Science Daily January 8, 2020 To enable antennas to operate at higher frequencies allow higher bandwidths and smaller footprints directional antennas have to be shrunk to nanometre scale. Researchers in Germany demonstrated electrically driven Yagi-Uda antennas for light with wavelength-scale footprints that exhibit large directionalities with forward-to-backward ratios of up to 9.1 dB. Light generation is achieved via antenna-enhanced inelastic tunneling of electrons over the antenna feed gap. They obtained reproducible tunnel gaps by means of feedback-controlled dielectrophoresis to precisely place single surface-passivated gold nanoparticles in the antenna gap. The resulting antennas performed equivalent to radio-frequency antennas and outperformed RF designs. […]
Nanomaterial fabric destroys nerve agents in battlefield-relevant conditions
Phys.org January 8, 2020 A team of researchers in the US (Northwestern University, US Army – Aberdeen) has developed a generalizable and scalable approach for integrating MOFs and non-volatile polymeric bases onto textile fibers for nerve agent hydrolysis. The composite material showed similar reactivity under ambient conditions compared to the powder material in aqueous alkaline solution. This represents a critical step toward a unified strategy for nerve agent hydrolysis in practical settings, which can significantly reduce the dimensions of filters and increase the efficiency of protective suits. The material could be integrated into protective suits and face masks for use […]
New method gives robust transistors
Science Daily January 7, 2020 The combination of gallium nitride and silicon carbide ensures that the circuits are suitable for applications in which high powers are needed. However, the fit at the surface end up mismatched with each other, which leads to failure of the transistor. The problem was addressed by placing aluminium nitride between the two layers. An international team of researchers (Sweden, France) discovered a previously unknown epitaxial growth mechanism that they have named “transmorphic epitaxial growth.” It causes the strain between the different layers to be gradually absorbed across a couple of layers of atoms allowing grow […]
Next generation wound gel treats and prevents infections
Science Daily January 8, 2020 An international team of researchers (Sweden, Denmark) has developed a hydrogel based on the body’s natural peptide defense. It has been shown to prevent and treat infections in wounds and reduce inflammation. The formulation kills multi-resistant bacteria and prevents as well as treats wound infections. They are looking into the possibility of developing new peptide-based drugs for eye infections and infections in other internal organs. It could become a new way of treating both infection and inflammation without using antibiotics…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Outbreak science: Infectious disease research leads to outbreak predictions
Science Daily January 8, 2020 An international team of researchers (Finland, USA – Georgetown University, Canada) used information from the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network (GIDEON) data resource to develop a simple approach to accurately predict disease outbreaks by combining novel statistical techniques and a large dataset on pathogen biogeography (spatial distribution of pathogens across the globe). The approach takes pairwise dissimilarities between countries’ pathogen communities and pathogens’ geographical distributions and uses these to predict country–pathogen associations. They compare the success rates of their model for predicting pathogen outbreak, emergence and re-emergence potential as a function of time…read more. […]
Researchers build a particle accelerator that fits on a chip
Science Daily January 2, 2020 The size and cost of conventional radio-frequency accelerators limit the utility and reach of this technology. Dielectric laser accelerators (DLAs) provide a compact and cost-effective solution to this problem by driving accelerator nanostructures with visible or near-infrared pulsed lasers, resulting in a 104 reduction of scale. A team of researchers in the US (Stanford University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) present an experimental demonstration of a waveguide-integrated DLA that was designed using a photonic inverse-design approach. By comparing the measured electron energy spectra with particle-tracking simulations, they inferred a maximum energy gain of 0.915 kilo–electron volts […]
Researchers develop universal flu vaccine that protects against 6 influenza viruses in mice
EurekAlert January 7, 2020 Researchers at Georgia State University have developed a nanoparticle vaccine which combines two major influenza proteins that is effective in providing broad, long-lasting protection against influenza virus in mice, showing promise as a universal flu vaccine. The double-layered nanoparticle vaccine contains the influenza virus proteins matrix protein 2 ectodomain and neuraminidase. Mice were immunized with the nanoparticle vaccine before being exposed to influenza virus, and they were protected against six different strains of the virus…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Scientists find new way to sustainably make chemicals by copying nature’s tricks
EurekAlert January 6, 2020 Plants and microorganisms naturally biosynthesize chemicals that often are converted into derivatives with reduced toxicity or enhanced solubility. As a proof of principle, researchers in the UK used genetic engineering to program E. coli and cyanobacteria to make 1-octanol, a chemical currently used in perfumes, which is toxic to the bacteria. They then added an extra set of instructions to E. coli so it would produce two different derivatives of 1-octanol that are both less harmful. The researchers say if this were to be scaled up for industrial systems the engineered bacteria would produce the non-toxic […]
Supercharging tomorrow: Monash develops world’s most efficient lithium-sulfur battery
EurekAlert January 3, 2020 Lithium-sulfur batteries can displace lithium-ion by delivering higher specific energy. Presently, however, the superior energy performance fades rapidly when the sulfur electrode is loaded to the required levels—5 to 10 mg cm−2— due to substantial volume change of lithiation/delithiation and the resultant stresses. An international team of researchers (Australia, Belgium, Germany) found an approach that places minimum amounts of a high-modulus binder between neighboring particles, leaving increased space for material expansion and ion diffusion. These expansion-tolerant electrodes with loadings up to 15 mg cm−2 yield high gravimetric (>1200 mA·hour g−1) and areal (19 mA·hour cm−2) capacities. […]
U.S. R&D Increased by $32 Billion in 2017, to $548 billion; Estimate for 2018 Indicates a Further Rise to $580 billion
NSF News January 8, 2020 New data from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation indicate that research and experimental development performed in the United States totaled $547.9 billion in 2017. The estimated total for 2018, based on performer-reported expectations, is $580.0 billion. These numbers compare with U.S. R&D totals of $493.7 billion in 2015 and $406.6 billion in 2010. The U.S. R&D system consists of the activities of a diverse group of R&D performers and sources of funding. Included here are private businesses, the federal government, nonfederal governments, higher education institutions, and […]