Nanowerk October 11, 2021 A team of researchers in the US (NIST, Pennsylvania State University) concentrated on the boundary, or channel, between the thin oxide layer and the bulk semiconductor body which controls the resistance of the device from source to drain. They used electrically detected magnetic resonance (EDMR) to detect defects in the channel. To focus exclusively on activity in the channel, researchers use a technique called bipolar amplification effect (BAE). The parameter of importance is the interface defect density, which is a number that describes how many defects are within some area of the semiconductor-oxide interface. The BAE […]
Research on levitating oil droplets may help reduce air pollution
Phys.org October 13, 2021 Unsaturated fatty acids contribute to urban cooking emissions and sea spray aerosols. The phase state of organic aerosols is a significant factor in determining aerosol reactivity, water uptake and atmospheric lifetime with wide implications for cloud formation, climate, air quality and human health. Researchers in the UK studied physical and chemical changes in crystalline acid–soap complex in acoustically levitated oleic acid–sodium oleate particles during exposure to humidity and the atmospheric oxidant ozone. It revealed a phase gradient consisting of a disordered liquid crystalline shell and crystalline core. Ozonolysis is significantly slower in the crystalline phase compared […]
Storing data as mixtures of fluorescent dyes
Science Daily October 13, 2021 A team of researchers in the US (Harvard University, Northwestern University) has shown that digital data can be stored in mixtures of fluorescent dye molecules, which are deposited on a surface by inkjet printing, where an amide bond tethers the dye molecules to the surface. A microscope equipped with a multichannel fluorescence detector distinguishes individual dyes in the mixture. The presence or absence of these molecules in the mixture encodes binary information (0 or 1). The use of mixtures of molecules, instead of sequence-defined macromolecules, minimizes the time and difficulty of synthesis and eliminates the […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of October 8, 2021
01. Induced flaws in quantum materials could enhance superconducting properties 02. ‘Liquid’ light shows social behaviour 03. New laser meets demanding requirements for driving cutting-edge attosecond light sources 04. New ‘risk triage’ platform pinpoints compounding threats to US infrastructure 05. New type of magnetism unveiled in an iconic material 06. Optically generated quantum fluids of light reveal exotic matter-wave states in condensed matter physics 07. Our DNA is becoming the world’s tiniest hard drive 08. Researchers reach quantum networking milestone in real-world environment 09. Skyrmion research: Braids of nanovortices discovered 10. Smuggling light through opaque materials And others… AI may […]
AI may predict the next virus to jump from animals to humans
Science Daily September 28, 2021 Researchers in the UK developed machine learning models that identify candidate zoonoses solely using signatures of host range encoded in viral genomes. Within a dataset of 861 viral species with known zoonotic status, their approach outperformed models based on the phylogenetic relatedness of viruses to known human-infecting viruses distinguishing high-risk viruses within families that contain a minority of human-infecting species. The model predictions suggested the existence of generalizable features of viral genomes that are independent of virus taxonomic relationships and that may preadapt viruses to infect humans. Their model reduced a second set of 645 […]
Biothreat Detection Module Will Help Assess Capacity to Detect Agro-Terrorism
Global Biodefense October 1, 2021 The growing concern of countries to prepare against potential agro-terrorism and agro-crime has led to the launch of a joint OIE, FAO and INTERPOL project in 2019 to build resilience against agro-terrorism and agro-crime targeting animal health with the financial support of the Weapons Threat Reduction Programme of Global Affairs Canada. The project will use the FAO Surveillance Evaluation Tool (SET) and its new Biothreat Detection Module to evaluate beneficiary countries’ capacities to detect criminal or terrorist animal health events. An international team of researchers (Italy, France) describes the development of the new SET Biothreat […]
In first, ocean drone captures footage from inside hurricane
Phys.org October 1, 2021 US scientists on Thursday piloted a camera-equipped ocean drone called “Saildrone” that looks like a robotic surfboard into a Category 4 hurricane barreling across the Atlantic Ocean. Dramatic footage released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed the small craft battling 50-feet high waves and winds of over 120 mph inside Hurricane Sam. Powered by wind and 23 feet in length, it carries a specially designed “hurricane wing,” designed to withstand punishing conditions as it collects data to help scientists learn more about one of Earth’s most destructive forces. Saildrone’s website indicates it can record […]
Induced flaws in quantum materials could enhance superconducting properties
Science Daily October 4, 2021 The properties of quantum materials are commonly tuned using experimental variables such as pressure, magnetic field, and doping. An international team of researchers (USA – University of Minnesota, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Croatia, China) has shown that compressive plastic deformation induces low-dimensional superconductivity well above the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of undeformed SrTiO3, with evidence of possible superconducting correlations at temperatures two orders of magnitude above the bulk Tc. The enhanced superconductivity is correlated with the appearance of self-organized dislocation structures. They observed deformation-induced signatures of quantum-critical ferroelectric fluctuations and inhomogeneous ferroelectric […]
‘Liquid’ light shows social behaviour
Phys.org October 7, 2021 Researchers in the Netherlands investigated the Bose-Einstein condensation of a photonic Bose gas in an environment with controlled dissipation and feedback. They created a micro-size mirror with channels in which photons flow like a liquid. They showed that by adjusting their frequency Bose-Einstein condensates naturally try to avoid particle loss and destructive interference in their environment. Their experiments revealed physical mechanisms involved in the formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate, which typically remain hidden when the system is close to thermal equilibrium. They demonstrated the effect even at room temperature. Their measurements offer a highly systematic picture […]
New laser meets demanding requirements for driving cutting-edge attosecond light sources
Phys.org October 1, 2021 Researchers in Germany have combined a fiber-laser system with multi-pass cells to create a laser with a combination of few-cycle pulses at high average power, pulse energy and repetition rate and with stable carrier envelope phase (CEP) operation. The system coherently combines eight amplifier channels. It emits 300-fs pulses that are then compressed down to the few-cycle regime using two multi-pass cells. The first multi-pass cell uses standard dielectric mirrors and the second cell uses metal-based mirrors. With further improvements, they hope to achieve less than 300 mrad of CEP noise. The laser system opens new […]