Science Daily January 11, 2023 An international team of researchers (USA – Northwestern University, Caltech, University of Maine, Switzerland, Italy, UK, Australia) has developed an electric molecular motor that works in solution using chemistry to effectively drive a molecular motor, much like a macroscopic motor. The motor was easy to make, operated quickly and did not produce any waste products. The 2 nanometers wide molecular motor was the first to be produced en masse in abundance. They focused on catenanes held together by powerful mechanical bonds, so the components could move freely relative to each other without falling apart. According […]
Organic semiconductors curl up in the dark
Nanowerk January 17, 2023 Organic semiconductors have the potential to replace their silicon predecessors in many applications. However, the manufacturing processes of solar cells that achieve such efficiencies are not yet compatible with mass production. An international team of researchers (Denmark, Germany) used roll-to-roll methos to print the organic semiconductor (poly(3-hexylthiophene) or P3HT), used for flexible solar cells, and organic electronics directly on a polymer film. In solution without illumination or under red light, the polymer chains quickly aggregated and formed ordered domains. When illuminated under green or blue light, the more rigid polymer chains, excited by the light, were […]
Political Interference: White House Launches Framework to Protect Scientific Integrity
Global Biodefense January 13, 2023 The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released the Framework for Federal Scientific Integrity Policy and Practice. It builds on the assessment of federal scientific integrity policies and practices described in the January 2022 report. The goal of the Framework is to assist agencies across the Federal Government as they take next steps together to strengthen, implement, and institutionalize scientific integrity policy, practice, and culture. It requires all agencies to designate a scientific integrity official, and agencies that fund, conduct, or oversee research to designate a chief science officer, and it establishes […]
Preventing vehicle crashes by learning from insects
Science Daily January 17, 2023 For detecting a potential collision at night to alert the driver or, maneuvering system of an autonomous vehicle, current technologies utilize resource draining and expensive solutions such as LiDAR or image sensors coupled with extensive software running sophisticated algorithms. In contrast, insects perform the same task of collision detection with frugal neural resources. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have shown that insect-inspired collision detection algorithms, when implemented in conjunction with in-sensor processing and enabled by innovative optoelectronic integrated circuits based on atomically thin and photosensitive memtransistor technology, can greatly simplify collision detection at night. The […]
Researchers create an optical tractor beam that pulls macroscopic objects
Science Daily January 11, 2023 In recent ten years, optical pulling of micro-nano objects have been fully demonstrated. However, optical pulling of a macroscopic object is challenging. Researchers in China have demonstrated laser pulling of a macroscopic object in rarefied gas. The pulling force was originated from the Kundsen force when a gauss laser beam irradiates a macroscopic structure composed of the absorptive bulk cross-linked graphene material and a SiO2 layer. A torsional pendulum device qualitatively presented the laser pulling phenomenon. A gravity pendulum device was used to further measure the pulling force that is more than three orders of […]
Researchers develop fluidic memristor with diverse neuromorphic functions
Nanowerk January 13, 2023 Mimicking the structure of human brain could lead to the development of next-generation neuromorphic devices. Focusing on different aspects of neuromorphic engineering, researchers in China created nanofluidic devices consisting of nanometer-thick two-dimensional slits filled with a salt solution, and a nanofluidic ionic memristor based on confined polyelectrolyte-ion interactions. They demonstrated neuromorphic functions with a polyelectrolyte-confined fluidic memristor (PFM), resulting in ion memory effects emulating various electric pulse patterns with ultralow energy consumption. PFM is versatile and easily interfaces with biological systems, paving a way to building neuromorphic devices with advanced functions by introducing rich chemical designs…read […]
Researchers gain deeper understanding of mechanism behind superconductors
Phys.org January 17, 2023 High-temperature superconducting cuprates respond to doping with a dome-like dependence of their critical temperature (Tc). But the family-specific maximum Tc can be surpassed by application of pressure. Researchers in Germany investigated the phenomenon with high-pressure anvil cell NMR and measured the charge content at planar Cu and O, and with it the doping of the CuO2. They found that pressure increases the overall hole doping but when it enhances Tc above what can be achieved by doping, pressure leads to a hole redistribution favoring planar O. This is similar to the observation that the family-specific maximum […]
A year on, we now know why the Tongan eruption was so violent. It’s a wake-up call to watch other submarine volcanoes
Phys.org January 13, 2023 An international team of researchers (Tonga, New Zealand) studied the texture and chemistry of the erupted particles to find clues about the event’s violence. Isotopic “fingerprinting” showed at least three different magma sources were involved. Two magma bodies were older and resident in the middle of the Earth’s crust, the younger one joined shortly before the eruption. The mingling of magmas caused a strong reaction, driving water and other “volatile elements” out of solution and into gas. This created bubbles and an expanding magma foam, pushing the magma out vigorously at the onset of eruption. The […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of January 13, 2023
01. Discovery of a new form of carbon called long-range ordered porous carbon 02. Electrons take new shape inside unconventional metal 03. New approach to epidemic modeling could speed up pandemic simulations 04. Scientists make a quantum harmonic oscillator at room temperature 05. Lithium-sulfur batteries are one step closer to powering the future 06. New quantum computing architecture could be used to connect large-scale devices 07. New spin control method brings billion-qubit quantum chips closer 08. The optical fiber that keeps data safe even after being twisted or bent 09. Paper-supported photodetectors 10. ‘Smart’ coating can be precisely applied to […]
Discovery of a new form of carbon called long-range ordered porous carbon
Phys.org January 11, 2023 Carbon structures with covalent bonds connecting C60 molecules have been reported but until now there was no process to produce large enough quantities for detailed characterization and exploration necessary for potential applications. An international team of researchers (China, South Korea) has developed a gram-scale preparation method for long-range ordered porous carbon (LOPC), from C60 powder catalysed by α-Li3N at ambient pressure. LOPC consists of connected broken C60 cages that maintain long-range periodicity. At a lower temperature, shorter annealing time or by using less α-Li3N polymerized C60 crystal forms due to the electron transfer from α-Li3N to […]