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Engineers use Tiki torches in study of soot, diesel filters

Chemical engineers are using the summer staple in testing methods to improve efficiency of diesel engines.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180728084149.htm

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Optical neural network demo

Researchers have made a silicon chip that distributes optical signals precisely across a miniature brain-like grid, showcasing a potential new design for neural networks.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180728084146.htm

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Researchers discover chemical reaction that uses a surprising molecule

Researchers report they have discovered a chemical reaction that might someday be used to process petroleum into useful compounds.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180728084144.htm

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New geometric shape used by nature to pack cells efficiently

A multinational team of scientists have uncovered a previously undescribed shape -- they call the 'scutoid' -- adopted by epithelial cells during embryonic development that enables the cells to minimize energy use and maximize packing stability.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180728084136.htm

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X-ray technology reveals never-before-seen matter around black hole

Scientists have clarified how gravity affects the shape of matter near the black hole in binary system Cygnus X-1. Their findings may help scientists further understand the physics of strong gravity and the evolution of black holes and galaxies.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180728084103.htm

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Cooking oil coating prevents bacteria from growing on food processing equipment, study suggests

Many foods produced on an industrial scale include raw ingredients mixed together in enormous stainless steel machines that can be difficult to clean. A research team proposes a simple new solution: trapping a thin layer of cooking oil at the metal surface to fill in microscopic scrapes, cracks and fissures and create a barrier to bacterial attachment. This solution resulted in a 1,000x reduction in bacterial levels inside the industrial machines tested.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180728083559.htm

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New algorithm could help find new physics

Scientists have developed an algorithm that could provide meaningful answers to condensed matter physicists in their searches for novel and emergent properties in materials.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180728083549.htm

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Technique to easily fabricate ceramic films used as OPV inter-layers developed

Researchers developed a technique for coating Zinc related oxide (ZnOx, ZnOHx) simply by depositing the films in a solution process using the Metal Organic Decomposition method at ambient temperature and pressure without heating. They also demonstrated that their thin films produced by this technique were useful as buffer layers for OPV cells and that the films achieved a power conversion efficiency equivalent to that of ZnO thin films produced by conventional methods involving sintering.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180726162033.htm

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And then there was (more) light: Researchers boost performance quality of perovskites

Scientists report that a prototype semiconductor thin-film has performed even better than today's best solar cell materials at emitting light.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180726161939.htm

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Europe may thrive on renewable energy despite unpredictable weather

Researchers have shown how long-term weather patterns affect wind and solar renewable energy technologies across Europe. The work suggests that despite the unpredictable nature of wind and solar energy, the European power system can comfortably generate at least 35 percent of its electricity using these renewables alone without major impacts on prices or system stability.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180726161255.htm

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Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/top/technology/