The University of Texas at Dallas has received continuing federal support for the Center for Wind Energy Science, Technology and Research (WindSTAR), a public-private research partnership designed to develop solutions for energy independence and reliability.

WindSTAR, which is run by UT Dallas and the University of Massachusetts Lowell, recently received a five-year, $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which has supported WindSTAR since it was founded in 2014.

In the era of instant data exchange and growing risks of cyberattacks, scientists are seeking secure methods of transmitting information. One promising solution is quantum cryptography – a quantum technology that uses single photons to establish encryption keys. A team from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw has developed and tested in urban infrastructure a novel system for quantum key distribution (QKD). The system employs so-called high-dimensional encoding. The proposed setup is simpler to build and scale than existing solutions, while being based on a phenomenon known to physicists for nearly two centuries – the Talbot effect. The research results have been published in prestigious journals: “Optica Quantum”, “Optica”, and “Physical Review Applied”.

 

Using pictures to help middle school students visualize science terms could be the key to boosting vocabulary for all students, including those with learning disabilities who struggle with reading and writing.  

Researchers at the College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, have discovered that adding simple amino acids to ice makes it capture methane gas with remarkable speed. The modified ice turns into a solid “gas hydrate” material that can hold 30 times more methane and form nearly 80 times faster than conventional methods, all under near-freezing conditions. Unlike surfactants, the amino acids are biodegradable and avoid messy foaming during gas release. The material also works in a reusable cycle, where methane can be released on demand with gentle heating, and the leftover solution can be frozen again for the next round of storage, offering a sustainable way to store natural gas and biomethane, and has the potential to be adapted to store other molecules such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen.