Phys.org October 12, 2020 A team of researchers in the US (New York University, University of Puerto Rico) heated the commercially available form of deltamethrin to 110°C/230°F for a few minutes and let it cool to room temperature; this resulted in a new crystallized form of deltamethrin, composed of long, tiny fibers radiating from a single point. When mosquitoes step on insecticide crystals, the insecticide is absorbed through their feet and, if effective, kills the mosquitoes. In tests the new form was up to 12 times more effective against mosquitoes than the existing form. The new form also remained stable—and […]
Chilling Report Suggests 1 Out of 5 Countries Could Be Headed For Ecosystem Collapse
Science Alert October 15, 2020 The world’s wealth is built on our planet’s natural ecosystems, and if those collapse, so too might our global economy, experts warn. The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Index published by the Swiss Re Institute has found just over half of all global GDP – nearly 42 trillion US dollars – is dependent on goods and services provided by the natural world. The index was designed to give governments and businesses a benchmark for the state of local ecosystems important to their economies, in the hope that the data can help inform relevant insurance solutions for […]
The current state of space debris
Phys.org October 12, 2020 According to the ESA Annual Space Environment Report the number of debris objects, their combined mass, and the total area they take up has been steadily increasing since the beginning of the space age. This is further fueled by a large number of in-orbit break-ups of spacecraft and rocket stages. ESA is developing and providing technologies to make debris prevention measures fail-safe through its Space Safety Program. In parallel, regulators need to monitor the status of space systems as well as global adherence to debris mitigation under their jurisdiction more closely. We can reach a sustainable use […]
Easy-to-make, ultra-low power electronics could charge out of thin air
Nanowerk October 14, 2020 An international team of researchers (China, UK, Saudi Arabia) has developed a technology that delivers high-performance electronic circuits based on thin-film transistors which are ‘ambipolar’ in deep subthreshold region. The ‘deep-subthreshold ambipolar’ refers to unprecedented ultra-low operating voltages and power consumption levels. They created printed electronics that meet the power and voltage requirements of real-world applications and opened opportunities for remote sensing and ‘place-and-forget’ devices that can operate without batteries for their entire lifetime. The ultra-low-power printed electronics are simple and cost-effective to manufacture. It can be scaled up to make inexpensive battery-less devices that could […]
Geologists solve puzzle that could predict valuable rare earth element deposits
Science Daily October 9, 2020 Carbonatites and associated rocks are the main source of rare earth elements (REEs). REE mineralization occurs in hydrothermal assemblages within or near carbonatites, suggesting aqueous transport of REE. An international team of researchers (UK, Australia) conducted experiments from 1200°C and 1.5 GPa to 200°C and 0.2 GPa using light and heavy REE, crystallizing fluorapatite intergrown with calcite through dolomite to ankerite. All experiments contained solutions with anions previously thought to mobilize REE (chloride, fluoride, and carbonate), but REEs were extensively soluble only when alkalis were present. Dysprosium was more soluble than lanthanum when alkali complexed. […]
How exactly do we spread droplets as we talk? Engineers found out.
Technology Org October 13, 2020 Using high-speed imaging an international team of researchers (France, USA – Princeton University) has shown how phonation of common stop consonants, found in most of the world’s spoken languages, form and extend salivary filaments in a few milliseconds as moist lips open or when the tongue separates from the teeth. Both saliva viscoelasticity and airflow associated with the plosion of stop consonants are essential for stabilizing and subsequently forming centimeter-scale thin filaments, tens of microns in diameter, that break into speech droplets. The plosive consonants induce vortex rings that drive meter-long transport of exhaled air, […]
Liquid metals come to the rescue of semiconductors
EurekAlert October 11, 2020 In theory the two-dimensional materials can result in transistors that do not waste energy during their on/off switching. However, one of the barriers with the current technologies is that the deposited ultra-thin films are full of grain boundaries so that the charge carriers are bounced back from them and hence the resistive loss increases. An international team of researchers (Australia, UCLA) has developed a new method to eliminate grain boundaries using gallium metal in its liquid state. With its low melting point (29.8 deg C) its surface is atomically smooth when melted providing many free electrons […]
A milestone in quantum physics: Physicists successfully carry out the controlled transport of stored light
Nanowerk October 13, 2020 Quantum memories for light, realized with cold atomic samples as the storage medium, are prominent for their high storage efficiencies and lifetime. Researchers in Germany used ultra-cold rubidium-87 atoms as a storage medium for the light as to achieve a high level of storage efficiency and a long lifetime. They transported the stored light over 1.2 mm. They showed that the transport process and its dynamics only have a minor effect on the coherence of the storage. Extending the presented concept to longer transport distances and augmenting the number of storage sections will allow for the […]
Now you see it, now you don’t: Hidden colours discovered by coincidence
Phys.org October 15, 2020 Unusual structural colors are demonstrated in thin‐film coatings due to a combination of optical interference and light scattering effects. These vivid colors are concealed under ambient illumination but can be observed when light is reflected from the film surface. An international team of researchers (Australia, China, Germany) explored the origin of the effect computationally and showed that, in thin‐films of lossless dielectrics coated on near‐perfect conductors, incident electromagnetic waves form standing waves. Electric field intensities at the thin film interfaces are maximized for wavelengths that fulfil destructive interference conditions, while nanoscale roughness can enhance scattering at […]
Room-temperature superconductor? Rochester lab sets new record toward long-sought goal
University of Rochester October 14, 2020 A team of researchers in the US (University of Rochester, industry, University of Nevada) reported superconductivity in a photochemically transformed carbonaceous sulfur hydride system, starting from elemental precursors, with a maximum superconducting transition temperature of 287.7 ± 1.2 kelvin (about 15 degrees Celsius) achieved at 267 ± 10 gigapascals. The superconducting state was observed over a broad pressure range in the diamond anvil cell. Superconductivity was established by the observation of zero resistance, a magnetic susceptibility of up to 190 gigapascals, and reduction of the transition temperature under an external magnetic field of up […]