Phys.org February 27, 2024 An international team of researchers (Austria, Italy) deposited gradient polymers in one step via initiated chemical vapor deposition as an effective coating to mitigate ice accretion and reduce ice adhesion. The gradient structures easily overcame adhesion, stability, and durability issues of traditional fluorinated coatings. The coatings showed promising ice phobic performance by reducing ice adhesion, depressing the freezing point, delaying drop freezing, and inhibiting ice nucleation and frost propagation. They confirmed that lipophobicity correlated with surface energy discontinuities at the surface plane resulting from the random orientation of the fluorinated groups of PFDA. It could be […]
Research team develops a wireless sensor for spotting chemical warfare agents
Phys.org March 5, 2024 Researchers in China developed a 433 MHz passive wireless surface acoustic wave (WSAW) gas sensor for dimethyl methyl phosphonate (DMMP) detection. It includes a YZ lithium niobate (LiNbO3) substrate with metallic interdigital transducers (IDTs) etched on it, and an antenna was placed near the IDT… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Researchers create new compound to build space-age antennas
Science Daily February 29, 2024 Additive manufacturing with high-performance polymers can realize lightweight and complex geometries that can also be manufactured on board. However, polymers are electromagnetically inefficient for applications requiring electrical conductivity, such as guiding microwave signals. An international team of researchers (Canada, USA – Drexel University) developed MXene coated high-efficiency, lightweight additively manufactured microwave components with waveguiding functionality from 8 to 33 GHz, covering low earth orbit (LEO) frequencies, with a power-handling capability up to 10 dB and a transmission coefficient of 93 %. After a single dip-coating cycle, the polymer waveguide performed only 2 % below an […]
Researchers demonstrate control of living cells with electronics
Phys.org March 5, 2024 Microelectronic devices can directly communicate with biology, as electronic information can be transmitted via redox reactions within biological systems. Researchers at the University of Maryland engineered biology’s native redox networks to enable electronic interrogation and control of biological systems at several hierarchical levels: proteins, cells, and cell consortia. Electro-biofabrication facilitated on-device biological component assembly, electrode-actuated redox data transmission and redox-linked synthetic biology allowed programming of enzyme activity and closed-loop electrogenetic control of cellular function. Horseradish peroxidase was assembled onto interdigitated electrodes where electrode-generated hydrogen peroxide controlled its activity. E. coli’s stress response regulon, oxyRS, was rewired […]
Researchers provide unprecedented view into aerosol formation in Earth’s lower atmosphere
Phys.org March 6, 2024 Criegee intermediates are reactive intermediates that are implicated in transforming the composition of Earth’s troposphere and in the formation of secondary organic aerosol, impacting Earth’s radiation balance, air quality and human health. Direct identification of their signatures in the field are not available. An international team of researchers (USA – Argonne National Laboratory, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, Caltech, Princeton University, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, UC Davis, UK, Turkey, Brazil, France) has identified sequences of masses consistent with the expected signatures of oligomerization of the CH2OO Criegee intermediate, a process implicated in ozonolysis-driven aerosol […]
Scientists launch hub to channel quantum power for good
Phys.org March 5, 2024 The Open Quantum Institute seeks to inclusively unleash the powers of quantum computing to ensure that the whole world contributes to and benefits from quantum computing. While traditional computers process information in bits that can be represented by 0 or 1, quantum computers use qubits, which can be a combination of both at the same time, allowing them to solve more complex problems. The first commercial quantum computers are still believed to be up to a decade away, and the technology is not expected to be fully developed before around 2050. With quantum computing still under […]
Tests show high-temperature superconducting magnets are ready for fusion
MIT News March 4, 2024 The SPARC Toroidal Field Model Coil (TFMC) Program was a three-year effort between 2018 and 2021 that developed novel rare earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) superconductor technologies and then successfully utilized these technologies to design, build, and test a first-in-class, high-field (∼20 T), representative-scale (∼3 m) superconducting toroidal field (TF) coil. The program was executed jointly by the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) and Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) as a technology enabler of the superconducting high-field pathway to fusion energy, and as a risk retirement program for the no insulation (NI) TF magnet […]
Zero-index metamaterials and the future
Phys.org March 6, 2024 Zero-index metamaterials (ZIMs) can support uniform electromagnetic field distributions at any frequency, but their applications are hampered by the ZIM’s homogenization level—only 3-unit cells per free-space wavelength, which is fundamentally limited by the low-permittivity inclusions and background matrix. An international team of researchers (USA – Stanford University, China) demonstrated a highly homogeneous microwave ZIM with an over threefold increase in the homogenization level by filling high-permittivity SrTiO3 ceramic pillars in BaTiO3 background matrix. They achieved an antenna, and a concave lens with a focal length of as short as 1λ0… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of March 01, 2024
01. New water batteries stay cool under pressure 02. Researchers develop world-leading microwave photonics chip for high-speed signal processing 03. Novel nanocrystal harnesses full solar spectrum for hydrogen production 04. Electrons become fractions of themselves in graphene 05. Research team discovers two-dimensional waveguides 06. A promising leap towards computers with light-speed capabilities 07. Improving lithium-sulfur batteries with metal-organic framework-based materials 08. Energy-saving electrochemical hydrogen production via co-generative strategies in hybrid water electrolysis 09. Measuring the properties of light: Scientists realize new method for determining quantum states 10. AI to Track Hypersonic Missiles And others Bat ‘nightclubs’ may be the key […]
AI to Track Hypersonic Missiles
Next Big Future February 21, 2024 The startup EpiSci will use AI software to leverage infrared satellite data from the Space Development Agency (SDA) future constellation of hundreds of satellites. The satellites will have overhead persistent infrared (OPIR) sensors. EpiSci’s modular Tactical AI is positioned to solve emerging challenges by delivering AI/ML enhanced algorithms for rapid, low-latency detection, classification, and predictive tracking at the edge. These emerging systems will be able to intelligently focus resources on objects of interest and adapt to never-before-seen targets. It is partnering with Raytheon Missile Systems to provide representative training and evaluation datasets of hypersonic […]