Energy transition in Germany and South Korea: Leopoldina and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology publish recommendations
Reports and Proceedings
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 10-Sep-2025 02:11 ET (10-Sep-2025 06:11 GMT/UTC)
South Korea and Germany aim to transition to a climate neutral energy system. To do so, both countries must tackle scientific and technological challenges. At a joint symposium of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, experts discussed key topics relating to the energy transition. The joint paper summarising the findings, published today and titled “Navigating the Energy Transition in Korea and Germany”, examines scientific and technological challenges in the areas of solar technologies, hydrogen, batteries, grid management, and future energy sources, and includes recommendations for the energy transition in South Korea and Germany.
Empa researchers are working on artificial muscles that can keep up with the real thing. They have now developed a method of producing the soft and elastic, yet powerful structures using 3D printing. One day, these could be used in medicine or robotics – and anywhere else where things need to move at the touch of a button.
Where there’s water, there are waves. But what if you could bend water waves to your will to move floating objects? Nanyang Technological University, Singapore co-led a team of international researchers to achieve this with physics.
The scientists developed a technique to merge waves in a water tank to produce complex patterns, such as twisting loops and swirling vortices. Some patterns acted like tweezers or a “tractor beam” to hold a floating ball in place. Other patterns made the ball spin and move precisely in a circular path.
In the future, the technique could be scaled down to precisely move particles the size of cells for experiments, or scaled up to guide boats along a desired path on the water.
Physicists developed simplified formulas to quantify quantum entanglement in strongly correlated electron systems. Their approach was applied to nanoscale materials, revealing unexpected quantum behaviors and identifying key quantities for the Kondo effect. These findings advance understanding of quantum technologies.