EurekAlert September 30, 2019 Perovskite solar cells are still unstable due to several internal degradation factors. Most approaches for solving problems of stability and improvement of the efficiency of perovskite cells concern the optimization of the chemical composition of perovskite. An international team of researchers (Italy, Russia) proposed an original approach to design perovskite solar cells with improved performances, namely the use of two-dimensional Titanium-Carbide compounds called MXenes to dope perovskite. They incorporated microscopic amount of MXenes in the perovskite solar cell. As a result, they achieved increase of the efficiency for devices by more than 25 %, compared to […]
Transhumanism: Where Physical and Digital Worlds Meld
IEEE Spectrum October 3, 2019 According to IEEE Digital Reality Initiative human augmentation and machine augmentation are converging, creating a new symbiotic creature. Some of the indicators are: Digital twins – can be created from anything physical that is wired for data with sensors, including you and me; Smart machines can be made by four types of intelligence – embedded, shared, collective, and emerging; Augmenting humans – physical performance with exoskeletons and smart glasses, advances in prosthetics, are further extensions of our physical and mental abilities. Ethical concerns are likely to arise. It is important to consider the consequences…read more. […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of September 27, 2019
01. First fully rechargeable carbon dioxide battery with carbon neutrality 02. ‘Valley states’ in this super-thin material could potentially be used for quantum computing 03. Development of highly sensitive diode, converts microwaves to electricity 04. Introducing ‘mesh,’ memory-saving plug-in to boost phone and computer performance 05. New framework for nanoantenna light absorption 06. Converting absorbed photons into twice as many excitons 07. Nano bulb lights novel path 08. Engineers using soundwaves to search through big data with more stability and ease 09. Scientists finally find superconductivity in place they have been looking for decades 10. Team closes in on ‘holy […]
Air Force issues strategy for artificial intelligence
Fedscoop September 19, 2019 The strategy is meant to be an annex to the Department of Defense’s AI strategy in support of its Joint AI Center. It will serve as a mechanism to align the Air Force with the larger AI efforts across the department and leverage the JAIC‘s progress as an AI center of excellence. The goal is to provide fundamental principles, enabling functions, and objectives necessary to effectively manage, maneuver, and lead in the digital age…read more.
Autonomous quadruped designed to team with Soldiers
EurekAlert September 24, 2019 In collaboration with universities and industry U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory developed the Legged Locomotion and Movement Adaptation (LLAMA), an autonomous quadruped mobility research platform system patterned after a working dog and similar animals. It works in concert with soldiers, lighten physical workloads, and increase mobility, protection and lethality. The all electric system has high torque actuators and algorithms for advanced perception, intelligence and control for autonomy and teaming. It is designed for mobility in structured and unstructured environments. The readiness of the platform is dependent on its mission, a logistics mission […]
Converting absorbed photons into twice as many excitons
Science Daily September 24, 2019 An international team of researchers (Japan, Finland) found that when light was exposed to the surface of a tetracene alkanethiol-modified gold nanocluster, they were able to convert singlet oxygen at a highly efficient conversion rate of 160%, far exceeding 100% conversion, in comparison to the number of absorbed photons. An increase in lifetime of about 10,000 times was achieved by greatly suppressing the rapid loss of excitation energy on the metal surface. These findings are expected to contribute to areas such as solar energy conversion, electronics, life sciences, and medical care in the future…read more. […]
Development of highly sensitive diode, converts microwaves to electricity
Science Daily September 26, 2019 Researchers in Japan have developed a highly sensitive rectifying element in the form of a nanowire backward diode, which can covert low-power microwaves into electricity. Equipment they used consists of a radio wave power generating element. The technology can efficiently convert 100nW-class low-power radio waves into electricity, enabling the conversion of microwaves emitted into the environment from mobile phone base stations in an area that is over 10 times greater than was previously possible. The researchers expect that the nanowire backward diode will be applied in using plentiful ambient radio wave energy in 5G communications, […]
Engineers using soundwaves to search through big data with more stability and ease
Phys.org September 19, 2019 Using three aluminum rods, enough epoxy to connect them and some rubber bands for elasticity researchers at the University of Arizona have demonstrated the possibility for acoustic waves in a classical environment to do the work of quantum information processing without the time limitations and fragility. They sent a wave of sound vibrations down the rods, then monitored two degrees of freedom of the waves: what direction the waves moved down the rods and how the rods moved in relation to one another. To excite the system into a nonseparable state, they identified a frequency at […]
Explosion Confirmed at Russian Lab Storing Smallpox, Ebola
Global Biodefense September 21, 2019 One worker was hospitalized after a gas explosion on Sep. 16 caused a fire to break out at the Russian biological research facility in the Siberian city of Koltsovo. According to news coverage and the World Health Organization, the explosion did not occur near any storage areas of smallpox or other virus stockpiles; they remain intact and secure. The State Research Centre on Virology and Biotechnology, known as Vector, is the only center in the world other than the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved and known to have live samples of the […]
First fully rechargeable carbon dioxide battery with carbon neutrality
Science Daily September 26, 2019 Traditionally, when a lithium-carbon dioxide battery discharges, it produces lithium carbonate and carbon. The lithium carbonate recycles during the charge phase, but the carbon blocks the active sites of the catalyst preventing carbon dioxide diffusion, and triggers electrolyte decomposition in a charged state. A team of researchers in the US (University of Illinois, Perdue University, Argonne National Laboratory) used molybdenum disulfide as a cathode catalyst combined with a hybrid electrolyte to help incorporate carbon in the cycling process. The combination of materials produces a single multi-component composite of products rather than separate products, making recycling more […]