A research team from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the University of Salerno in Italy has discovered that thin films of elemental bismuth exhibit the so-called non-linear Hall effect, which could be applied in technologies for the controlled use of terahertz high-frequency signals on electronic chips. Bismuth combines several advantageous properties not found in other systems to date, as the team reports in Nature Electronics (DOI: 10.1038/s41928-024-01118-y). Particularly: the quantum effect is observed at room temperature. The thin-layer films can…
The international AEgIS (Antimatter Experiment: gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy) collaboration at CERN, in which Prof. Giovanni Consolati of the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology participates on behalf of the Politecnico di Milano, experimentally demonstrated, for the first time, positronium (Ps) laser cooling using a particular laser system (alexandrite-based), specifically developed to meet the requirements of cooling: high intensity, large bandwidth and long duration of the pulse. The equivalent temperature of the Ps atoms exiting from a porous target (at room…
Researchers at the University of Konstanz have successfully filmed the operations of extremely fast electronic circuitry in an electron microscope at a bandwidth of tens of terahertz. The increasing demand for ever-faster information processing has ushered in a new era of research focused on high-speed electronics operating at frequencies nearing terahertz and petahertz regimes. While existing electronic devices predominantly function in the gigahertz range, the forefront of electronics is pushing towards millimeter waves, and the first prototypes of high-speed transistors,…
Implementation of an electrostatically charged environment to accelerate lunar base construction efforts. Continuous research is being conducted globally on using the Moon as an advanced base for deep space exploration, and Korea is no exception in these efforts. The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim, Byung-suk) successfully implemented an electrostatic environment that simulates the Moon’s surface conditions, not in space but on Earth. The researchers also assessed its performance and effectiveness. Among the most serious…
…improves zinc-air battery function. Zinc-air batteries are an inexpensive, powerful battery alternative that can be used on the small scale to power electronics or on the large scale for electric vehicles or energy storage. These batteries work when oxygen from the air oxidizes zinc, but the difficulty in oxygen activation which degrades battery performance has prevented their wide commercial adoption. Information presented in a paper published in Carbon Future on 26 February shows how the addition of fullerene-derived carbon materials…
A new data format simplifies data processing for metallic 3D printing processes. It allows manufacturing and process control to be merged in real time – not only in 3D printing, but also in subtractive processes such as microstructuring. Various 3D printing processes for metals are used in the industry. The best known of which is laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), where lasers build up a workpiece by melting metal powder layer by layer. Along the LPBF-process chain the design data…
Bonn researchers find connection between autobiographical memory and aphantasia. When people lack visual imagination, this is known as aphantasia. Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) investigated how the lack of mental imagery affects long-term memory. They were able to show that changes in two important brain regions, the hippocampus and the occipital lobe, as well as their interaction, have an influence on the impaired recall of personal…
The simplest possible molecule H2+ was one of the very first molecules to form in the cosmos. This makes it significant for astrophysics, but also an important object of research for fundamental physics. It is difficult to study in experiments. However, a team of physicists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has now succeeded in measuring the vibrations of the molecule with a laser for the first time. The result matches the theoretical prediction very closely, as the researchers now…
The Bayreuth plant ecologists Prof Dr Steven Higgins and Dr Timo Conradi argue in favour of interpreting the coming climatic changes from the perspective of plants in order to better assess the risks of climate change for ecosystems. If information on the physiological reactions of plant species to changing temperatures, soil water content and atmospheric CO2 concentrations is taken into account, the consequences of climate change for ecosystems can be better predicted. They report this in a recent article in…
Blood vessels that cross-connect adjacent arterial trees regulate blood flow to the brain in stroke patients. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now shown that these vessels prevent brain hemorrhage following treatment to remove blood clots. They play a crucial role in the recovery of stroke patients. Ischemic strokes are a major health burden. They occur when a blood vessel that supplies the brain becomes blocked, impairing blood flow to the brain. As a result, brain tissue suffers from…
Researchers in Germany and Japan have been able for the first time to identify collective topological spin structures called merons in layered synthetic antiferromagnets. The electronic devices we use on a day-to-day basis are powered by electrical currents. This is the case with our living room lights, washing machines, and televisions, to name but a few examples. Data processing in computers also relies on information provided by tiny charge carriers called electrons. The field of spintronics, however, employs a different…
A 3D printed ‘metamaterial’ boasting levels of strength for weight not normally seen in nature or manufacturing could change how we make everything from medical implants to aircraft or rocket parts. A sample of theA sample of the new titanium lattice structure 3D printed in cube form. Credit: RMIT. new titanium lattice structure 3D printed in cube form. Credit: RMIT RMIT University researchers created the new metamaterial – a term used to describe an artificial material with unique properties…
Results demonstrate novel strategy to probe the physics and history of the universe. With unique capabilities to track microwave energy fluctuations, a small observatory in the Andes mountains of northern Chile produced maps of 75% of the sky as part of an effort to more accurately measure the universe’s origin and evolution. The U.S. National Science Foundation Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS), a collaboration led by Johns Hopkins University astrophysicists, created the maps. By measuring microwave polarization, or how…
Discovery using lab and animal models could provide an alternative for older, sicker patients who do not qualify for stem cell transplants. Scientists at City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, have devised an innovative approach to target and destroy hard-to-kill leukemia stem cells. The journal Blood published the preclinical findings today. By overcoming challenges, such as drug resistance and treatment relapse common to patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the…
Measurement of electron beam polarization is sharpest ever reported, sets stage for future flagship experiments at Jefferson Lab. Scientists are getting a more detailed look than ever before at the electrons they use in precision experiments. Nuclear physicists with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility have shattered a nearly 30-year-old record for the measurement of parallel spin within an electron beam – or electron beam polarimetry, for short. The achievement sets the stage for high-profile experiments…
There is no doubt that water is significant. Without it, life would never have begun, let alone continue today – not to mention its role in the environment itself, with oceans covering over 70% of Earth. But despite its ubiquity, liquid water features some electronic intricacies that have long puzzled scientists in chemistry, physics, and technology. For example, the electron affinity, i.e. the energy stabilization undergone by a free electron when captured by water, has remained poorly characterized from an…
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