Tag: physics
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Nanotech-Enhanced Graphene Can Propel Optical Communications
Physicists and engineers from the universities of Manchester and Cambridge in the U.K. have devised a method for improving graphene devices as photodetectors in future high-speed optical communications. Their findings appear in the 30 August issue of the journal Nature Communications (paid subscription required). Graphene is a two-dimensional layer of carbon atoms arranged in a…
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Auto Crash Model Can Simulate Offshore Oil Pipe Breaks
Engineers at MIT have shown how a simulation model that tests automobile components for crashworthiness can be applied to predict the performance of pipes in offshore drilling accidents. The team from MIT’s Impact and Crashworthiness Laboratory presented their findings at the International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference in June. Tomasz Wierzbicki, professor of applied mechanics…
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Electronic Conductivity Found in Bacteria Nanowires
A team of microbiologists and physicists at University of Massachusetts in Amherst have discovered the ability of nanowires in a common microbe to transport electrons across long distances. The researchers published their findings online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology (paid subscription required). Microbiologist Derek Lovley with physicists Mark Tuominen, Nikhil Malvankar and colleagues found this…
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System Being Developed to Watch for Airport Runway Debris
A German consortium of companies, university, and Fraunhofer institutes are developing a system with multiple technologies to monitor the presence of debris on airport runways that can make them unsafe for aircraft. A piece of metal that fell off another airplane is blamed for the crash of the supersonic Concorde jet that followed on the…
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Cold Electrons Aid Nanoscale Imaging and Processes
Physicists at University of Melbourne in Australia have developed a new source of ultra-cold electrons that can improve the quality and speed of nanoscale imaging for processes such as drug and materials development. The team’s findings appear online in the journal Nature Physics (paid subscription required). The researchers led by Melbourne physics professor Robert Scholten…
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Lab Creates Graphene Composite for Lithium Ion Batteries
Researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California have developed a graphene and tin nanoscale composite material for high-capacity energy storage in renewable lithium ion batteries, like those used in electric cars. The team at the lab, funded by the Department of Energy, published its findings in a recent issue of the journal Energy…
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Caltech Develops High Rez, High Speed, High Depth 3D Imaging
Researchers from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena have developed a new process for 3D optical imaging of live biological samples. The new approach that produces images of higher resolution, penetration depth — for seeing deep inside 3D samples — and imaging speed are described online in the journal Nature Methods (paid subscription required).…
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Researchers Develop Low-Energy Cardiac Defibrillation
Scientists from Germany, France, and the U.S. have developed a new process to regulate dangerous fluctuations in heart rhythms with far less energy and pain than current methods. The team’s findings appear in the current issue of the journal Nature (paid subscription required). The regular human heartbeat is controlled by the heart’s electrical system. An…
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Challenges Focus on Quantification, Measurements of Metals
Two challenges posted today (30 June) on InnoCentive seek solutions to problems involving quantification or measurements of properties of metals. InnoCentive, in Waltham, Massachusetts, is a company that conducts challenge competitions for sponsors, who for these challenges have decided to remain anonymous. One of today’s challenges seeks a method for in-line quantification and real-time reporting…
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Nanoscale Nuclear Testing Capability Developed
Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, University of California at Berkeley, and Los Alamos National Lab have devised a testing technique for irradiated materials at nanoscale that offers insights into the full-scale properties of those materials. The team’s findings appear in the current online issue of the journal Nature Materials (paid subscription required). The technique…