Researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) have developed a novel integrated process that can convert aircraft carbon dioxide emissions directly into carbon monoxide – a crucial ingredient for making synthetic jet fuel and other chemicals. This could simplify efforts to create a circular carbon cycle in aviation by avoiding the energy-intensive step of isolating and purifying carbon dioxide (CO2) first.
Aviation is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise. Batteries are too heavy for long-haul flights, and the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) is still low due limited supply and the important infrastructure changes it requires. For years, researchers have been studying the possibility of converting carbon dioxide emissions from actual aircrafts into low-emission jet fuels, but most systems consist of a two-step decarbonisation method: capturing and purifying the CO2 first, then converting it later. By skipping the carbon dioxide “isolation” stage, the RMIT team’s approach reduces both energy losses and equipment complexity – two major obstacles that have held back previous research.
Aviation accounts for around 2.5% of global CO2 emissions and roughly 3-4% of total warming effects. Even though it doesn’t directly solve the emissions problem, RMIT’s breakthrough could be a practical first step, according to the researchers behind it. Rather than waiting for entirely new aircraft or fuel systems, it turns today’s emissions into usable feedstock. The carbon monoxide produced is also compatible with existing SAF production chains. This means that the technology could help scale synthetic SAF by supplying a key ingredient more efficiently.
If you are not familiar with the term, a “paper mill” is a business that sells fabricated research papers, often using “recycled” text, invented or manipulated data, and even selling authorship to researchers under pressure to publish. While earlier estimates indicated that paper mills might have produced up to 400,000 research papers in the last two decades, new evidence suggests the real number could be even higher.
Researchers at Queensland University of Technology have developed a machine learning algorithm that detects potential paper mill publications in cancer research.Out of 2.6 million cancer papers published between 1999 and 2024, the system flagged more than 250,000 as potential paper mill content. The model, based on a language system called BERT, was trained to spot recurring textual patterns found in already retracted fraudulent studies – for example, copied phrasing or template-like structures. When tested on known cases, it identified suspicious papers with about 91% accuracy. According to the study, flagged papers rose from 1% in the early 2000s to 16% in 2022, with hotspots in molecular biology and early-stage lab research.
This trend is even more worrying because cancer biology papers help decide which drug targets to explore, which mechanisms to study, and which therapies to test in clinical trials. If early findings are fabricated, researchers could waste years of work and millions of dollars chasing dead ends, further eroding public trust in science. As fake scientific papers grow in numbers, tools like this “spam filter” could help stop false research before it harms the medical and public health knowledge we rely on.
Researchers at the University of Rochester have developed aluminium tubes that can float no matter how badly damaged they are. By adding a water-repelling texture to the inside of ordinary tubes, they trap an air pocket underwater that keeps them buoyant, even if pushed down, flipped over, or punched full of holes. In lab tests, tubes up to half a meter long survived weeks of rough water and severe damage while staying afloat.
Beyond the promise of unsinkable ships, the researchers believe this new material design could form the basis of stronger wave energy converters: devices that generate electricity from the up-and-down motion of ocean waves. While large-scale deployment is still limited by engineering and cost challenges, waves hold enormous renewable energy potential: in theory, they could produce 29,500 TWh per year, more than today’s global electricity demand. Damage-resistant floating structures like these tubes could help such systems withstand harsh marine conditions.
Check out this YouTube video to see how scientists engineer unsinkable metal tubes:
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