Science
Overview: Science
Thin film converts heat from electronics into energy
17/04/2018
Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a thin-film system that can be applied to sources of waste heat to produce energy at levels unprecedented for this kind of technology.From insulator to conductor in a flash
17/04/2018
A clever combination of novel technologies enables us to study promising materials for the electronics of tomorrow. Using short laser pulses, a research team led by Misha Ivanov of the Max Born Institute in Berlin together with scientists from the Russian Quantum Center in Moscow have now shed light on the extremely rapid processes taking place within novel materials. Their results have ...A new Bose-Einstein condensate created at Aalto University
16/04/2018
Researchers at Aalto University, Finland are the first to create a Bose-Einstein condensate of light coupled with metal electrons, so-called surface plasmon polaritons.Some superconductors can also carry currents of 'spin'
16/04/2018
Researchers have shown that certain superconductors -- materials that carry electrical current with zero resistance at very low temperatures -- can also carry currents of 'spin'. The successful combination of superconductivity and spin could lead to a revolution in high-performance computing, by dramatically reducing energy consumption.Plastic in organic waste: a challenge for the ecological recycling economy
09/04/2018
Private households that put plastic materials in their organic waste bins are contributing to environmental pollution. The reason is that communal facilities often use these wastes to produce biogas and process the final residue into organic fertilizer. Tiny plastic particles frequently remain in these fertilizers, thus making their way into soil and water. This was suggested by a study at ...Locker oder fest: Wenn Knoten auf Polymerringen sitzen
05/04/2018
Knoten begegnen uns täglich im Alltag. In der Natur finden sich Knoten regelmäßig auf Polymeren, also auf chemischen Verbindungen, die aus Ketten oder verzweigten Molekülen bestehen. Polymere sind von größter Wichtigkeit in der Biologie – Stichwort DNA –, aber genauso relevant für die Entwicklung von Kunststoffen oder anderen Materialien in der Chemie und ...Designing a new material for improved ultrasound
22/03/2018
Development of a theoretical basis for ultrahigh piezoelectricity in ferroelectric materials led to a new material with twice the piezo response of any existing commercial ferroelectric ceramics, according to an international team of researchers from Penn State, China and Australia.Earwigs and the art of origami
22/03/2018
ETH Zurich researchers have developed multifunctional origami structures, which they then fabricated into 4-D printed objects. The design principle mimics the structure of an earwig's wing.Elephant and cow manure for making paper sustainably
21/03/2018
It's likely not the first thing you think of when you see elephant dung, but this material turns out to be an excellent source of cellulose for paper manufacturing in countries where trees are scarce, scientists report. And in regions with plenty of farm animals such as cows, upcycling manure into paper products ...Mat baits, hooks and destroys pollutants in water
21/03/2018
A polymer mat developed at Rice University has the ability to fish biologically harmful contaminants from water through a strategy known as 'bait, hook and destroy.