Quanta Magazine April 6, 2020 An international team of researchers (USA- Princeton, UK) came up with proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem tackling the theorem indirectly by means of an enormous bridge that mathematicians had conjectured should exist between two distant continents in the mathematical world. The proof boiled down to establishing this bridge between just two little plots of land on the two continents. The full bridge would offer mathematicians the hope of illuminating vast swaths of mathematics by passing concepts back and forth across it. Many problems, including Fermat’s Last Theorem, seem difficult on one side of the bridge, […]
Author Archives: Hema Viswanath
Black hole bends light back on itself
Phys.org April 8,2020 An international team of researchers (USA – Caltech, MIT, industry, Columbia University, UC Berkeley) observed light coming from very close to the black hole that is trying to escape, but instead is pulled right back by the black hole like a boomerang. This is something that was predicted in the 1970s but hadn’t been shown until now. By looking closely at the X-ray light coming from the disk, as the light spirals toward the black hole, the team found imprints indicating that the light had been bent back toward the disk and reflected off. The new results […]
Broad spectrum: Novel hybrid material proves an efficient photodetector
Phys.org April 9, 2020 The MOF compound developed by researchers in Germany comprises an organic material integrated with iron ions. The MOF forms superimposed layers with semiconducting properties, which makes it potentially interesting for optoelectronic applications. They found that the light sensitivity was dependent on temperature and wavelength from 400 to 1,575 nanometers. The spectrum of radiation goes from ultraviolet to near infrared. As the bandgap in the material is very small, only very little light energy is required to induce the electricity. The performance of the detector can be improved by cooling the detector down to lower temperatures and […]
Engineers use metal-oxide nanomaterials deposited on cloth to wipe out microbes
Nanowerk April 8, 2020 As proof of concept researchers at the State University of Iowa grew shape-controlled cerium oxide nanostructures on fluorine doped tin oxide, carbon paper, and carbon cloth as substrates. They found that the cerium oxide nanostructures grown directly on carbon cloth were the most sensitive glucose biosensors. The enhanced performance of these biosensors was related to the increased surface area and high defect concentrations on the surface. These results provide a potential opportunity for flexible substrates like carbon paper and carbon cloth coupled with nanostructures, in a feasible design, to be used as platforms for robust, affordable, […]
Innovative technologies for satellites
EurekAlert April 7, 2020 Researchers in Germany working on project INNOcube have developed two technologies, Skith and Wall#E, to further simplify architecture for small satellite. Skith (Skip the harness) eliminates the internal cabling of the satellite components by enabling data transmission with ultra-broadband radio. Wall#E (Fiber Reinforced Spacecraft Walls for Energy Storage) is a special fibre-reinforced structure that can store electrical energy and at the same time used as the supporting structure of the satellite. It contributes to a significant reduction in the mass and volume of a satellite while maintaining the same performance. A prototype is expected to be […]
Magnetoacoustic waves: Towards a new paradigm of on-chip communication
Phys.org April 6, 2020 An international team of researchers (Spain, Germany) designed an experiment to image and quantify the magnetization dynamics generated by SAW. The results clearly showed that magnetization waves exist at distinct frequencies and wavelengths and that it is possible to create wave interferences. The interference patterns of magnetization waves provide new avenues for manipulation of these waves at room temperature. As magnetization waves are coupled to the acoustic waves, they can travel long distances and have larger amplitudes than spin waves. As magnetoacoustic waves have more energy efficiency and larger spatial extension they are considered potential information […]
Now metal surfaces can be instant bacteria killers, thanks to new laser treatment technique
Technology.org April 9, 2020 Researchers at Perdue University have developed a one-step laser-texturing technique that effectively enhances the bacteria-killing properties of copper’s surface. The nanoscale patterns produce a rugged texture that increases surface area, allowing more opportunity for bacteria to hit the surface and rupture on the spot. The technique also makes the surface hydrophilic. In tests against pathogenic bacterial strains with different concentrations including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA USA300) at 105 CFU mL−1, and Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus at high bacterial concentrations of 108 CFU mL−1 the laser treated copper needed 40, 90, 60, and […]
Researchers hope to improve future epidemic predictions
Science Daily April 6, 2020 A common theme among previously proposed models for network epidemics is the assumption that the propagating object (e.g., a pathogen or a piece of information) is transferred across network nodes without going through any modification or evolutionary adaptations. In real-life spreading processes, pathogens often evolve in response to changing environments and medical interventions, and information is often modified by individuals before being forwarded. A team of researchers in the US (Carnegie Mellon University, Princeton University) investigate the effects of evolutionary adaptations on spreading processes in complex networks with the aim of revealing the role of […]
Researchers demonstrate a platform for future optical transistors
EurekAlert April 9, 2020 The inability of photons to interact well with each other is a drawback in developing optical transistors. An international team of researchers (Russia, Iceland, UK) demonstrated a new efficient implementation, where photons couple to excitons in single-layer semiconductors. They created polaritons with the help of a laser, a waveguide, and an extremely thin molybdenum diselenide semiconductor layer trapping them in the system. Polaritons obtained in this way not only exist for relatively long periods of time, but also have extra high nonlinearity, meaning that they actively interact with each other. The work brings us closer to […]
Researchers develop one-way street for electrons
Phys.org April 9, 2020 The underlying principle of ratcheting is to convert a fluctuating, unbiased force into unidirectional motion. A team of researchers in the US (University of North Carolina, Vanderbilt University, Duke University) reports the ratcheting of electrons at room temperature using a semiconductor nanowire with precisely engineered asymmetry. Modulation of the nanowire diameter creates a cylindrical sawtooth geometry with broken inversion symmetry on a nanometer-length scale. In a two-terminal device, this structure responded as a three-dimensional geometric diode that funnels electrons preferentially in one direction through specular reflection of quasi-ballistic electrons at the nanowire surface. The ratcheting effect […]