Nature of Water News

September 9, 2016

New Material to Revolutionize Water Proofing

Atomic Scale Pipes On Demand and by Design

New Genus of Bacteria in Fracking Wells

Nanofur for Oil Spill Cleanup

Latest Headlines

updated 12:48am EDT

Fuel Cell Membrane Outperforms Market: 'Goldilocks' Membrane Is Just About Right

Sep. 7, 2016 — Industrial interest is expected in a vehicular fuel cell membrane able to excrete protons at the most effective temperature ... read more

Breakthrough in Materials Science: Scientists Bond Metals With Nearly All Surfaces

Sep. 7, 2016 — How metals can be used depends particularly on the characteristics of their surfaces. A research team has discovered how ... read more

New Sensor Could Help Fight Deadly Bacterial Infections

Sep. 6, 2016 — Scientists have built a new sensor that can detect the potentially deadly E.coli bacteria in 15-20 minutes, much faster than traditional lab ... read more

Low-Cost Solar Device Converts Sunlight to Steam in Dusty Environment

Sep. 6, 2016 — A novel, low-cost solar thermal energy conversion system has been developed that can easily generate steam from sunlight. The solar conversion system can help make ... read more

Shape of 'Molecular Graphene' Determines Electronic Properties

Aug. 31, 2016 — Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) form an important class of molecules, which can be regarded as small graphene species and which play a prominent role in the development of ... read more

Simple Equation Predicts Force Needed to Push Objects Through Sand

Aug. 29, 2016 — For those of you who take sandcastle building very seriously, listen up: engineers now say you can trust a very simple equation to calculate the force required to push a shovel -- and any other ... read more

Quest to Find the 'Missing Physics' at Play in Landslides

Aug. 30, 2016 — A recent discovery in the study of landslides, using annular shear cell measurements of granular flows, confirms that two flow regimes -- an 'elastic regime' and an 'inertial regime' ... read more

Anti-Friction Solutions? Very Thin Layers of Water Can Become Ice-Like at Room Temperature

Aug. 29, 2016 — New research shows that a nanometer-thin layer of water between two charged surfaces exhibits ice-like tendencies that allow ... read more

Graphene Under Pressure

Aug. 25, 2016 — Small balloons made from one-atom-thick material graphene can withstand enormous pressures, much higher than those at the bottom of the deepest ocean, scientists at the ... read more

Study Reveals New Physics of How Fluids Flow in Porous Media

Aug. 23, 2016 — Detailed lab experiments provide fresh insight into the physics of fluid-fluid displacement in porous media, crucial to applications like carbon dioxide sequestration or fuel cell ... read more

Ultrasonic Bubbles Give Cold Water Bug-Killing Cleaning Power

Frozen Fun Created By Science!!!

Bursting Bubbles Governed by Mathematics in Motion

Scientists Create Negative Kelvin Temperature Gas

Air Lubrication: Only Big Bubbles Do the Trick

Sep. 2, 2016 — Blowing bubbles underneath a ship’s hull, causes them to be pushed against the surface. In the surface layer between the ship and water, these air bubbles cause less friction: it’s also known as ... read more

Saving Irrigation Water With Superabsorbent Polymers

Aug. 25, 2016 — Soil conditioners called superabsorbent polymers have the potential to reduce irrigation needs for agricultural crops by storing water and nutrients and then releasing them in drought conditions, ... read more

Bubble-Wrapped Sponge Creates Steam Using Sunlight

Aug. 22, 2016 — How do you boil water? Eschewing the traditional kettle and flame, engineers have invented a bubble-wrapped, sponge-like device that soaks up natural sunlight and heats water to boiling temperatures, ... read more

New Residential Water Heater Concept Promises High Efficiency, Lower Cost

Aug. 15, 2016 — Scientists have developed a novel method that could yield lower-cost, higher-efficiency systems for water heating in residential buildings, outlines a new report. The newly termed ... read more

Gadget Grabs More Solar Energy to Disinfect Water Faster

Aug. 15, 2016 — Researchers have created a nanostructured device, about half the size of a postage stamp, that disinfects water much faster than the UV method by also making use of the visible part of the solar ... read more

