Nanowerk April 29, 2020 Controlling the interactions at the interface of a magnetic/topological insulator heterostructure is an outstanding challenge with implications in fundamental science and technology. An international team of researchers (Spain, Switzerland, Italy) has shown that it is possible to tune the interfacial interaction without quenching the molecular spin and the topological surface state of the topological insulator by choosing suitable organic ligands. They found that CoTBrPP and CoPc monolayers (metal-organic molecules) adsorbed on Bi2Te3 (topological insulator) form robust interfaces where electronic interactions can be tuned without strongly perturbing the intrinsic properties of each constituent. Their conclusions are supported […]
The most promising strategies for defeating coronavirus: A review study
EurekAlert April 24, 2020 To help focus the global search for a treatment, researchers at the University of North Carolina provide a comprehensive resource of possible lines of attack against SARS-Cov-2 and related coronaviruses, including the results from all preclinical and clinical trials so far on vaccines against SARS and MERS. They discuss one-by-one the possible strategies against the coronavirus. Among most effective are vaccines. The most successful are likely to carry the Receptor Binding Domain (of the virus’s S-protein), which allows it to bind to and fuse with host cells. The authors discuss a range of options from fusion […]
New metasurface laser produces world’s first super-chiral light
EurekAlert April 27, 2020 An international team of researchers (South Africa, USA – Harvard University, Singapore) has developed a new laser to produce any desired chiral state of light, with full control over both angular momentum (AM) components of light, the spin (polarisation) and orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light. They designed a new nanometer-sized metasurface made up of many tiny rods of nanomaterial within the laser, which alters the light as it passes through. The light passes through the metasurface many times, receiving a new twist every time it does so resulting in the generation of new forms of […]
Office of Naval Research Global launches $750K challenge
Asia Research News April 24, 2020 The Office of Naval Research Global (ONR Global) seeks to foster relationships with the international science community, building long-lasting partnerships around the globe. Under that premise, the command has launched Global-X, a nine-month international science challenge worth up to $750,000 USD to encourage groundbreaking research from all around the world. ONR Global is interested in receiving white papers and proposals on the following challenge topics: 1. Tailored Material and Manufacturing; 2. Multifunctional Maritime Films for Persistent and Survivable Platforms and Warfighters; 3. Object Detection and Identification in any Medium (Air, Water, Sand/Earth). Researchers from […]
Photonic metasurfaces provide a new playground for twistronics
Phys.org April 27, 2020 Hyperbolic metasurfaces (HMTSs) are known to support confined surface waves collimated toward specific directions determined by the metasurface dispersion. By rotating two evanescently coupled HMTSs with respect to one another, an international team of researchers (USA – University of New York, UT Austin, Singapore) unveil rich dispersion engineering, topological transitions at magic angles, broadband field canalization, and plasmon spin-Hall phenomena. These findings open remarkable opportunities to advance metasurface optics, enriching it with moiré physics and twistronic concepts…read more. TECHNICAL ARRTICLE
Stretchable lithium-ion battery is based on new micro-honeycomb structure
Nanowerk April 29, 2020 In stretchable batteries the electrodes must have a degree of stretchability because the active materials occupy most of the volume, and the separator and packaging should also be stretchable. Researchers in South Korea have developed an all-component stretchable lithium-ion battery by leveraging the structural stretchability of re-entrant micro-honeycomb graphene–carbon nanotube (CNT)/active material composite electrodes and a physically cross-linked gel electrolyte, without using an inactive elastomeric substrate or matrix. Active materials interconnected via the entangled CNT and graphene sheets provided a mechanically stable porous network framework consisting solely of binder-free, highly conductive materials which provided superior electron […]
UCF researchers develop groundbreaking new rocket-propulsion system
EurekAlert April 30, 2020 A team of researchers in the US (University of Central Florida. industry, Air Force Research Laboratory) presents experimental evidence of continuous detonation in a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) powered by H2/O2 propellants. High-speed chemiluminescence imaging is used to characterize the detonation wave dynamics by introducing a tracer in the hydrogen fuel flow. The results show continuous five-wave co-rotating detonations at various equivalence ratios and flow rates demonstrating the potential for H2/O2 propellant based RDREs for upper-stage rocket engines…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Unlocking promising properties to create future technologies
EurekAlert April 30, 2020 The manifestation of quantization in macroscopic physical systems has showcased important quantum phenomena, such as quantized conductance in (fractional) quantum Hall effects and quantized vortices in superconductors. An international team of researchers (USA – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Florida State University, UT Dallas, Arizona State University, Japan, Hong Kong) reported the experimental observation of quantized exciton energies in a macroscopic system with strong Coulomb interaction, monolayer WSe2 crystal under a strong magnetic field. This work demonstrates the optical version of the QHE for excitons, and the researchers believe it will open the door for further discovery and […]
‘Wobble’ may precede some great earthquakes
Science Daily April 29, 2020 The land masses of Japan shifted from east to west to east again in the months before the strongest earthquake in the country’s recorded history, a 2011 magnitude-9 earthquake. An international team of researchers (Germany, Chile, USA- Ohio State University) analyzed the “wobble,” may have the potential to alert seismologists to greater risk of future large subduction-zone earthquakes. The imperceptible movement was obvious in data recorded by more than 1,000 GPS stations distributed throughout Japan, in the months leading up to the March 11 Tohoku-oki earthquake. They saw a reversing shift in the land — […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of April 24, 2020
01. Researchers identify cells likely targeted by Covid-19 virus 02. A breakthrough in estimating the size of a (mostly hidden) network 03. Wide-band-gap semiconductors could harvest sunlight underwater 04. Electrical manipulation of magnetic particle allows for large high-speed memory 05. Photonic microwave generation using on-chip optical frequency combs 06. Quantum entanglement offers unprecedented precision for GPS, imaging and beyond 07. Toward a more energy-efficient spintronics 08. Drones Use Radio Waves to Recharge Sensors While in Flight 09. New ‘brick’ for nanotechnology: Graphene Nanomesh 10. Unprecedented 3D images of live cells plus details of molecules inside And others… Aquaculture at the […]