Physics World February 6, 2019 Biological cell membranes are made up of phospholipid building blocks that both attract and repel water. An international team of researchers (Germany, Moldova, Australia, Italy, UK) developed a nanomaterial exhibiting hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties using nanoscopically thin membranes of gallium nitride shaped as hollow microtetrapods, called aerogalnite (AGaN). The material is extremely porous, mechanically flexible, stretchable, and exhibits hydrophilicity under tension and hydrophobicity when compressed against water. Self-assembling the AGaN tetrapods on water enabled them to develop self-healing waterproof rafts carrying liquid droplets 500-times as heavy as rafts, and to demonstrate self-propelled liquid marbles. Aerogalnite […]
Human enhancement: Is it good for society?
Science Daily February 11, 2019 An international team of researchers (Switzerland, UK, Australia, USA – Columbia University, UC San Diego, industry) probed the individual and collective impact of human augmentation technologies based on the theory of self-determination which divides well-being into three parts: autonomy — the ability to make one’s own decisions; competence — the capacity to act and contribute to society; and social relations — the network of relationships that we can count on. The key question is not about the effectiveness of the regulations, but rather about a new transparency that would allow everyone to take enhancements or […]
The giant Chinese companies shaping the world’s industries
Phys.org February 10,019 The merger by Alstom and Siemens was vetoed by the EU on Thursday, but concerns about the overwhelming power of vast, often state-backed Chinese companies is not limited to the rail industry. Here are some of areas in which Chinese companies control a large piece of the global market – Agrichemicals, Energy, Aviation, Food, Drones, Smartphones, Home appliances, Batteries, Freight…read more.
Data-transmitting light signal gets power boost from nanosized amplifier
Nanowerk February 5, 2019 Atomic layer deposition method has been used mainly in electronic applications. An international team of researchers (Finland, France, UK) reports ultra-high on-chip optical gain in erbium-based hybrid slot waveguides with a monolithic, CMOS-compatible and scalable atomic-layer deposition process. They have demonstrated up to 20.1 ± 7.31 dB/cm and at least 52.4 ± 13.8 dB/cm net modal and material gain per unit length, respectively. The study showed that a light signal can be potentially boosted regarless of the structure of the microchip. The results indicate that atomic layer deposition is a promising method for developing microchip photonic processes…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
To conserve energy, AI clears up cloudy forecasts
Eurekalert February 6, 2019 To manage energy systems in buildings researchers at Cornell University have developed a new approach which predicts the accuracy of the weather forecast using a machine learning model trained with years’ worth of data on forecasts and actual weather conditions. They combined that predictor with a mathematical model that considers building characteristics including the size and shape of rooms, the construction materials, the location of sensors and the position of windows. They applied the smart control system to an old building on campus to demonstrate that it could reduce energy usage by up to 10 percent…read […]
Climate of North American cities will shift hundreds of miles in one generation
Science Daily February 12, 2019 Climate-analog mapping involves matching the expected future climate at a location with current climate of another location – thereby providing a more relatable, place-based assessment of climate change. A team of researchers in the US (University of Maryland, North Carolina State University) has developed climate-analog map for 540 North American urban areas identifying the location that has a contemporary climate most similar to each urban area’s expected 2080’s climate. They show that climate of most urban areas will shift considerably and become either more akin to contemporary climates hundreds of kilometers away or will have […]
Autonomous drones that can ‘see’ and fly intelligently
Phys.org February 6, 2019 Researchers in Australia used an Xbox Kinect sensor as an input camera to help drones ‘see’ their environment. They developed algorithms to process the video footage image by image, to help the drones know their own speed, motion, and to detect obstacles so they can reach their target position. The algorithm uses the images the drone ‘sees’ and compares the same pixel to detect the differences in 2-D images and calculates the speed and location of drones in 3-D space. As the RGB-D cameras are still in their infancy, they suffer from performance drawbacks such as […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of February 8, 2019
01. Engineers create a robot that can ‘imagine’ itself 02. Invisible tags: Physicists write, read and erase using light 03. Laser capable of emitting light quiet enough to move demanding scientific applications 04. Physicists create exotic electron liquid 05. Magnetic graphene switches between insulator and conductor 06. New 3D printer shapes objects with rays of light 07. Sodium is the new lithium: Researchers find a way to boost sodium-ion battery performance 08. Unleashing perovskites’ potential for solar cells 09. Advances in stretchable semiconductors, integrated electronics 10. Computational algorithm to reduce electromagnetic noise in electronic circuits developed And others… These 3 […]
Unleashing perovskites’ potential for solar cells
MIT News February 7, 2019 Perovskites have attracted a great deal of attention as potential new solar-cell materials because of their low cost, flexibility, and relatively easy manufacturing process. But much remains unknown about the details of their structure and the effects of substituting different metals or other elements within the material. A team of researchers in the US (MIT, UC San Diego, Georgia Institute of Technology, Purdue University, Argonne National Laboratory) found that adding these alkali metals, such as cesium or rubidium, to the perovskite compound helps some of the other constituents to mix together more smoothly making it […]
Sodium is the new lithium: Researchers find a way to boost sodium-ion battery performance
Science Daily February 1, 2019 Sodium ion batteries meet the demand for large-scale energy storage. By investing ~4300 candidates via a high-throughput computation, researchers in Japan have identified nanotube-type Na2V3O7 as a cathode material because of its fast sodium diffusivity. High-rate performance was confirmed, showing ~65% capacity retention at a current density of 10C at room temperature, despite the large particle size of >5 μm. But they found that Na2V3O7 underwent deterioration in the final charging stages, which limits the practical storage capacity to the half of theoretical one. In their future experiments, the researchers aim to focus on improving the […]