Perovskite solar cells achieve new efficiency breakthrough
A team of researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia created the biggest perovskite solar cell so far, also setting a new efficiency record with it.
Science & academia
This archive covers milestones and breakthroughs from the scientific and academic world — researchers, universities, and institutions whose work advances human knowledge. Stories here highlight discoveries, studies, and scholarly efforts that point toward a better future.
Scientists report a rare case of H.I.V. remission
For the third time in recent years, a child born with H.I.V. has been found free of the virus for a long period after a high dose of treatment early in life.
World’s first malaria vaccine will be given to thousands of babies in Africa
Last week WHO announced that one of several potential malaria vaccines in development has made it through a crucial phase of trials and is now ready to be tested in the field.
Lithium-ion battery inventor introduces new technology for fast-charging, noncombustible batteries
A team of engineers led by 94-year-old John Goodenough, professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin and co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery, has developed the first all-solid-state battery cells that could lead to safer, faster-charging, longer-lasting rechargeable batteries for handheld mobile devices, electric cars and stationary energy storage.
Swedish scientists unveil the world’s first recycled cotton garment
Recycled cotton got its proof of concept in June 2014, when a group of Swedish companies unveiled a yellow dress made entirely from old clothes broken down and rebuilt as rayon fiber. Developed at Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Technology, the process hinted at a future where fashion’s waste stream could become its raw material.
The Large Hadron Collider goes live beneath the France-Switzerland border
The Large Hadron Collider sent its first beam of protons around a 27-kilometer underground ring on September 10, 2008, beneath the French-Swiss border near Geneva. Built by CERN over a decade with more than 10,000 scientists from over 100 countries, it remains one of humanity’s most ambitious collaborative experiments in understanding matter itself.
China unveils the world’s first maglev wind turbine in Beijing
In 2006, a Beijing engineering team unveiled a wind turbine whose rotor floated on magnetic levitation, spinning without touching any bearing. By eliminating friction, the design could reportedly start generating power in breezes as slow as 1.5 meters per second. It was an early, imperfect signal of the engineering ambition now reshaping wind energy worldwide.
Human Genome Project maps the complete human DNA sequence
The Human Genome Project reached completion in April 2003, after 13 years of work across 20 research centers on four continents. Scientists mapped more than three billion base pairs and found humans carry only about 20,000 to 25,000 protein-coding genes — far fewer than expected, and nearly identical from one person to the next.
Eight nations launch the International Coral Reef Initiative to protect reefs globally
The International Coral Reef Initiative launched in December 1994, when eight nations — from Jamaica to Japan — met in the Bahamas and pledged the first global partnership devoted entirely to coral reefs. Reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean floor but shelter roughly a quarter of marine species, and until then, no international body had spoken for them alone.
Fraunhofer IIS in Germany launches research that will create MP3
MP3 audio compression was born in 1987 at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute, where Karlheinz Brandenburg and a small team set out to shrink music without wrecking it. Two days before their first codec was due in 1991, a compiler bug nearly killed the project. They found it in time — and quietly reshaped how the world listens.