Phys.org June 15, 2022 The spread of potentially inaccurate or misleading results from retracted papers can harm the scientific community and the public. A team of researchers in the US (University of Michigan, Northwestern University) has quantified the amount and type of attention 3,851 retracted papers received over time in different online platforms. Comparing with a set of nonretracted control papers from the same journals with similar publication year, number of coauthors, and author impact, they showed that retracted papers receive more attention after publication not only on social media but also, on heavily curated platforms, such as news outlets […]
Japan Is Dropping a Gargantuan Turbine Into The Ocean to Harness ‘Limitless’ Energy
Science Alert June 10, 2022 To tap into the source of power beneath the waves an industry in Japan has constructed a 330-ton prototype of a device called Kairyu whose structure consists of a 20 meter (66 foot) long fuselage flanked by a pair of similar-sized cylinders, each housing a power generation system attached to an 11-meter-long turbine blade. When tethered to the ocean floor by an anchor line and power cables, the device can orient itself to find the most efficient position to generate power from the push of a deep-water current, and channel it into a grid. Kairyu […]
New, highly tunable composite materials—with a twist
Phys.org June 14, 2022 Researchers at the University of Utah found that they can design “twisted bilayer composite,” from a range of composite materials from moiré patterns created by rotating and stretching one lattice relative to another. As the twist angle and scale parameters vary, these patterns yield myriad microgeometries. Their electrical and other physical properties can change depending on whether the resulting moiré patterns are regularly repeating or non-repeating. According to the researchers their mathematical framework allows for changes in optical, electrical, magnetic, diffusive, and thermal properties with very small changes in the twist angle. New materials can be […]
New member added to carbon material family, a two-dimensional monolayer polymeric fullerene
Phys.org June 15, 2022 It is a challenge to prepare large-sized single-crystal 2D carbon materials with moderate bandgaps to complement zero-bandgap graphene. Researchers in Chia prepared a single-crystal 2D carbon material, namely monolayer quasi-hexagonal-phase fullerene (C60) via an interlayer bonding cleavage strategy. In this monolayer polymeric C60, cluster cages of C60 are covalently bonded with each other in a plane, forming a regular topology that is distinct from that in conventional 2D materials. It exhibited high crystallinity and good thermodynamic stability, and the electronic band structure measurement revealed a transport bandgap of about 1.6 electronvolts. An asymmetric lattice structure endows monolayer […]
Novel fluorescent organohydrogel proposed to achieve dual information encryption
Phys.org June 10, 2022 Researchers in China designed an organohydrogel by constructing interpenetrating organohydrogel networks, in which naphthylamide moieties (DEAN, green-yellow emission) are introduced in hydrophilic poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMA) hydrogel network and anthracene units (blue emission) are copolymerized in hydrophobic polystearate methacrylate (PSMA) organogel network. UV light of 365 nm triggers the unimer–dimer transition and leads the fluorescent color of organohydrogel to change from blue to faint yellow. Photomasks store the secret information. They achieved dual encryption by combining crystallization-induced shape memory performance. According to the researchers fluorescent organohydrogel provides a new idea for fabricating smart materials with the ability of […]
Physicists build an atom laser that can stay on forever
Phys.org June 14, 2022 Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) are important to quantum simulation and sensing. A long-standing constraint for quantum gas devices has been the need to execute cooling stages time-sequentially, restricting these devices to pulsed operation. Researchers in the Netherlands demonstrated continuous Bose–Einstein condensation by creating a continuous-wave (CW) condensate of strontium atoms that lasts indefinitely. The coherent matter wave is sustained by amplification through Bose-stimulated gain of atoms from a thermal bath. By steadily replenishing this bath while achieving 1,000 times higher phase-space densities than previous works they maintained the conditions for condensation. Their experiment is the matter wave […]
Predicting rainfall futures
Phys.org June 16, 2022 According to an international team of researchers (UK, USA – Caltech, Germany, Switzerland) the basis around which climate models have been built over the last 30 years misses some fundamental physics that we now know is essential for reliable predictions. The answers exist but a huge joint international investment in resources, expertise, and infrastructure—amounting to an estimated $250 million annually—is urgently needed to develop much more advanced climate models. The current 100 kilometer-scale global climate models should be changed to 1 kilometer-scale models. At these scales, the complex physics of rain-bearing systems is properly represented with […]
Rubbery camouflage skin exhibits smart and stretchy behaviors
EureakAlert June 13, 2022 Cephalopod (octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish) skin is a soft organ that can endure complex deformations, such as expanding, contracting, bending, and twisting, capable of cognitive sensing and responding that enable the skin to sense light, react and camouflage its wearer. While artificial skins with either these physical or these cognitive capabilities have existed, none has simultaneously exhibited both qualities. An international team of researchers (USA – Pennsylvania State University, University of Houston, South Korea, China) has developed artificial neuromorphic cognitive skins based on arrayed, biaxially stretchable synaptic transistors constructed entirely out of elastomeric materials. Through investigation […]
Scientists provide explanation for exceptional Tonga tsunami
Phys.org June 13, 2022 The colossal eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano and ensuing tsunami is the first global volcano-triggered tsunami recorded by modern, worldwide dense instrumentation, thus providing a unique opportunity to investigate the role of air-water coupling processes in tsunami generation and propagation. An international team of researcher (Portugal, UK, USA – Columbia University, Spain) used sea-level, atmospheric and satellite data from across the globe, along with numerical and analytical models, to demonstrate that this tsunami was driven by a constantly moving source in which the acoustic-gravity waves radiating from the eruption excite the ocean and transfer […]
Superworms capable of munching through plastic
Science Daily June 9, 2022 Polystyrene is among the most common forms of plastic, but recycling it is not easy and the vast majority ends up in landfills or ocean. Researchers in Australia discovered that superworms can survive on a sole polystyrene diet, and even gain a small amount of weight—compared to a starvation control group. They analyzed the microbial gut community and found which gene-encoded enzymes were involved in degrading the plastic. One way to put the findings to use would be to provide super worms with food waste or agricultural bioproducts to consume alongside polystyrene. But while breeding […]