanford University, U.S., present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on January 22, 2025.

Researchers from the University of British Columbia, the University of Washington, and Johns Hopkins University have identified a new class of quantum states in a custom-engineered graphene structure. Published today in Nature, the study reports the discovery of topological electronic crystals in twisted bilayer–trilayer graphene, a system created by introducing a precise rotational twist between stacked two-dimensional materials.

 ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, has named 55 Fellows for transformative contributions to computing science and technology.