SUTD researchers uncover the promising capability of chitin as a sustainable smart biomaterial. Through water exchange with the environment, humidity-responsive chitinous films can generate energy for potential use in engineering applications. The wings of a butterfly are made of chitin, an organic polymer that is the main component of the shells of arthropods like crustaceans and other insects. As a butterfly emerges from its cocoon in the final stage of metamorphosis, it will slowly unfold its wings into their full…
A German-Chinese research team has successfully created a quantum bit in a semiconductor nanostructure. Using a special energy transition, the researchers created a superposition state in a quantum dot – a tiny area of the semiconductor – in which an electron hole simultaneously possessed two different energy levels. Such superposition states are fundamental for quantum computing. However, excitation of the state would require a large-scale free-electron laser that can emit light in the terahertz range. Additionally, this wavelength is too…
A research team led by Prof. CHEN Chilai from Institute of Intelligent machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), developed the deep-sea mass spectrometer. Recently, it successfully completed multiple sea trials in a specific area of deep sea. The research results were published in Chinese Journal of Analytical Chemistry. The extreme environments of the deep sea have shaped unique biological processes and harbor significant mineral resources, making their detection a frontier issue in international Earth science research….
Inspired by the effortless way humans handle objects without seeing them, a team led by engineers at the University of California San Diego has developed a new approach that enables a robotic hand to rotate objects solely through touch, without relying on vision. Using their technique, the researchers built a robotic hand that can smoothly rotate a wide array of objects, from small toys, cans, and even fruits and vegetables, without bruising or squishing them. The robotic hand accomplished these…
University of Ottawa team advances clear vision for eye repair. With potential to impact millions, study finds that biomimetic materials pulsed with low-energy blue light can reshape damaged corneas, including thickening the tissue. An injectable biomaterial activated by pulses of low-energy blue light has tremendous potential for on-the-spot repair to the domed outer layer of the eye, a team of University of Ottawa researchers and their collaborators have revealed. Guided by biomimetic design—innovation inspired by nature—the multidisciplinary researchers’ compelling results show that a novel…
Dr. Amir Asadi, an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University, is making groundbreaking strides in the field of composite materials. His research explores embedding patterned nanostructures composed of multiple materials into high-performance composites to achieve the desired multifunctionality without sacrificing any other properties. This could lead to advancements in various fields, including electronics, energy storage, transportation and consumer products. Asadi’s work has significant implications, as it addresses the challenge of simultaneously…
… as versatile as a Swiss Army knife, very helpful in times of skilled labor shortage. Utilization-optimized, flexibly arranged production modules equipped via driverless transport systems which can manufacture a variety of products; a production planning and control system that can flexibly allocate these modules and, through segmentation and intelligent distribution of manufacturing tasks, make it possible to produce large-size components in small facilities: Matrix production and SWAP-IT create a production infrastructure that enables highly efficient manufacturing of even smaller…
…could increase the resilience of Southern California’s urban beaches to sea level rise. Over the last several years, the residents of Santa Monica, a coastal city on the edge of Los Angeles, saw something neither they, their parents, or perhaps even their grandparents had ever seen before: a three-foot-tall dune system rising gently from the flat, groomed expanse of one of the world’s most famous urban beaches. It’s a six year alliance between sand, wind and vegetation, and, according to…
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena and Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, report in a new study in the journal PNAS that the symbiosis of beewolves with their bacterial helpers includes protection of the symbionts from toxic nitric oxide, which beewolf eggs release to disinfect the brood cavity. The white secretion from the antennae of female beewolves, which also contains the symbionts, provides an effective diffusion barrier. Beewolves, a genus of solitary digger wasps,…
New material concept eliminates unwanted effects by impurities in organic light-emitting diodes. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are now widely used. For use in displays, blue OLEDs are additionally required to supplement the primary colours red and green. Especially in blue OLEDs, impurities give rise to strong electrical losses, which could be partly circumvented by using highly complex and expensive device layouts. A team from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research has now developed a new material concept that potentially…
How does the brain adapt our behavior in response to an infection or injury? A multidisciplinary team of scientists from the Institut Pasteur, CNRS and Inserm have revealed the existence of a circuit involved in sensing and also in the regulation of the anti-inflammatory response orchestrated by different brain regions. This circuit detects inflammation in the blood and organizes and regulates the immune response. It embodies a two-way connection between the brain and immune system. The results were published on…
A spectacular new image released today by the European Southern Observatory gives us clues about how planets as massive as Jupiter could form. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers have detected large dusty clumps, close to a young star, that could collapse to create giant planets. “This discovery is truly captivating as it marks the very first detection of clumps around a young star that have the potential to give rise to…
The tiny crustaceans are the first new gnathiid isopod to be discovered from the Floridian ecoregion in 100 years and are named after singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. An international team of scientists from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and the Water Research Group from the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management at the North-West University in South Africa have discovered a new species of marine cryptofauna in the Florida Keys. Cryptofauna are the tiny,…
Artificial intelligence (AI) can use data from low-dose CT scans of the lungs to improve risk prediction for death from lung cancer, cardiovascular disease and other causes, according to a study published in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The U.S Preventive Services Task Force recommends annual lung screening with low-dose CT (LDCT) of the chest for individuals ages 50 to 80 years with a high risk of lung cancer, such as longtime smokers. Along…
The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT invites the laser community to the 14th International Laser Technology Congress AKL in Aachen from April 17 to 19, 2024. At AKL’24, users, manufacturers and developers from various areas of the laser industry will have the opportunity to exchange information on the latest developments in the field of applied laser technology in production. With over 500 participants, more than 80 presentations and 50 laser manufacturers and system or component suppliers at the conference…
Construction of Monoatomic Lead Layers with Specially Developed Method Unveiled for the First Time. Research team led by Chemnitz University of Technology synthesizes two-dimensional layer of lead using a novel method and describes its atomic structure in detail for the first time – Publication in renowned journal Advanced Materials Interfaces. Scientists from the Professorship of Analysis of Solid Surfaces (Head: Prof. Dr. Christoph Tegenkamp) and the Professorship of Experimental Physics with a focus on Technical Physics (Head: Prof. Dr. Thomas…
Feedback
