MIT News August 28, 2019 Piezoelectric materials produce a voltage in response to physical strain, and they respond to a voltage by physically deforming. Researchers at MIT developed an additive fabrication method to 3-D print ceramic transducers about 100 nanometers thin at room temperature. The films resonate at around 5 gigahertz, which is high enough for high-performance biosensors. The raw material used in 3-D printing — contains zinc oxide nanoparticles mixed with some inert solvents, which forms into a piezoelectric material when printed onto a substrate and dried. The researchers are currently working with colleagues to make piezoelectric biosensors to […]
Understanding the essentials of global innovation
Eurekalert August 19, 2019 Relevant for both academics and practitioners, the book, Managing innovation: Internationalization of Innovation explores a diverse view on the international innovation process. It presents main research milestones on the internationalization of innovation and discusses current phenomena like lean and global innovation, with case studies from China, Germany, India and Russia. The book also provides readers with a unique insight into this interesting industry by giving a structured overview of mobile technologies…read more.
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of August 23, 2019
01. A heat shield just 10 atoms thick to protect electronic devices 02. Attackers could be listening to what you type 03. A laser for penetrating waves 04. Practical anonymous communication protocol developed for quantum networks 05. World’s first link layer protocol brings quantum internet closer to a reality 06. Researchers document a quantum spin wave for light 07. Scientists discover new state of matter 08. Wired for sound: A third wave emerges in integrated circuits 09. Researchers demonstrate three-dimensional quantum hall effect for the first time 10. Colour-changing artificial ‘chameleon skin’ powered by nanomachines And others… China’s next big […]
Attackers could be listening to what you type
Science Daily August 14, 2019 Researchers at the Southern Methodist University investigate the capability of mobile phone sensor arrays, using audio and motion sensor data, for classifying keystrokes that occur on a keyboard in proximity to phones around a table, as would be common in a meeting. They developed a system of mixed convolutional and recurrent neural networks and deployed the system in a human subjects experiment with 20 users typing naturally while talking. Using leave-one-user-out cross validation, they found that mobile phone arrays have the ability to detect 41.8% of keystrokes and 27% of typed words correctly in such […]
China’s next big thing: a new fourth-generation synchrotron facility in Beijing
Physics World August 15, 2019 As China emerged on the global scientific stage it was keen to get in on the act. It therefore built the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF) – the country’s first such light source when it opened in 1991. Still operating, the BSRF is limited compared to other synchrotrons. After the BSRF, two more synchrotron sources were built in China. The HEPS will, however, be the country’s first fourth-generation synchrotron source – and one of only a handful of such facilities around the world. It will have even brighter beams using a still more advanced magnet […]
Colour-changing artificial ‘chameleon skin’ powered by nanomachines
Phys.org August 21, 2019 Researchers in the UK have demonstrated that gold nanoparticles coated with a poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) shell undergo reversible dis/assembly below and above the critical temperature of 32 °C. Loading these particles into microdroplets at high density creates light‐driven artificial chromatophores. Triggering the nanoparticle assembly gives dramatic color changes from nanoparticle localization at the base of the droplets, resembling zebrafish melanophores. These reversible chromatophore states can be switched by both bulk and optical heating. The material could be used in applications such as active camouflage and large-scale dynamic displays…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
FedBizOpps to be shut down by year’s end so a new awards site may rise
Fedcsoop August 15, 2019 The US government plans to change the website it uses for federal awards in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, as the General Services Administration merges its legacy sites into one system. FedBizOpps.gov, will be decommissioned in favor of beta.SAM.gov, which will deliver more precise results for number, keyword and location searches using new filters. Public-facing application programming interfaces from departments and agencies will be available for download. All data feeds can be found under the data services section of the new site. Users will need to create a new account on beta.SAM.gov via login.gov. […]
A heat shield just 10 atoms thick to protect electronic devices
Nanowerk August 17, 2019 A team of researchers in the US (Stanford University, NIST) demonstrated unusually high thermal isolation across ultrathin heterostructures, achieved by layering atomically thin 2D materials. They realized artificial stacks of monolayer graphene, MoS2, and WSe2 with thermal resistance greater than 100 times thicker SiO2 and effective thermal conductivity lower than air at room temperature. Ultrahigh thermal isolation was achieved through the mismatch in mass density and phonon density of states between the 2D layers. These thermal metamaterials are an example in the emerging field of phononics and could find applications where ultrathin thermal insulation is desired, […]
How Does USAMRIID Shut Down Impact Nation’s Bioterrorism Laboratory Response Network?
Global Biodefense August 13, 2019 The U.S. Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) Special Pathogens Laboratory at Fort Detrick is one of only three National Laboratories at the top of the protective umbrella of the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) structure, along with those operated by the CDC and the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), responsible for specialized characterization of organisms, bioforensics, select agent activity, and handling highly infectious biological agents. What happens when an important component of the nation’s biopreparedness infrastructure fails to meet CDC biosafety requirements and has its Federal Select Agent certification pulled? Global Biodefense submitted requests […]
A laser for penetrating waves
Phys.org August 19, 2019 An international team of researchers (France, Poland, Germany, Russia, Czech Republic) used a heavy metal alloy of mercury, cadmium and tellurium (HgCdTe) that is used for highly sensitive thermal imaging cameras. Mercury, cadmium and tellurium contents can be very precisely chosen, which makes it possible to fine-tune the band gap. The material showed properties similar to graphene, but without the issue of strong Auger scattering. When electric current is applied it gets rid of its energy in the form of terahertz radiation. By varying an additional magnetic field of only about 200 millitesla, the experts were able […]