Researchers at Stanford have shown that a relatively new technology – a chatbot they dubbed “QuizBot” – can be significantly more effective than flashcards in helping students learn and retain information. In a study with 36 students learning with either a flashcard app or a QuizBot, the team found that students correctly recalled over 25%…
Scholars Look to Early 20th Century Radio Tech to Improve Internet Security
Imagine communicating with your bank, the IRS or your doctor by way of an Internet that was perfectly secure. Your most private data would be protected with absolute certainty and, better yet, if any bad actor were to try to eavesdrop you would know immediately. Such is the promise of secure quantum communication. Should quantum communication ever…
Single-Catalyst Water Splitter Produces Clean-Burning Hydrogen 24/7
Stanford University scientists have invented a low-cost water splitter that uses a single catalyst to produce both hydrogen and oxygen gas 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The device, described in a study published June 23 in Nature Communications, could provide a renewable source of clean-burning hydrogen fuel for transportation and industry. ‘We have…
New Research Initiative at Stanford to Comprehensively Study the Use of Natural Gas
In the transition to a low-carbon energy system, how can society use increasing supplies of natural gas to minimize greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, boost economies and strengthen energy security? Stanford University’s new Natural Gas Initiative will work to answer that question, as well as myriad scientific, technological and policy questions that underlie it.…
State-by-State Plan to Convert U.S. to 100% Clean, Renewable Energy by 2050
One potential way to combat ongoing climate change, eliminate air pollution mortality, create jobs and stabilize energy prices involves converting the world’s entire energy infrastructure to run on clean, renewable energy. This is a daunting challenge. But now, in a new study, Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford, and colleagues,…
Stanford Faculty Awarded Seed Grants for Innovative Energy Research
Stanford University’s Precourt Institute for Energy, Precourt Energy Efficiency Center andTomKat Center for Sustainable Energy have awarded eight seed grants totaling about $1.5 million for promising new research in clean technology and energy efficiency. “Seed funding supports early work on concepts that have the potential for very high impact on energy production and use,” said Precourt Institute Director Sally Benson,…