Science Daily April 21, 2021 The process developed by a team of researchers in the US (UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UMass Amherst) involves embedding polyester-eating enzymes in the plastic as it is made. When exposed to heat and water, an enzyme starts chomping the plastic polymer into its building blocks. In the case of biodegradable plastics, which are made primarily of the polyester known as polylactic acid, or PLA, it reduces it to lactic acid that can feed the soil microbes in compost. The polymer wrapping also degrades. The process eliminates microplastics, a byproduct of many chemical degradation […]
New tech builds ultralow-loss integrated photonic circuits
Phys.org April 16, 2021 Researchers in Switzerland have developed a new technology for building silicon nitride integrated photonic circuits with record low optical losses and small footprints. They used Damascene process to make integrated circuits of optical losses of only 1 dB/m. Such low loss significantly reduces the power budget for building chip-scale optical frequency combs (“microcombs”), used in applications like coherent optical transceivers, low-noise microwave synthesizers, LiDAR, neuromorphic computing, and even optical atomic clocks. The team used the new technology to develop meter-long waveguides on 5×5 mm2 chips and high-quality-factor microresonators. They also report high fabrication yield, which is […]
Researcher uses bat-inspired design to develop new approach to sound location
Science Daily April 15, 2021 Inspired by the bat ears, researchers at Virginia Tech designed a soft-robotic sensor that mimics fast non-rigid deformation of the ears in bats. They placed the ear above a microphone, creating a mechanism similar to that of a bat. The fast motions of the fluttering outer ear of the bat created Doppler shift signatures. To interpret this complex pattern, they trained a computer to provide the source direction associated with each received echo using deep neural network. Once the direction of the sound was determined, the control computer would rotate the rig so that the […]
Study shows how some bacteria withstand antibiotic onslaught
Phys.org April 20, 2021 Bacteria that survive antibiotics, called persisters. Researchers at Princeton University explored how the number of DNA copies in a cell affects whether a cell persists despite exposure to DNA-damaging antibiotics called fluoroquinolones. The study confirmed the researchers’ expectation that bacteria with backup chromosomal copies of DNA proved to be persisters at a much greater rate than cells with just one copy. The experiments revealed a second and separate pathway to persistence in cells with a lone DNA copy. Unlike fully antibiotic resistant “superbugs,” persisters do not possess mutated genes; in fact, persisters are genetically identical to […]
Surpassing the lower limit on computing energy consumption
Phys.org April 20, 2021 Researchers in Australia have confirmed the potential for topological materials to substantially reduce the energy consumed by computing. They demonstrated that the subthreshold swing of a topological transistor in which conduction is enabled by a topological phase transition via electric field switching, can be sizably reduced in a noninteracting system by modulating the Rashba spin–orbit interaction. By developing a theoretical framework for quantum spin Hall materials with honeycomb lattices, they showed that the Rashba interaction can reduce the subthreshold swing by more than 25% compared to Boltzmann’s limit in currently available materials but without any fundamental […]
Using sound waves to make patterns that never repeat
Phys.org April 14, 2021 Crystals have been shown to be stiffer than similar periodic or disordered materials and conduct electricity. Researchers at the University of Utah have shown how ultrasound waves can organize carbon particles in water resulting in “quasicrystals” with custom magnetic or electrical properties. They experimentally demonstrated this by using ultrasound waves to assemble quasiperiodic patterns of carbon nanoparticles in water using an octagonal arrangement of ultrasound transducers, and documented good agreement between theory and experiments. The theory also applies to obtaining quasiperiodic patterns in other situations where particles move with linear waves, such as optical lattices. According […]
With impressive accuracy, dogs can sniff out coronavirus
Phys.org April 15, 2021 In a proof-of-concept study a team of researchers in the US (U Penn, industry) utilized detection dogs to investigate whether SARS-CoV-2 positive urine and saliva patient samples had a unique odor signature. Using detergent-inactivated urine samples, dogs were initially trained to find samples collected from hospitalized patients confirmed with SARS-CoV-2 infection, while ignoring samples collected from controls. Dogs were then tested on their ability to spontaneously recognize heat-treated urine samples as well as heat-treated saliva from hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 positive patients. Dogs successfully discriminated between infected and uninfected urine samples, regardless of the inactivation protocol, as well […]
World’s fastest exfoliation of material has potential use for photoactuator production
Phys.org April 19, 2021 Researchers in Japan found that under irradiation with UV light crystals of a photochromic diarylethene peels off into micrometer sized crystals at a speed of 260 microseconds. These crystals can be potentially applied to macroscopic photomechanical actuators rapidly driven based on molecular machinery. As the material returns to its former molecular structure when exposed to visible light, the exfoliation method positions itself as a candidate for photoactuator manufacturing. A machine made up of photoactuators would not need direct contact with the power source to move. Among its many possible functions, it could be accurately manipulated within […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of April 16, 2021
01. New laser to help clear the sky of space debris 02. Anti-reflective films: What high-tech can learn from plants 03. Counting single photons at unprecedented rates 04. Discovery could help lengthen lifespan of electronic devices 05. Scientists watch 2D puddles of electrons emerge in a 3D superconducting material 06. Researchers establish the first entanglement-based quantum network 07. Ocean bacteria release carbon into the atmosphere 08. Transforming circles into squares 09. Scientists discover three liquid phases in aerosol particles 10. Superbug killer: New nanotechnology destroys bacteria and fungal cells And others… After COVID, are billions in biodefense funds needed to […]
After COVID, are billions in biodefense funds needed to deter US adversaries?
Defense News April 9, 2021 According to a new report from the Council on Strategic Risks, the U.S. Defense Department should dramatically increase funding for biological defense initiatives to at least $2 billion in the next year followed by increasing it to a range of $6.5 billion to $7 billion annually in the coming years. It will deter other nations from seeking to exploit America’s perceived vulnerability to a medical crisis. Key investment areas should include nucleic-acid based therapeutics, field-and-clinic deployable early-detection technology that can identify any pathogen by reading its genetic material and expanding international cooperation on biodefense issues […]