Many recent big technological advances in computing, communications, energy, and biology have relied on nanoparticles. It can be hard to determine the best nanomaterials for these applications, however, because observing nanoparticles in action requires high spatial resolution in messy, dynamic environments.

Scientists invented the first high-performance aluminum battery that is fast-charging, long-lasting, and inexpensive.

Transformers convert the standard voltage from the wall outlet into the lower voltages required by electronic devices.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, Md., built a silver, glass, and chromium nanostructure that can all but stop visible light cold in one direction while giving it a pass in the other.

Using a material found in Silly Putty and surgical tubing, a group of researchers at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering developed a new way to make lithium-ion batteries that will last three times longer between charges compared to the current industry standard.

A team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University, both in Cambridge, came up with a material that can absorb the sun’s heat and store that energy in chemical form, ready to be released again on demand.

Lucifer Furnaces, Warrington, Pa., recently shipped a high-temperature laboratory box furnace to a leading producer of products for the battery, ceramics, and glass industries around the globe.

A University of Texas-Arlington research associate and electrical engineering professor designed a micro-windmill that generates wind energy and may become an innovative solution to cell phone batteries.