A striking landmark in Vancouver, Canada, "The Big Yellow Sulfur Pile" is a testament to the massive amounts of elemental sulfur produced from the hydrodesulfurization process of petroleum refining.

(Nanowerk Spotlight) Harvesting unexploited energy in the living environment to power small electronic devices and systems is increasingly attracting the attention of research groups around the world.

New research from the University at Buffalo and the Chinese Academy of Sciences could one day let you leave the charger at home and top up your phone battery using body movements. The team has ...

The solution to saving energy might not be something big—it could be small. Nanoscale, to be exact. Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about ...

Researchers from Guangxi University, China have developed a new gas sensor that detects ammonia with a record speed of 1.4 ...

A new impact-based design turns gentle everyday motion into bursts of electricity, greatly boosting the power output of flexible piezoelectric devices for real-world use. (Nanowerk Spotlight) A person ...

After six years of intensive effort, scientists are reporting development of the first commercially viable nanogenerator, a flexible chip that can use body movements -- a finger pinch now en route to ...

Wireless biosensors that monitor pathogens in water and measure blood pressure or cancer biomarkers in the body are shrinking to nanometer dimensions. To operate them, researchers are looking for ...

The days of having to carry a phone charger everywhere could soon be over. Michigan researchers have revealed a major breakthrough in harvesting energy from human motion. They say it could lead to ...

Sunlight, wind, and waves aren’t the only sources of renewable energy. For researchers hoping to power nanoscale devices, there’s also muscle power. Muscle power: This hamster is wearing a jacket ...