Dedicated to the wonder of discovery
It is well known that adding a layer of padding behind a hard surface can shield things inside from shocks and vibrations.
Engineers call this a sandwich core since it consists of multiple layers of different materials sandwiched together.
The sandwich cores are used in helmets, body armour, and to protect vehicles from impacts, blasts, and crashes. [Read more…] about Abu Dhabi scientists discover new ‘metamaterial shapes’ that promise safer shielding
Organic molecular interfaces with minimized structural mismatch and spontaneous electron transfer could open doors to high-efficiency optoelectronics
Organic semiconductors have garnered much attention in optoelectronics owing to their flexibility, which is allowed by weak interaction forces.
However, this also makes for poor charge carrier mobility.
In a new study, researchers from Japan combined organic semiconductor molecules with similar structures to produce interfaces with better crystal quality and charge transport efficiency, paving the way for the realization of high-mobility organic optoelectronics. [Read more…] about Towards high-performance organic optoelectronics with better crystallinity at semiconductor interface
Japanese astronomers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) technique to remove noise in astronomical data due to random variations in galaxy shapes.
After extensive training and testing on large mock data created by supercomputer simulations, they then applied this new tool to actual data from Japan’s Subaru Telescope and found that the mass distribution derived from using this method is consistent with the currently accepted models of the Universe.
This is a powerful new tool for analyzing big data from current and planned astronomy surveys. [Read more…] about Observation, simulation, and AI join forces to reveal a clear universe
Astronomers have tested a method for reconstructing the state of the early Universe by applying it to 4000 simulated universes using the ATERUI II supercomputer at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). They found that together with new observations the method can set better constraints on inflation, one of…
Astrophysicists consider that around 40 percent of the ordinary matter that makes up stars, planets and galaxies remains undetected, concealed in the form of a hot gas in the complexe cosmic web. Scientists at the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (CNRS/Université Paris-Saclay) may have detected, for the first time, this hidden matter…
The most accurate distance measurement yet of ultra-diffuse galaxy (UDG) NGC1052-DF2 (DF2) confirms beyond any shadow of a doubt that it is lacking in dark matter. The newly measured distance of 22.1 +/-1.2 megaparsecs was obtained by an international team of researchers led by Zili Shen and Pieter van Dokkum…Researchers at Kyoto University’s Institute for Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) have developed a new approach to speed up hydrogen atoms moving through a crystal lattice structure at lower temperatures. They reported their findings in the journal Science Advances.
“Improving hydrogen transport in solids could lead to more sustainable sources of energy,” says Hiroshi Kageyama of iCeMS who led the study.
Negatively charged hydrogen “anions” can move very quickly through a solid ‘hydride’ material, which consists of hydrogen atoms attached to other chemical elements. [Read more…] about Bringing order to hydrogen energy devices
A cutting-edge digital tool that will make it cheaper, safer and faster for pharmaceutical companies to predict protein stability – a vital step in the development of new medicines – is being rolled out by scientists from the UK’s University of Bath through their spin-out company, BLOC Labs.
The tool, launched this week, will help researchers identify the most promising protein molecules for drug development. It has the potential to play an important role in the creation of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The market for these therapeutic antibodies is worth over £70 billion.
Monoclonal antibodies are a type of protein derived from natural antibodies and then refined and mass produced in the lab. They are steadily transforming the way we treat and prevent diseases, from cancer and conditions affecting the immune system to viral infections. [Read more…] about Technology that predicts protein stability is released by UK university spin-out company
In a world hungry for cheaper, more efficient renewable energy, Australian researchers have served up a treat.
Work led by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science has shown that the two-dimensional (2D) thin films used in some perovskite solar cells closely resemble a sandwich. Perovskite is an exciting material at the forefront of solar energy research and design.
