When a current flows through a crystal whose temperature has been changed, what is that current measuring? The review by Ballas and Koev traces the history of the pyroelectric effect and connects ...

When infrared light is applied to a pyroelectric material, a current flows. To move from this explanation to actual measurement, two conversions must be connected: the conversion from light absorption ...

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 ...

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 ...

Nearly 70 percent of the energy produced in the United States each year is wasted as heat. Much of that heat is less than 100 degrees Celsius and emanates from things like computers, cars or large ...

Many peptides and proteins have an innate ability to assemble into long, slender fibers called fibrils and other shapes. Now, researchers have found a way to harness this property to create tubular ...

(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 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 ...

Pyroelectric and tribocatalytic processes harness subtle forms of ambient energy—thermal fluctuations and mechanical friction—to drive chemical transformations without reliance on light or harsh ...

Many peptides and proteins have an innate ability to assemble into long, slender fibers called fibrils and other shapes. Now, researchers have found a way to harness this property to create tubular ...