Phys.org September 20, 2022 Researchers in Sweden have developed a method for producing solid materials from aqueous solutions containing nano-sized niobium molecules, called polyoxoniobates which are water-soluble. They act as molecular building blocks to make a wide range of materials, including supercapacitors that facilitate lithium-ion storage. The nanometer sized molecules can be dissolved in water and spin coated to deposit thin films of niobium pentoxide. When the films are heated to temperatures ranging from 200 to 1200°C, surfaces with varying corrosion resistance and electrochemical properties are obtained. This approach facilitates deposition of alkali-free, metal oxide thin films with varying crystallinity, […]
Hygroscopic polymeric gels: Collecting freshwater and energy from atmospheric moisture
Phys.org September 19, 2022 Atmospheric moisture exploitation (AME) technology has emerged as a promising alternative solution to improve the unbalanced supply-and-demand relationship between reducing essential resources (particularly energy and freshwater) and growing population. Hygroscopic polymer gels (HPGs) are regarded as desirable materials for AME owing to their considerable hygroscopicity, highly tunable structures, and easy integration with functional components. In a review article researchers in China cover an in-depth overview of the up-to-date progress in HPGs used for AME. They have presented the hygroscopic mechanisms of HPGs, state-of-the-art construction strategies, and illustrated relationships between structures and properties. They have included cutting-edge […]
The magneto-optic modulator
EurekAlert September 16, 2022 Superconducting microprocessors and quantum computers promise to revolutionize computation, but ultra-cold components must interface with ambient temperature systems. An international team of researchers (USA – UC Santa Barbara, industry, Italy, UK, Japan) has built a device that translates electrical input into pulses of light. An electric current creates a magnetic field that changes the refractive index of a synthetic garnet making it possible to tune the amplitude of the light that circulates in a micro-ring resonator. This creates bright and dark pulses that carry information through the fiberoptic cable. The modulator operates at wavelengths of 1,550 […]
Negative feedback is part of academia (and life). These six strategies can help you cope
Phys.org September 14, 2022 According to researchers in Australia feedback is a key component for any academic career and it is part of how the profession maintains rigor and quality in what it does. While it can be positive, research shows, it tends to be negative. On top of calls to improve training for academics, managers, and leaders on how to provide helpful feedback, being able to use the feedback we get is also important. Researchers suggest six things to do when you get negative feedback – 1. Empathize with the person giving feedback – when anonymous reviews are negative, […]
Researchers propose new technology for aviation materials to allow for adjusting their properties
Phys.org September 19, 2022 Most of the carbon fiber composites used currently are based on epoxy resin and other non-melting, insoluble materials that are not recyclable. Researchers in Russia have created a new composite material based on engineering thermoplastic polymers and carbon fiber. For matrix they used polyethersulfone powder which has excellent mechanical properties and resistant to high temperatures, steam, and various chemicals. Unlike epoxy it is recyclable. They determined the optimal content of carbon fibers for airborne composites based on polyethersulfone to be 60–70% of the total weight of the structure. The properties of the material can be adjusted […]
Researchers Say It’ll Be Impossible to Control a Super-Intelligent AI
Science Alert September 18, 2022 Considering recent advances in machine intelligence, several scientists, philosophers, and technologists have revived the discussion about the potentially catastrophic risks entailed by such an entity. An international team of researchers (Spain, Germany, USA – UC San Diego, Chile) traced the origins and development of the neo-fear of superintelligence, and some of the major proposals for its containment. They argue that total containment is, in principle, impossible, due to fundamental limits inherent to computing itself. Turing’s halting program centers on knowing whether a computer program will reach a conclusion and answer (so it halts), or simply […]
Silicon nanopillars for quantum communication
Science Daily September 20, 2022 The integration of recently discovered single-photon emitters in silicon into photonic structures is advantageous to exploit their full potential for integrated photonic quantum technologies. Researchers in South Korea have developed a top-down nanofabrication method, enabling the production of thousands of nanopillars per square millimeter with state-of-the-art photonic-circuit pitch, all the while being free of fabrication-related radiation damage defects. They found a waveguiding effect of the 1278 nm-G center emission along individual pillars accompanied by improved brightness compared to that of bulk silicon. Their results unlock clear pathways to monolithically integrating single-photon emitters into a photonic platform […]
Team develops method to identify future SARS-CoV-2 mutations that could affect rapid antigen test performance
Science Daily September 15, 2022 To evaluate the impact of mutations on 17 antibodies used in 11 commercially available antigen tests with emergency use authorization a team of researchers in the US (Emory University, Baylor College, industry) measured antibody binding for all possible Nucleocapsid point mutations using a mammalian surface-display platform and deep mutational scanning. The results provided a complete map of the antibodies’ epitopes and their susceptibility to mutational escape. Their data predicted no vulnerabilities for detection of mutations found in variants of concern. They confirmed this using the commercial tests and sequence-confirmed COVID-19 patient samples. The antibody escapes […]
Terahertz light from superconducting stripes
Phys.og September 22, 2022 The interplay between charge order and superconductivity remains one of the central themes of research in quantum materials. In the case of cuprates, the coupling between striped charge fluctuations and local electromagnetic fields is especially important, as it affects transport properties, coherence, and dimensionality of superconducting correlations. An international team of researchers (Germany, USA – Harvard University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Switzerland, UK) studied the emission of coherent terahertz radiation in single-layer cuprates of the La2-xBaxCuO4 family, for which this effect is expected to be forbidden by symmetry. They found that emission vanishes for compounds in which […]
What You Learned About Zoonotic Disease Spillover Risk During COVID-19
SciTech Daily September 17, 2022 According to an international team of researchers (Japan, USA – Santa Clara University, University of Colorado, UK) media messaging throughout the pandemic consistently described direct causality between zoonotic disease spread and land use change. This was even though only 53% of the surveyed peer-reviewed literature made this association. The complexity of pathogen responses to land change cannot be reduced to one-size-fits-all proclamations. They discovered that as the literature moves from primary research to review articles and commentaries, and finally to webpages, the “overstating of the evidence” continually increases. In fact, 78% of secondary papers imply […]