Phys.org December 21, 2021 The motion of conductive seawater by tsunamis can generate magnetic fields in the presence of the background geomagnetic main field. Previous studies found that, using the tsunami-generated seafloor magnetic field, it is possible to predict the propagation direction and wave height prior to the actual arrivals of tsunamis. In this study researchers in Japan correlate the tsunami magnetic field and the tsunami sea level change using observed data and three-dimensional simulations of the 2009 Samoa and 2010 Chile tsunamis. Their direct comparison of the tsunami observed magnetic field and tsunami sea level change illustrated that the […]
US approach to research security threatens scientific enterprise, says new report
Phys.org December 20, 2021 According to a new report by the American Physical Society (APS) titled “Impact of US Research Security Policies: US Security and the Benefits of Open Science and International Collaborations,” the US federal government’s current approach to research security concerns is causing a significant number of researchers to feel unwelcome in the United States, leading them to consider taking their talents to other countries. For the US to remain a global leader in science and technology, the nation must provide an environment that encourages open science and the free exchange of information and be a destination of choice […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of December 17, 2021
01. ‘Crazy’ light emitters: Physicists see an unusual quantum phenomenon 02. Discovery of ‘split’ photon provides a new way to see light 03. Quantum algorithms bring ions to a standstill 04. A quantum view of ‘combs’ of light 05. How organic neuromorphic electronics can think and act 06. Innovative silicon nanochip can reprogram biological tissue in living body 07. Success in visualizing the propagation path of electromagnetic waves from space to ground 08. Unbreakable bionic glove made from silk for human-machine-interfacing 09. Innovative textile vents to release heat when you sweat 10. A step toward “living biotherapeutics” And others… DARPA […]
‘Crazy’ light emitters: Physicists see an unusual quantum phenomenon
Nanowerk December 14, 2021 An international team of researchers (Germany, USA – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Sweden, Japan) has visualized the rapid movement of excitons in atomically thin semiconductors using highly sensitive optical microscopy. First, they applied a short laser pulse to the material and then used an ultrafast detector to observe when and where the light was reemitted. They found the excitons to move in opposite directions at the same time. The only possible explanation was that the excitons would occasionally move through closed loops in opposite directions at the same time. Such behavior was in fact known from […]
Discovery of ‘split’ photon provides a new way to see light
Nanowerk December 13, 2021 Bosons, such as photons, tend to bunch together unlike fermions. Thus it was natural for researchers to assume that splitting bosons would be an insurmountable task. According to a team of researchers in the US (Dartmouth College, SUNY Polytechnic Institute) the interplay between dynamical metastability and nontrivial bulk topology makes possible emergence of Majorana bosons. This leads to a distinctive form of topological metastability, whereby a conserved Majorana boson localized on one edge is paired, in general, with a symmetry generator localized on the opposite edge. They argue that Majorana bosons are robust against disorder and […]
DARPA Successfully Transitions Synthetic Biomanufacturing Technologies to Support National Security Objectives
DARPA December 8, 2021 The Living Foundries program was launched in 2010 to enable adaptable, scalable, and on-demand production of critical, high-value molecules by programming the fundamental metabolic processes of biological systems to generate a vast number of complex molecules. As a proof of concept, DARPA intended to produce 1,000 molecules and material precursors spanning a wide range of defense-relevant applications including industrial chemicals, fuels, coatings, and adhesives. The performer teams collectively have produced over 1630 molecules and materials to-date, and DARPA is transitioning a subset of these technologies to five military research teams from Army, Navy, and Air Force […]
How organic neuromorphic electronics can think and act
Science Daily December 13, 2021 In living organisms, sensory and motor processes are distributed, locally merged, and capable of forming dynamic sensorimotor associations. An international team of researchers (the Netherlands, Germany, USA – Stanford University, UK, Saudi Arabia, Italy) has developed a simple and efficient organic neuromorphic circuit for local sensorimotor merging and processing on a robot that is placed in a maze. While the robot is exposed to external environmental stimuli, visuomotor associations are formed on the adaptable neuromorphic circuit. With this on-chip sensorimotor integration, the robot learns to follow a path to the exit of a maze, while […]
Innovative silicon nanochip can reprogram biological tissue in living body
Science Daily December 10, 2021 A team of researchers in the US (Indiana University, Purdue University, industry, Veterans Administration Medical Center, University of Chicago) has developed a silicon device that can change skin tissue into blood vessels and nerve cells has advanced from prototype to standardized fabrication. The technology, called tissue nano transfection, is a non-invasive nanochip device that can reprogram tissue function by applying a harmless electric spark to deliver specific genes in a fraction of a second. The nanofabrication process typically takes five to six days, and in vivo takes 30 min. In laboratory studies, the device successfully […]
Innovative textile vents to release heat when you sweat
Phys.org December 15, 20212 Researchers at Duke University have developed and demonstrated a multimodal adaptive wearable with moisture-responsive flaps composed of a nylon/metal heterostructure, which can simultaneously regulate convection, sweat evaporation, and mid-infrared emission to accomplish large and rapid heat transfer tuning in response to human perspiration vapor. They showed that the metal layer not only plays a crucial role in low-emissivity radiative heating but also enhances the bimorph actuation performance. The multimodal adaptive mechanism expands the thermal comfort zone by 30.7 and 20.7% more than traditional static textiles and single-modal adaptive wearables without any electricity and energy input, making […]
N-type conductive tin sulfide thin films: Towards environmentally friendly solar cells
Science Daily December 13, 2021 An international team of researchers (Japan, USA – National Renewable Energy Laboratory) has fabricated n-type conductive SnS thin films by impurity doping. Conventional SnS thin films are usually p-type conductive. Thus, SnS thin-film solar cells have been fabricated using a pn heterojunction with p-type SnS thin film and other n-type semiconductor thin films, such as CdS. However, the conversion efficiency of such heterojunction devices is approximately 5%. The SnS thin-film solar cells employing a pn homojunction, which uses SnS thin films for both p-type and n-type layers, is expected to exhibit higher conversion efficiency. Utilizing […]