01. Active camouflage artificial skin in visible-to-infrared range 02. Engineers combine light and sound to see underwater 03. New cyberattack can trick scientists into making toxins or viruses — Ben-Gurion University researchers 04. Oddly satisfying metamaterials store energy in their skin 05. Titanium atom that exists in two places at once in crystal to blame for unusual phenomenon 06. Quantum nanodiamonds may help detect disease earlier 07. Researchers fabricate co-doped aluminosilicate fiber with high laser stability for multi-kW level laser 08. Self-repairing gelatin-based film could be a smart move for electronics 09. Physicists Observe Trippy ‘Vortex Rings’ in a Magnetic […]
Active camouflage artificial skin in visible-to-infrared range
Phys.org December 2, 2020 Researchers in South Korea have developed a multispectral imperceptible skin that enables human skin to actively blend into the background both in the IR‐visible integrated spectrum only by simple temperature control with active cooling and heating. The thermochromic layer on the outer surface of the device, which produces various colors based on device surface temperature, expands the cloaking range to the visible spectrum and ultimately completes day‐and‐night stealth platform simply by controlling device temperature. In addition, the scalable pixelization of the device allows localized control of each autonomous pixel, enabling the artificial skin surface to adapt […]
Biodefense Headlines – 29 November 2020
Globalbiodefense November 29, 2020 This week’s selections include COVID-19 vaccination strategies; a history of nerve agents; bioethics of ‘supersoldier’ pharmacological enhancements; and digital warm-start CRISPR diagnostics…read more.
Engineers combine light and sound to see underwater
Science Daily November 30, 2020 High-resolution imaging and mapping of the ocean and its floor has been limited to less than 5% of the global waters due to technological barriers. Researchers at Stanford University present a proof-of-concept system which bridges the gap between electromagnetic imaging in air and sonar imaging in water through the laser-induced photoacoustic effect and high-sensitivity airborne ultrasonic detection. They used air-coupled capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers which is a critical differentiator from previous works and has enabled the acquisition of an underwater image from a fully airborne acoustic imaging system. There is much promise for the scalability […]
Japan spacecraft carrying asteroid soil samples nears home
Phys.org November 29, 2020 The Hayabusa2 spacecraft left the asteroid Ryugu, about 180 million miles from Earth, a year ago and is expected to reach Earth and drop a the pan-shaped capsule with a diameter of 15 inches containing the precious samples in southern Australia onto a remote, sparsely populated area on Dec. 6. It will drop the capsule containing the samples from 136,700 miles away in space, a big challenge requiring precision control. The capsule, protected by a heat shield, will turn into a fireball during re-entry in the atmosphere at 125 miles above ground. At about 6 miles […]
Mapping quantum structures with light to unlock their capabilities
Nanowerk December 4, 2020 All-optical band-structure reconstruction could directly connect electronic structure with the coveted quantum phenomena if strong light waves transported localized electrons within preselected bands. An international team of researchers (USA – University of Michigan, Germany) has shown that harmonic sideband (HSB) generation in monolayer tungsten diselenide creates distinct electronic interference combs in momentum space. Locating these momentum combs in spectroscopy enables super-resolution tomography of key band-structure details in situ. They experimentally tuned the optical-driver frequency by a full octave and showed that the predicted super-resolution manifests in a critical intensity and frequency dependence of HSBs. The concept […]
Molecules convert visible light into ultraviolet light with record efficiency
EurekAlert December 4, 2020 To directly convert visible light with wavelengths longer than 400 nm into higher-energy ultraviolet light researchers in Japan focused on triplet-triplet annihilation where triplets are formed on molecules following absorption of visible light. These “donor” molecules then give their triplets to “acceptor” molecules that can combine two triplets to create a single, higher-energy state that is released as ultraviolet light. They developed an acceptor molecule TIPS-naphthalene that has a high triplet-triplet-annihilation efficiency and a low enough triplet energy to easily accept triplets from a molecule called Ir(C6)2(acac). The combination of TIPS-naphthalene and Ir(C6)2(acac) successfully achieved the […]
New cyberattack can trick scientists into making toxins or viruses — Ben-Gurion University researchers
EurekAlert November 30, 2020 According to the researchers in Israel a malware could easily replace a short sub-string of the DNA on a bioengineer’s computer so that they unintentionally create a toxin producing sequence. To regulate both intentional and unintentional generation of dangerous substances, most synthetic gene providers screen DNA orders which is currently the most effective line of defense against such attacks. Unfortunately, the screening guidelines have not been adapted to reflect recent developments in synthetic biology and cyberwarfare. Screening protocols can be circumvented using a generic obfuscation procedure which makes it difficult for the screening software to detect […]
Oddly satisfying metamaterials store energy in their skin
Science Daily December 2, 2020 Metamaterials’ properties are controlled through structural design at the mesoscale, thus broadening the design space beyond the limits of traditional materials. An international team of researchers (USA – Purdue University, Switzerland) experimented with a family of mechanical metamaterials consisting of soft sheets and patterned array of reconfigurable bistable domes. The domes can be reversibly inverted at the local scale to generate programmable multistable shapes and tunable mechanical responses at the global scale. By 3D printing a robotic gripper with energy‐storing skin and a structure that can memorize and compute spatially‐distributed mechanical signals, they have shown […]
Once in a lifetime floods to become regular occurrences by end of century
Science Daily December 2, 2020 Based on the anticipated greenhouse gas concentration by the end of the 21st century a team of researchers in the US (Stevens Institute of Technology, Princeton University) conducted high resolution simulations for different scenarios to find the probability of different flood levels being reached, assuming emissions remain at a high level. They studied how sea level rise and hurricane climatology change would impact the area in the future due to storm surge and wave hazards. They found that the historical 100-year flood level would become a nine-year flood level by mid-century (2030-2050) and a one-year […]