Phys.org April 16, 2024 Harnessing the asymmetric electronic population in the conduction band induced by an intense single-color circularly polarized laser pulse an international team of researchers (Japan, India, Germany) developed a universal method to generate ultrafast photocurrent in both inversion-symmetric and inversion-broken Weyl semimetals with degenerate Weyl nodes at the Fermi level. They found that the induced photocurrent could be tailored by manipulating helicity and ellipticity of the employed laser. Their approach generated photocurrent in realistic situations when the Weyl nodes were positioned at different energies and had finite tilt along a certain direction. According to the researchers their […]
What is happening to US higher education?
Phys.org April 11, 2024 A team of researchers in the US (Vanderbilt University, Saint Joseph’s University, Western Kentucky University, Valdosta State University, Wingate University) interpreted the destabilization in U.S. higher education using Layton’s theory of marketing systems to detail disruptions to academia’s system settings. They examined the interplay between societal, technological, competitive, and political power shifts as major disruptors reshaping higher education and examined the shifts by intertwining history with the demands of today’s evolving landscape, emphasizing the need for transformative change. They highlighted three impacted areas: governance, sentiment, and transformation. Layton’s theory provided stakeholders a starting point to make […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of April 12, 2024
01. New technique lets scientists create resistance-free electron channels 02. Could new technique for ‘curving’ light be the secret to improved wireless communication? 03. Propagating dimensions of light: Deforming versatile non-diffractive beams along the optical trajectory 04. Detecting objects without any physical interaction – reality or science fiction? 05. Magnetic levitation: New material offers potential for unlocking gravity-free technology 06. Waterproof ‘e-glove’ could help scuba divers communicate 07. The spontaneous emergence of 1D superconducting stripes at a 2D interface in an oxide heterostructure 08. Magnetic fields boost clean energy 09. New device gathers, stores electricity in remote settings 10. Old […]
This 3D printer can figure out how to print with an unknown material
Science Daily April 8, 2024 An international team of researchers (USA – MIT, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Greece) described a new method for the automatic generation of process parameters for fused filament fabrication (FFF) across varying machines and materials. They used an instrumented extruder to fit a function that maps nozzle pressures across varying flow rates and temperatures for a given machine and material configuration and developed a method to extract real parameters for flow rate and temperature using relative pressures and temperature offsets. Using their method they found process parameters, using one set of input parameters, across […]
Could new technique for ‘curving’ light be the secret to improved wireless communication?
Science Daily April 9, 2024 A key challenge in millimeter-wave and terahertz wireless networks is blockage of the line-of-sight path between a base station and a user. A team of engineers in the US (University of Missouri-Kansas City, Rice University, Brown University) proposed a solution to this problem leveraging the fact that, in such scenarios, users are likely to be located within the electromagnetic near field of the base station, which opens the possibility to engineer wave fronts for link maintenance. They showed that curved beams, carrying data at high bit rates, could realize a link by curving around an […]
Detecting objects without any physical interaction – reality or science fiction?
Nanowerk April 5, 2024 An international team of researchers (Portugal, Brazil) analysed nonclassical resources in interference phenomena using generalized noncontextuality inequalities and basis-independent coherence witnesses. They used inequalities that witness both resources within the same framework. In view of the previous contextual advantage results, they proposed a systematic way of applying these tools to characterize advantage provided by coherence and contextuality in quantum information protocols. They used this methodology as an example for the task of quantum interrogation, introduced by the paradigmatic bomb-testing interferometric experiment, showing contextual quantum advantage for such a task… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Long-term satellite observations show climatological characteristics of isolated deep convection over the Tibetan Plateau
EurekAlert April 10, 2024 Researchers in China investigated isolated deep convections (IDCs), which have a smaller spatial and temporal size than mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), over the TP in the rainy season during 2001–2020. They showed that IDCs mainly concentrated over the southern Tibetan plateau (TP). The larger IDC had intense precipitation contributing 20 %–30 % to total precipitation, with a larger percentage in July and August than in June and September. IDCs contribute more to both total precipitation and extreme precipitation over the TP compared to the surrounding plain regions. IDCs over the TP account for a larger fraction […]
Magnetic fields boost clean energy
Nanowerk April 7, 2024 Magnetic field effects on electrocatalysis have recently gained attention due to the substantial enhancement of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on ferromagnetic catalysts. An international team of researchers (Switzerland, Argentina) used a specifically designed magneto-electrochemical system and non-magnetic electrodes to quantify magnetic field effects. They found marginal enhancement in reactions with high reactant availability, such as the OER, whereas substantial boosts exceeding 50% were observed in diffusion limited reactions, exemplified by the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). According to the researchers their results advanced the fundamental understanding of magnetic fields in electrocatalysis and unveil new prospects for […]
Magnetic levitation: New material offers potential for unlocking gravity-free technology
Phys.org April 8, 2024 An international team of researchers (Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, Australia) demonstrated the passive, diamagnetic levitation of a centimeter-sized massive oscillator, which was fabricated ensuring that the material, though highly diamagnetic, was an electrical insulator. By chemically coating a powder of microscopic graphite beads with silica and embedding the coated powder in high-vacuum compatible wax, they formed a centimeter-sized thin square plate which magnetically levitated over a checkerboard magnet array. The insulating coating reduced eddy damping by almost an order of magnitude compared to uncoated graphite with the same particle size. The plates exhibited a different equilibrium orientation […]
New device gathers, stores electricity in remote settings
Science Daily April 9, 2024 Researchers at the University of Utah investigated a pyro electrochemical cell (PEC) as a novel device concept for direct conversion of thermal energy to stored electrochemical energy. The PEC integrated a porous, pyroelectric separator within a supercapacitor. The pyroelectric separator induced an electric field within the PEC when exposed to a temperature change with time. The electric field drove ions into electrode double layers to charge the cell. Experimental results were coupled with simulations to explore PEC response when thermally cycled, with predicted pyroelectric orientation effects observed in two tests. The pyroelectric separator showed a […]