ScienceDaily: Technology - July 08, 2024
Top technology research news
Ionic liquids: 'Don't shake it'
Chemists have develop innovative ionic liquid synthesis and purification technology.
Fresh wind blows from historical supernova
A mysterious remnant from a rare type of supernova recorded in 1181 has been explained for the first time. Two white dwarf stars collided, creating a temporary 'guest star,' now labeled supernova (SN) 1181, which was recorded in historical documents in Japan and elsewhere in Asia. However, after the star dimmed, its location and structure remained a mystery until a team pinpointed its location in 2021. Now, through computer modeling and observational analysis, researchers have recreated the structure of the remnant white dwarf, a rare occurrence, explaining its double shock formation. They also discovered that high-speed stellar winds may have started blowing from its surface within just the past 20-30 years. This finding improves our understanding of the diversity of supernova explosions, and highlights the benefits of interdisciplinary research, combining history with modern astronomy to enable new discoveries about our galaxy.
Engineers find a way to protect microbes from extreme conditions
Researchers have now developed a new way to make microbes hardy enough to withstand extreme conditions such as heat and the manufacturing processes used to formulate the microbes into powders or pills for long-term storage.
Innovative battery design: More energy and less environmental impact
A new electrolyte design for lithium metal batteries could significantly boost the range of electric vehicles. Researchers have radically reduced the amount of environmentally harmful fluorine required to stabilize these batteries.
A 2D device for quantum cooling
Engineers have created a device that can efficiently convert heat into electrical voltage at temperatures lower than that of outer space. The innovation could help overcome a significant obstacle to the advancement of quantum computing technologies, which require extremely low temperatures to function optimally.
Cool roofs are best at beating cities' heat
Painting roofs white or covering them with a reflective coating would be more effective at cooling cities like London than vegetation-covered 'green roofs,' street-level vegetation or solar panels, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.
Moon 'swirls' could be magnetized by unseen magmas
Mysterious, light-colored swirls on Moon's surface could be rocks magnetized by magma activity underground, laboratory experiments confirm.
Scientists discover way to 'grow' sub-nanometer sized transistors
A research team has implemented a novel method to achieve epitaxial growth of 1D metallic materials with a width of less than 1 nm. The group applied this process to develop a new structure for 2D semiconductor logic circuits. Notably, they used the 1D metals as a gate electrode of the ultra-miniaturized transistor.
A breakthrough in inexpensive, clean, fast-charging batteries
Scientists have created an anode-free sodium solid-state battery. This brings the reality of inexpensive, fast-charging, high-capacity batteries for electric vehicles and grid storage closer than ever.
Chemists synthesize an improved building block for medicines
Research could help drug developers improve the safety profiles of medications and reduce side effects.
Machine learning could aid efforts to answer long-standing astrophysical questions
Physicists have developed a computer program incorporating machine learning that could help identify blobs of plasma in outer space known as plasmoids. In a novel twist, the program has been trained using simulated data.
Mechanism of bio-inspired control of liquid flow
The more we discover about the natural world, the more we find that nature is the greatest engineer. Past research implied that liquids can only be transported in fixed direction on species with specific liquid communication properties and cannot switch the transport direction. Recently, researchers have shown that an African plant controls water movement in a previously unknown way -- and this could inspire breakthroughs in a range of technologies in fluid dynamics and nature-inspired materials, including applications that require multistep and repeated reactions, such as microassays, medical diagnosis and solar desalination etc.
Mapping the surfaces of MXenes, atom by atom, reveals new potential for the 2D materials
In the decade since their discovery, the family of two-dimensional materials called MXenes has shown a great deal of promise for applications ranging from water desalination and energy storage to electromagnetic shielding and telecommunications, among others. While researchers have long speculated about the genesis of their versatility, a recent study has provided the first clear look at the surface chemical structure foundational to MXenes' capabilities.
Mobile phone data helps track pathogen spread and evolution of superbugs
Combining genomic data and human travel patterns over a 14-year period in South Africa reveals key insights into the spread, evolution and resistance patterns of a major bacterium behind pneumonia and meningitis globally.
