Heat sssssensorsss A large-eyed green pit viper. The pit organs are small depressions between the snake's nostrils and eyes. (Courtesy: iStock_TommyIX) Vipers, pythons and boa constrictors all use ...

(Nanowerk Spotlight) For decades, researchers have sought to understand and harness the pyroelectric effect in biological materials. Pyroelectricity refers to the phenomenon where heating or cooling a ...

The Nature Index 2024 Research Leaders — previously known as Annual Tables — reveal the leading institutions and countries/territories in the natural and health sciences, according to their output in ...

Converting heat into electricity is a property thought to be reserved only for stiff materials like crystals. However, researchers--inspired by the infrared (IR) vision of snakes--developed a ...

Our bodies are alive with electrical signals that allow us to contract muscles and sense the world. The complex brain orchestrates these processes, but it turns out that even simpler biological ...

All ferroelectric materials are pyroelectric, however, not all pyroelectric materials are ferroelectric. Below a transition temperature called the Curie temperature ferroelectric and pyroelectric ...

Scientists have known about pyroelectricity for years, but it’s always been too inefficient to be useful. A new breakthrough changes this, making it plausible to extract power from your car exhaust.

Sunlight can be used to generate electricity either through a photovoltaic effect, or by harnessing the heat produced by the light. There are already hybrid systems that combine both, but scientists ...

The electronic device you are reading this on is currently producing a modest to significant amount of waste heat. In fact, nearly 70% of the energy produced annually in the US is ultimately wasted as ...

IN 314 BC the Greek philosopher Theophrastus noticed something unusual: when he heated a black crystalline rock called tourmaline, it would suddenly attract ash and bits of straw. He had ...

MIT engineers have developed a technique to grow and peel ultrathin “skins” of electronic material. The method could pave the way for new classes of electronic devices, such as ultrathin wearable ...