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A research group at the University of Illinois has developed technology that may have lasting implications for electric vehicles (EVs) and other electronics. The group, led by Paul Braun, a professor of material sciences and engineering, has come up with technology that creates a much more rapid charging time for lithium-ion batteries, which power electronics like cellphones, laptops and defibrillators.

Animals may not be able to predict earthquakes , but many--from elephants to spiders--are quite adept at detecting vibrations that are imperceptible to humans.

By Fredrik Dahl and Alister Doyle VIENNA/OSLO (Reuters) - Miniscule numbers of radioactive particles believed to have come from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant have been detected as far away as Iceland, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday. [More]

The smart grid . Sounds good, right? But what exactly is it

By Risa Maeda TOKYO, March 22 (Reuters) - Japan's economy may not feel the harshest blow from this month's disasters until summer, when surging power demand could spark a new round of power blackouts in Tokyo and its neighbouring prefectures which account for 40 percent of the country's GDP.

By Risa Maeda and Kazunori Takada TOKYO, March 22 (Reuters) - Rising temperatures around the core of one of the reactors at Japan's quake-crippled nuclear plant sparked new concern on Tuesday and more water was needed to cool it down, the plant's operator said. Despite hopes of progress in the world's worst nuclear crisis in a quarter of a century, triggered by an earthquake and tsunami that left at least 21,000 people dead or missing, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said it needed more time before it could say the reactors were stabilised. Technicians working inside an evacuation zone around the stricken plant on Japan's northeast Pacific coast, 250 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, have attached power cables to all six reactors and started a pump at one to cool overheating nuclear fuel rods.

In early summer 2008 Timothy Walsh of Cardiff University in Wales got an e-mail from Christian Giske, an acquaintance who is a physician on the faculty of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute. Giske had been treating a 59-year-old man hospitalized that past January in

Think about the last time you got bored with the TV channel you were watching and decided to change it with the remote control. Or a time you grabbed a magazine off a newsstand, or raised a hand to hail a taxi

The tentacled snake is a natural born killer.

On Friday, March 11, Japan was rocked by an earthquake. People were displaced, a nuclear reactor was in trouble, and the world watched as a tsunami flooded Japan, threatened the islands of the Pacific, and ultimately hit the western coasts of North and South America.

Earthquakes are unique in the pantheon of natural disasters in that they provide no warning at all before they strike. Consider the case of the Loma Prieta quake, which hit the San Francisco Bay Area on October 17, 1989, just as warm-ups were getting under way for the evening’s World Series game between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s

Science, it is sometimes claimed, is neutral: it is up to society to decide how to employ research findings.

Two columns ago , I discussed evolutionary psychologist Gordon Gallup’ s theory about the possible adaptive function of homophobia, or, more broadly defined, negative attitudes toward gay people. Central to his position--which, he assures me, has not since wavered--is that homophobic responses "are proportional to the extent to which the homosexual [is] in a position that might provide extended contact with children and/or would allow the person to influence a child’s emerging sexuality." I also described a set of studies meant to test some hypotheses related to this theory, and which, according to Gallup, offered provisional evidentiary support. I expressed some unease with the implications (and insinuations) of Gallup’s line of argument

Whether we want it or not, the "smart grid" is on its way. In this animated guide we show you the essential features.

By Ichiko Fuyuno The magnitude-9.0 earthquake that struck northeastern Japan on 11 March trashed Koji Tamura's laboratory and office, flinging books, microscopes, sequencers and samples to the floor. [More]