… that’s both ultrastrong and ductile. Components could have aerospace, medical, energy and automotive applications. A team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Georgia Institute of Technology has 3D printed a dual-phase, nanostructured high-entropy alloy that exceeds the strength and ductility of other state-of-the-art additively manufactured materials, which could lead to higher-performance components for applications in aerospace, medicine, energy and transportation. The work, led by Wen Chen, assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at UMass,…
SCIENTISTS at the University of Huddersfield have secured significant funding to develop novel and sustainable molecular materials that harness light to drive useful chemical reactions. The project will be led by inorganic chemists Professor Paul Elliott and Dr Paul Scattergood, within the University’s Centre for Functional Materials in the School of Applied Sciences. Funded by the Leverhulme Trust, and with initial seed corn funding for preliminary work from the University’s International Collaborative Fund for strategic partnerships, from the project is…
The northern and central Great Barrier Reef have recorded their highest amount of coral cover since the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) began monitoring 36 years ago. Published today, AIMS’ Annual Summary Report on Coral Reef Condition for 2021/22 shows another year of increased coral cover across much of the Reef. In the 87 representative reefs surveyed between August 2021 and May 2022 under the AIMS Long-Term Monitoring Program (LTMP), average hard coral cover in the region north of…
Flash is one of the most energetic short-duration gamma-ray bursts ever observed. For the first time, scientists have recorded millimeter-wavelength light from a fiery explosion caused by the merger of a neutron star with another star. Led by Northwestern University and Radboud University in the Netherlands, the team also confirmed this flash as one of the most energetic short-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) ever observed, leaving behind one of the most luminous afterglows on record. Astrophysicists made the discovery with the…
Scientists have created a novel technology that can help to tackle climate change and address the global energy crisis. Northumbria University’s Dr Shafeer Kalathil is among a team of esteemed academics behind the project, which uses a chemical process that converts sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into acetate and oxygen to produce high-value fuels and chemicals powered by renewable energy. As part of the process, bacteria are grown on a synthetic semiconductor device known as a photocatalyst sheet, which means…
New technologies provide unprecedented view of virus’ ‘weird biology’—critical for future biomedical applications against bacterial infections. Humans aren’t the only targets for viruses. Like us, bacteria become infected by many types of viruses. In fact, across billions of years, bacteria and viruses have engaged in a non-stop evolutionary arms race for survival that includes countless innovations and counter-adaptations. Recently, biomedical scientists have ramped up interest in viruses known as bacteriophages, or phages, which can infect and kill dangerous bacteria. Phages,…
Wafer bonding technology improves photovoltaics. Solar cell technologies have been improving incrementally over the decades, but energy conversion has remained less than optimal. Now, researchers at Kyoto University have developed a novel wafer bonding technology using an optical upconversion material that transforms sunlight to shorter-wavelengths. This new semiconductor process utilizes the interface’s optical function for bond formation. The team created a stacked structure consisting of a thin silicon film mimicking the upper subcell of a multi-junction solar cell and a…
UMass Amherst team engineers biofilm capable of producing long-term, continuous electricity from your sweat. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced that they have figured out how to engineer a biofilm that harvests the energy in evaporation and converts it to electricity. This biofilm, which was announced in Nature Communications, has the potential to revolutionize the world of wearable electronics, powering everything from personal medical sensors to personal electronics. “This is a very exciting technology,” says Xiaomeng Liu,…
Putting nanoparticles from shrimp shells into cement paste made the material significantly stronger — an innovation that could lead to reduced seafood waste and lower carbon emissions from concrete production. Reporting in the journal Cement and Concrete Composites, a team of Washington State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers created nanocrystals and nanofibers of chitin, the second most abundant biopolymer in nature, from waste shrimp shells. When these tiny bits of chitin, which are about 1,000 times smaller than a human…
New sensor can measure unknown sugar concentrations in real-time. Researchers have harnessed the light-guiding properties of spider silk to develop a sensor that can detect and measure small changes in the refractive index of a biological solution, including glucose and other types of sugar solutions. The new light-based sensor might one day be useful for measuring blood sugar and other biochemical analytes. “Glucose sensors are crucial to people with diabetes, but these devices tend to be invasive, uncomfortable and not…
Researchers train a machine-learning model to monitor and adjust the 3D printing process to correct errors in real-time. Scientists and engineers are constantly developing new materials with unique properties that can be used for 3D printing, but figuring out how to print with these materials can be a complex, costly conundrum. Often, an expert operator must use manual trial-and-error — possibly making thousands of prints — to determine ideal parameters that consistently print a new material effectively. These parameters include…
Findings could pave the way for a cost-efficient, high-performing calcium-ion battery. Concerns regarding scarcity, high prices, and safety regarding the long-term use of lithium-ion batteries has prompted a team of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to propose a greener, more efficient, and less expensive energy storage alternative. In research published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), corresponding author Nikhil Koratkar, the John A. Clark and Edward T. Crossan Professor of Engineering at Rensselaer, and his team,…
UBCO researcher creates hundreds of scenarios, determines importance of coral diversity. A UBC Okanagan research team has created a computer modelling program to help scientists predict the effect of climate damage and eventual restoration plans on coral reefs around the globe. This is a critical objective, says Dr. Bruno Carturan, because climate change is killing many coral species and can lead to the collapse of entire coral reef ecosystems. But, because they are so complex, it’s logistically challenging to study…
University of Cincinnati researchers publish findings of technique that helps naturally balance mitochondria. New research from the University of Cincinnati shows early indications that light can be used as a treatment for certain diseases, including cancer. Researchers from UC, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University at Buffalo published the results of their study demonstrating light-activated proteins can help normalize dysfunction within cells in the journal Nature Communications July 25. Research findings The research centers on the functions of…
The strategy was tested at the Federal University of São Carlos. The conversion took place under ambient temperature and pressure conditions, which could enable methane, a potent greenhouse gas, to be used to produce fuel. A group of researchers has succeeded in converting methane into methanol using light and dispersed transition metals such as copper in a process known as photo-oxidation. According to an article reporting the study published in Chemical Communications, the reaction was the best obtained to date for conversion of methane…
Chemists at the University of Münster present new method for β-amino acid derivatives from alkenes or (hetero)arenes. Chemists at the University of Münster have developed a novel and straightforward way to produce complex organic molecules. Mild reaction conditions, simple operation, scalability and the use of an inexpensive and commercially available photosensitizer make the method interesting for industrial applications. The results of the study are currently (Aug. 1) published in Nature Chemistry. “Visible light has proven to be a powerful tool…
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