Clever clothes! Seams in clothing capture body movement
Everyday clothing may soon be able to capture and record body movements according to new research.
Image: socrates471/Shutterstock.com
Using visible light to make pharmaceutical building blocks
Chemists have discovered a way to use visible light to synthesize a class of compounds particularly well suited for use in pharmaceuticals. The class of compounds, called azetidines, had been previously identified as a good candidate to build therapeutic drugs, but the compounds are difficult to produce in chemical reactions. Now, a team has developed a method to produce a specific class of azetidines called monocyclic azetidines using visible light and a photocatalyst.
Precise and less expensive 3D printing of complex, high-resolution structures
Researchers have developed a new two-photon polymerization technique that uses two lasers to 3D print complex high-resolution structures. The advance could make this 3D printing process less expensive, helping it find wider use in a variety of applications, from consumer electronics to the biomedical field.
Giant clams may hold the answers to making solar energy more efficient
Solar panel and biorefinery designers could learn a thing or two from iridescent giant clams living near tropical coral reefs, according to a new study. This is because giant clams have precise geometries -- dynamic, vertical columns of photosynthetic receptors covered by a thin, light-scattering layer -- that may just make them the most efficient solar energy systems on Earth.
What was behind the 2021-2022 energy crisis within Europe?
A team of researchers had already been working with electricity price data for years before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, exploring statistics and developing forecasting methods. Now they zero in on how prices in different countries relate and how countries were affected by the energy crisis and address the interdependencies of different markets. Their approach combines statistical physics and network science, identifying communities and the fundamental spatiotemporal patterns within the electricity price/time data from all countries. The researchers hope their work will strengthen the European perspective in the political debate about electricity markets and prices, because problems like this are best tackled via international cooperation.
Nuclear spectroscopy breakthrough could rewrite the fundamental constants of nature
Raising the energy state of an atom's nucleus using a laser, or exciting it, would enable development of the most accurate atomic clocks ever to exist. This has been hard to do because electrons, which surround the nucleus, react easily with light, increasing the amount of light needed to reach the nucleus. By causing the electrons to bond with fluorine in a transparent crystal, UCLA physicists have finally succeeded in exciting the neutrons in a thorium atom's nucleus using a moderate amount of laser light. This accomplishment means that measurements of time, gravity and other fields that are currently performed using atomic electrons can be made with orders of magnitude higher accuracy.
Optoelectronics gain spin control from chiral perovskites and III-V semiconductors
A research effort has made advances that could enable a broader range of currently unimagined optoelectronic devices.
Study explores what motivates people to watch footage of disasters and extreme weather
The release in July 2024 of the blockbuster film Twisters (centred around a social-media celebrity storm-chaser) demonstrates an ongoing public fascination in hazards and extreme weather. The arrival of camera and streaming technologies have made it easier to collect and share such footage in recent years, resulting in often dramatic footage being live-streamed on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Discord. Now, a new study has analyzed what might be motivating people to watch these streams -- in some instances for up to 12 hours at a time.
Exploring the chemical space of the exposome: How far have we gone?
Scientists have taken on the daunting challenge of mapping all the chemicals around us. They take inventory of the available science and conclude that currently a real pro-active chemical management is not feasible. To really get a grip on the vast and expanding chemical universe, they advocate the use of machine learning and AI, complementing existing strategies for detecting and identifying all molecules we are exposed to.
Crucial gaps in climate risk assessment methods
Researchers have uncovered significant flaws in current climate risk assessment techniques that could lead to a severe underestimation of climate-related financial losses for businesses and investors.
Neutrons on classically inexplicable paths
Is nature really as strange as quantum theory says -- or are there simpler explanations? New neutron measurements prove: It doesn't work without the strange properties of quantum theory.
True scale of carbon impact from long-distance travel revealed
The reality of the climate impact of long-distance passenger travel has been revealed in new research.
