- Laurie Winkless
Almost 70% of the energy produced by a car engine is lost, mostly in the form of heat that exits along the exhaust pipe. But by using some old fashioned physics and some new engineering, it's possible to capture and reuse some of this heat energy. Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs) convert wasted heat into electricity, without the need for complex moving parts. They've been used in the space industry for 40 years to power space probes and now the car industry is finally starting to catch up. Laurie Winkless finds out how...
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- Rachel Dentinger
In September 2010, the BBC reported an “Urgent call on EU to stop billion-euro 'alien invasion'”. But for all the talk of "invasion", the "aliens" at issue were none other than the organisms that we humans have taken on our voyages around the globe and relocated. What makes these species "invaders", rather than migrants? According to a group of critics from within ecology, it's our own prejudice against biotic outsiders. On a planet rife with biological change, much of it wrought by ourselves, it's time to reconsider the categories that define some species as "natives" and others as "invaders".
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- Robinson Fulweiler
Disruption of the nitrogen cycle can wreak havoc on ocean ecosystems for which oxygen is in short supply. Robin Fulweiler explores the formation of 'dead zones' in part II of The Nitrogen Story.
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- John Gamel
What do you do when you have freckles...um...down below? The discovery of a crop of pigmented spots on a sensitive body part put John Gamel in a squeeze...
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- Ayan Bhowmik & Harshal Mathur
The inside of a modern aircraft jet engine is a harsh and complex environment, but the drive for ever more powerful and efficient engines means conditions are getting even harsher. Hotter engines are more efficient, so temperatures are going up! Our present day materials are already at their limit, so the heat is on to find the next generation of high-performance metals...
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- Harriet Dickinson
Everyone can contribute to the work of scientists. Harriet Dickinson explains how you can get involved, and why Science Needs YOU!
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- Kara Majerus
It’s pretty easy to get lost when you venture deep into the Jungle of Lambusango on the Isle of Buton, just off the South East coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia - a fact that I discovered more than once and to the amusement of the local guides with whom I worked during my summer on the Island. The purpose of my trip was to investigate the ranging behaviour of a small carnivore called a Malay civet. This species (and in particular the population I was studying) makes for a very good study model as they are the largest mammalian predator on Buton Island...
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- Emma Easton
Dating codes are placed on food to indicate the food is safe to eat before this date. But how are these dates decided, and what do they really mean? Emma Easton explains...
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- David Collins
Countless atomic recipes and crystal arrangements mean there are literally trillions of possible materials that could be made. So, without hunting for the equivalent of an atom-sized needle in a galactic-scale haystack, how do we find the ones with the properties we want? Materials scientists David Collins and Bryce Conduit are on the case...
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- Richard Johnston
CSI has come to Swansea. But rather than solving murders, for a team at the University's Technology Centre (UTC) in Materials it's all about getting young people involved in investigating why materials fail and what makes metals strong. And despite being slightly less sinister than its Miami-based TV counterpart, it can nonetheless exert a powerful pull on prospective undergraduate students, as materials scientist Richard Johnston explains...
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