Previously, scientists thought these 2D perovskite films had a ‘gradient’ structure, in which certain components were found deep in the material, with other complementary elements only located nearer to the surface, like topping on a cracker. [Read more…] about Scientists use ‘sandwich’ model to make solar panels more efficient
Researchers in the materials department in UC Santa Barbara's College of Engineering have uncovered a major cause of limitations to efficiency in a new generation of solar cells. Various possible defects in the lattice of what are known as hybrid perovskites had previously been considered as the potential cause of…To understand the fundamental properties of an industrial solvent, chemists with the University of Cincinnati turned to a supercomputer.
UC chemistry professor and department head Thomas Beck and UC graduate student Andrew Eisenhart ran quantum simulations to understand glycerol carbonate, a compound used in biodiesel and as a common solvent.
They found that the simulation provided detail about hydrogen bonding in determining the structural and dynamic properties of the liquid that was missing from classical models. The study was published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B. [Read more…] about Better batteries start with basics – and a big computer
By combining oil drops with water containing a detergent-like substance, the scientists found they could produce artificial swimmers that are able to swim independently and even harvest energy to recharge. The oil droplets use fluctuating temperature changes in their surrounding environment to store energy and to swim. When cooled, the…
Solid-state batteries pack a lot of energy into a small space, but their electrodes are not good at keeping in touch with their electrolytes. Liquid electrolytes reach every nook and cranny of an electrode to spark energy, but liquids take up space without storing energy and fail over time. Researchers…Modern-day robots are often required to interact with humans intelligently and efficiently, which can be enabled by providing them the ability to perceive touch.
However, previous attempts at mimicking human skin have involved bulky and complex electronics, wiring, and a risk of damage.
In a recent study, researchers from Japan sidestep these difficulties by constructing a 3D vision-guided artificial skin that enables tactile sensing with high performance, opening doors to innumerable applications in medicine, healthcare, and industry. [Read more…] about Artificial skin brings robots closer to ‘touching’ human lives
Soft robots may not be in touch with human feelings, but they are getting better at feeling human touch. Cornell University researchers have created a low-cost method for soft, deformable robots to detect a range of physical interactions, from pats to punches to hugs, without relying on touch at all.…Metallurgists have all kinds of ways to make a chunk of metal harder. They can bend it, twist it, run it between two rollers or pound it with a hammer. These methods work by breaking up the metal’s grain structure – the microscopic crystalline domains that form a bulk piece of metal. Smaller grains make for harder metals.
Now, a group of Brown University researchers has found a way to customize metallic grain structures from the bottom up. In a paper published in the journal Chem, the researchers show a method for smashing individual metal nanoclusters together to form solid macro-scale hunks of solid metal. Mechanical testing of the metals manufactured using the technique showed that they were up to four times harder than naturally occurring metal structures.
“Hammering and other hardening methods are all top-down ways of altering grain structure, and it’s very hard to control the grain size you end up with,” said Ou Chen, an assistant professor of chemistry at Brown and corresponding author of the new research. “What we’ve done is create nanoparticle building blocks that fuse together when you squeeze them. This way we can have uniform grain sizes that can be precisely tuned for enhanced properties.” [Read more…] about New technique builds super-hard metals from nanoparticles
Astrophysicists consider that around 40 percent of the ordinary matter that makes up stars, planets and galaxies remains undetected, concealed in the form of a hot gas in the complexe cosmic web.
Scientists at the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (CNRS/Université Paris-Saclay) may have detected, for the first time, this hidden matter through an innovative statistical analysis of 20-year-old data. Their findings are published on November 6, 2020 in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Galaxies are distributed throughout the Universe in the form of a complex network of nodes connected by filaments, which are in turn separated by voids. This is known as the cosmic web. [Read more…] about Has the hidden matter of the universe been discovered?
Japanese astronomers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) technique to remove noise in astronomical data due to random variations in galaxy shapes. After extensive training and testing on large mock data created by supercomputer simulations, they then applied this new tool to actual data from Japan's Subaru Telescope and…