Cities represent heat islands within their surroundings, which are characterised by many heat sources and small air flows. In southern Europe, bright buildings produce relief and provide for a cooler urban climate. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) simulation calculations for the city of Stuttgart reveal that such measures for enhancing cooling may adversely affect air quality on the ground.

Conventional ElectroLuminescent (EL) foils can only be bent up to a certain degree and can be easily applied onto flat surfaces. The recent process, developed by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Franz Binder, now allows for the direct printing of EL layers onto three-dimensional components. Such EL components might be used to enhance safety in buildings in case of power failure.

The ANKA synchrotron radiation facility at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has taken a technological leap forward, successfully developing, installing and testing a novel full-length superconducting undulator, providing higher peak magnetic fields for the production of x-rays than traditional permanent-magnet undulators currently in use in facilities around the world.

The increasing share of electricity based on solar and wind power results in an increasing load of distribution and transmission grids. At the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) for electrochemical energy storage, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology demonstrates how modern high-performance batteries and smart controls make renewable energy compatible with the grid.

Given demographic change, digitisation and global warming, cities have to invent themselves anew. Europe has realised that transformation into the city of the future can only be achieved with an excellent scientific basis. For this reason, numerous research policy initiatives have been launched in recent years. In many cases, however, issue-driven individual solutions are focussed upon, above technological innovations. 

Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have unveiled an important step in the conversion of light into storable energy, studying the formation of so-called polarons in zinc oxide. The pseudoparticles travel through the photoactive material until they are converted into electrical or chemical energy at an interface. Their findings, relevant to photovoltaics, are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Researchers of KIT under the direction of Hendrik Hölscher found that irregular nanostructures on the surface of the glasswing butterfly wing cause the low reflection. In theoretical experiments, they succeeded in reproducing the effect that opens up fascinating application options for the displays of mobile phones or laptops.

At this year’s Hannover Messe, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) will have a special helper at its booth - FiFi, the electric errand boy who follows his operator like a well-trained dog. Visitors may test FiFi, a gesture-controlled transport vehicle, making it carry handbags or suitcases. In addition, visitors are invited to dig holes into the KIT booth with an excavator and to have a look at future production processes, virtually at ...

The Study Centre for the Visually Impaired (SZS) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has launched a project designed to improve the access to software development jobs for the visually impaired. The project, titled Cooperate – New Paths of Cooperation for Diversity Teams in Software Development, has been launched in co-operation with FZI Research Centre for Information Technology.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and KIT-founded Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) has pushed the development of lithium ion batteries further with the announcement of a cathode material based on a new storage principle, as a result of which energy storage densities can be increased beyond those of systems known so far. The research material is presented in the journal Advanced Energy Mate...