Science Alert December 1, 2020 Magnetic ring vortices were predicted over 20 years ago in 1998. An international team of researchers (UK, Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia) have found vortex rings inside a tiny pillar made of the magnetic material gadolinium-cobalt intermetallic compound GdCo2. They developed an X-ray nanotomography technique to image the three-dimensional magnetization structure inside a GdCo2 bulk magnet. The vortices were paired with their topological counterparts, antivortices. They also found closed magnetic loops present in vortex-antivortex pairs. After computationally analysing these structures in the context of magnetic vorticity they figured out these were doughnut-shaped ring vortices, intersected by magnetization […]
Quantum nanodiamonds may help detect disease earlier
Science Daily November 25, 2020 Researchers in the UK investigated fluorescent nanodiamonds as an ultrasensitive label for in vitro diagnostics, using a microwave field to modulate emission intensity and frequency-domain analysis to separate the signal from background autofluorescence, which typically limits sensitivity. Focusing on the widely used, low-cost lateral flow format as an exemplar, they achieved a detection limit of 8.2 × 10−19 molar for a biotin–avidin model, 105 times more sensitive than that obtained using gold nanoparticles. Single-copy detection of HIV-1 RNA can be achieved with the addition of a 10-minute isothermal amplification step. This ultrasensitive quantum diagnostics platform […]
Researchers fabricate co-doped aluminosilicate fiber with high laser stability for multi-kW level laser
Phys.org November 27, 2020 Fiber fabrication technology have led to an exponential increase in the output power of CW fiber lasers. However, with further scaling the output power, photodarkening (PD) is the critical limit factor for long-term laser reliability under multi kW level output power. Researchers in China demonstrated stable performance in fiber fabricated the Yb/Ce codoped aluminosilicate laser. The molar ratio of Ce/Yb was designed and optimized to be 0.58 for low background loss, effective photodarkening suppression, and no additional thermal load. The background loss of was 4.7 dB/km and its photodarkening loss at equilibrium was as low as 3.9 […]
Self-repairing gelatin-based film could be a smart move for electronics
Phys.org December 2, 2020 Self-repairing films have been developed, but most only work a single time, and some are made with potentially harmful agents that curtail their use in biomedical applications. Researchers in Taiwan mixed gelatin and glucose to create a flexible film that they sandwiched between conductive material to simulate an electronic device. After bending the simulated electronic device, the team saw breaks in the gelatin-glucose film disappear within three hours at room temperature and within 10 minutes when warmed to 140 F. Gelatin without glucose did not self-repair under the same conditions. The glucose-based gelatin also transferred an […]
Titanium atom that exists in two places at once in crystal to blame for unusual phenomenon
Science Daily December 3, 2020 The crystalline solid BaTiS3 (barium titanium sulfide) is terrible at conducting heat. An international team of researchers (Caltech, University of Southern California, Stanford University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Washington University, Wright Patterson AFB, Argonne National Laboratory, South Korea) found that a wayward titanium atom that exists in two places at the same time is to blame. It provides a fundamental atomic-level insight into an unusual thermal property that has been observed in several materials. The work is of particular interest to researchers who are exploring the potential use of crystalline solids with poor thermal conductivity […]
Ultrathin spray-applied MXene antennas are ready for 5G
Science Daily November 30, 2020 Only conventional metals meet the requirements for emerging RF devices so far. A team of researchers in the US (Drexel University, Villanova University, industry) has developed Ti3C2Tx MXene microstrip transmission lines with low‐energy attenuation and patch antennas with high‐power radiation at frequencies from 5.6 to 16.4 GHz. The antenna was manufactured by spray‐coating from aqueous solution. They demonstrated that an MXene patch antenna array with integrated feeding circuits on a conformal surface has comparable performance with that of a copper antenna array at 28 GHz, which is a target frequency in practical 5G applications. The […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of November 27, 2020
01. Research creates hydrogen-producing living droplets, paving way for alternative future energy source 02. Researchers decipher structure of promising battery materials 03. Researchers invent broad-band tunable terahertz absorber 04. Self-diagnostic carbon nanocomposites 05. This Weird, Cheap Quantum Device Can Run For a Year With a Single Kick of Energy 06. Improving quantum dot interactions, one layer at a time 07. Grabbing Viruses Out of Thin Air 08. Detecting bacteria with fluorescent nanosensors 09. Shift in atmospheric rivers could affect Antarctic sea ice, glaciers 10. Topological mechanical metamaterials go beyond Newton’s third law And others… German Sachsen Frigate to Test a […]
Detecting bacteria with fluorescent nanosensors
Nanowerk November 25, 2020 Researchers in Germany developed a set of near infrared fluorescent nanosensors are based on single-walled carbon nanotubes that fluoresce in the NIR optical tissue transparency window which offers ultra-low background and high tissue penetration. They are chemically tailored to detect released metabolites as well as specific virulence factors and integrated into functional hydrogel arrays with 9 different sensors. These hydrogels are exposed to clinical isolates of 6 important bacteria and remote (≥25 cm) NIR imaging allows to identify and distinguish bacteria. Sensors are also spectrally encoded to differentiate the two major pathogens P. aeruginosa as well as […]
German Sachsen Frigate to Test a New Naval Laser Weapon
Defense Update November 26, 2020 The laser source demonstrator can be employed in various projects to study military applications of high-power laser. The first project of the new laser will be a trial phase onboard the F219 Sachsen Class – the lead ship of this class. It consists of twelve nearly identical 2kW fiber laser modules with close to diffraction-limited beam quality. A beam combiner – a subassembly that turns multiple beams into a single beam through dielectric grid technology – couples the twelve fiber-laser beams to form a single laser beam with excellent beam quality. Spectral coupling technology offers […]
Grabbing Viruses Out of Thin Air
Asia Research News November 25, 2020 An international team of researchers (Japan, China, UK) review the state of the art of research on biosensor materials for virus detection. Topics covered include a general description of the principles for virus detection, a critique of the experimental work dedicated to various virus sensors, a summary of their detection limitations. They examined the piezoelectric sensors used for the detection of human papilloma, vaccinia, dengue, Ebola, influenza A, human immunodeficiency, and hepatitis B viruses. Magnetostrictive sensors for the detection of bacterial spores, proteins, and classical swine fever are covered. Progress related to early detection […]