Discovery of Sunlight-Driven Organic Chemistry on Water Surfaces

Aug. 11, 2016 — Fatty acids found on the surface of water droplets react with sunlight to form organic molecules, a new study reports, essentially uncovering a previously unknown form of ... read more

Toward Clothes That Fix Their Own Rips

Aug. 10, 2016 — Ripped pants or a torn shirt usually means a trip to the tailor or a garbage can is in one's future. But scientists could be closing in on a new solution. They report a fabric coating made of ... read more

Surprising Way Laundry Adds Flame Retardants to Surface Waters

Aug. 10, 2016 — In recent years, evidence has been building suggesting that flame retardants, which are used in furniture and electronics, are potentially linked to health problems. And studies have shown that the ... read more

Simulating Complex Catalysts Key to Making Cheap, Powerful Fuel Cells

Aug. 9, 2016 — Using a unique combination of advanced computational methods, chemical engineers have demystified some of the complex catalytic chemistry in fuel cells -- an advance that brings cost-effective fuel ... read more

Researchers Immobilize Underwater Bubbles

Aug. 9, 2016 — Controlling bubbles is a difficult process and one that many of us experienced in a simplistic form as young children wielding a bubble wand, trying to create bigger bubbles without popping them. A ... read more

Cement Design Should Take Into Account the Water Confined in the Smallest Pores

Aug. 9, 2016 — Cement paste has a large amount of water in its structure, and much of it is confined in the smallest pores of the cement which are about one manometer in size. The extreme temperatures in which ... read more

Liquid Light Switch Could Enable More Powerful Electronics

Aug. 8, 2016 — Researchers have built a record energy-efficient switch, which uses the interplay of electricity and a liquid form of light, in semiconductor microchips. The device could form the foundation of ... read more

Newly Discovered 'Blue Whirl' Fire Tornado Burns Cleaner for Reduced Emissions

Aug. 5, 2016 — Researchers say their discovery of a type of fire tornado they call a 'blue whirl' could lead to beneficial new approaches for reduced carbon emissions and improved oil spill ... read more

Ultrastrong, Ultrafast and Local: Water Induces Electric Fields at the Surface of DNA

Aug. 4, 2016 — The structure and dynamics of the DNA double helix are influenced in a decisive way by the surrounding water shell. New experiments in the ultrafast time domain show that the first two water layers ... read more

‘Liquid Fingerprinting’ Technique Instantly Identifies Unknown Liquids

Aug. 4, 2016 — A new company will commercialize sensing technology that can perform instant, in-field characterization of the chemical make-up and material properties of unknown liquids. Validere aims to develop ... read more

Towards the T-1000: Liquid Metals Propel Future Electronics

Aug. 4, 2016 — How can we move beyond solid state electronics towards flexible soft circuit systems? New self-propelling liquid metals could be the answer. The advance opens the potential for creating makeshift and ... read more

Perpetual 'Ice Water': Stable Solid-Liquid State Revealed in Nanoparticles

Aug. 3, 2016 — Researchers have discovered that gallium nanoparticles can form a solid core surrounded by a liquid outer layer over a temperature span of 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. The discovery marks the first time ... read more

Making Nail Polish While Powering Fuel Cells

Aug. 3, 2016 — Hydrogen is widely regarded as a promising and clean alternative energy source. The traditional source of hydrogen for fuel cell use is water, which is split into hydrogen and oxygen. But oxygen is a ... read more

A Magnet That Can Be Strong or Weak: Humidity and Pressure Control New Magnetic Crystals

Aug. 3, 2016 — Researchers have synthesized crystals with magnetic properties that can change continuously and reversibly, a world first. Recently, the scientific community has had immense interest in new types of ... read more

No More Dry Mucous Membranes When Flying

Aug. 2, 2016 — Hovering at around 20 percent, the relative humidity in aircraft is kept very low to keep condensation from building up in the cabin. The downside for passengers and the crew is that this dries out ... read more

Friday, September 2, 2016