Researchers unlock 'materials genome', opening possibilities for next-generation design
A new microscopy method has allowed researchers to detect tiny changes in the atomic-level architecture of crystalline materials -- like advanced steels for ship hulls and custom silicon for electronics. The technique could advance our ability to understand the fundamental origins of materials properties and behavior.
Moving beyond the 80-year-old solar cell equation
Physicists have made a significant breakthrough in solar cell technology by developing a new analytical model that improves the understanding and efficiency of thin-film photovoltaic (PV) devices.
Implantable microphone could lead to fully internal cochlear implants
Researchers developed a prototype of an implantable microphone for a cochlear implant. Their device, which senses the movement of the ear drum in the inner ear, performed as well as commercial hearing aids and could someday enable a fully internalized cochlear implant.
Organic material from Mars reveals the likely origin of life's building blocks
Two samples from Mars together deliver clear evidence of the origin of Martian organic material. The study presents solid evidence for a prediction made over a decade ago that could be key to understanding how organic molecules, the foundation of life, were first formed here on Earth.
Light targets cells for death and triggers immune response with laser precision
A new method of precisely targeting troublesome cells for death using light could unlock new understanding of and treatments for cancer and inflammatory diseases.
A prosthesis driven by the nervous system helps people with amputation walk naturally
With a new surgical intervention and neuroprosthetic interface, researchers restored a natural walking gait in people with amputations below the knee. Seven patients were able to walk faster, avoid obstacles, and climb stairs more naturally than people with a traditional amputation.
New and improved camera inspired by the human eye
Computer scientists have invented a camera mechanism that improves how robots see and react to the world around them. Inspired by how the human eye works, their innovative camera system mimics the tiny involuntary movements used by the eye to maintain clear and stable vision over time.
Self-assembling, highly conductive sensors could improve wearable devices
To advance soft robotics, skin-integrated electronics and biomedical devices, researchers have developed a 3D-printed material that is soft and stretchable -- traits needed for matching the properties of tissues and organs -- and that self-assembles. Their approach employs a process that eliminates many drawbacks of previous fabrication methods, such as less conductivity or device failure, the team said.
A new pulsar buried in a mountain of data
Astronomers have discovered the first millisecond pulsar in the stellar cluster Glimpse-CO1.
Scientists probe chilling behavior of promising solid-state cooling material
A research team has bridged a knowledge gap in atomic-scale heat motion. This new understanding holds promise for enhancing materials to advance an emerging technology called solid-state cooling.
Novel spectroscopy technique sheds light on NOx reduction
The process that can convert pollution into benign by-products is called selective catalytic reduction, or SCR. Until now, it has been unclear how this reaction actually occurs, and contradictions have long existed between reaction models within the literature. Catalysis researchers used a technology called modulation excitation spectroscopy, or MES, to finally identify the correct pathway.
How researchers are using digital city-building games to shape the future
Researchers have come up with exciting and sophisticated new mapping technology enabling future generations to get involved in creating their own future built landscape. They say that planners are missing a real trick when it comes to encouraging and involving the public to help shape their own towns, cities and counties for the future. They also say that games platforms can be used to plan future cities and also help the public immerse themselves in these future worlds.
Nanorobot with hidden weapon kills cancer cells
Researchers have developed nanorobots that kill cancer cells in mice. The robot's weapon is hidden in a nanostructure and is exposed only in the tumour microenvironment, sparing healthy cells.
AI model finds the cancer clues at lightning speed
AI model finds the cancer clues at lightning speed. Researchers have developed an AI model that increases the potential for detecting cancer through sugar analyses. The AI model is faster and better at finding abnormalities than the current semi-manual method.
Melanin from cuttlefish ink as a sustainable biomass resource
Melanin is a ubiquitous compound in nature, produced by many organisms. However, its potential as a biomass resource to produce value-added chemicals and materials remains relatively unexplored. In a recent study, researchers investigated the chemical decomposition of melanin derived from cuttlefish ink and showcased its application in the synthesis of biopolymer films and particles. Their efforts will hopefully pave the way to the adoption of melanin upcycling.