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Wind energy holds great promise as a source of renewable energy, but some have wondered addressing climate change has taken precedence over conservation of biodiversity. Wind turbines, for example, kill some birds, and the fatality rate for bats is even higher. In the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, scientists report the results of a survey of stakeholders in the wind energy field about attitudes toward the relative emphasis on climate change versus biodiversity issues.

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Mathematicians have successfully applied a new, pictorial approach to answer complex questions that puzzle analysts, such as, do media stories on firearm legislation influence gun sales? Cause-and-effect queries like this pop up in various fields, from finance to neuroscience, and objective methods are needed to deliver reliable answers.

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Inspired by their use in mechanical systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers are testing a magnetically-actuated fluidic valve to use in trauma patients suffering from hemorrhage.

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Coordinated behavior is common in a variety of biological systems, such as insect swarms, fish schools and bacterial colonies. But the way information is spread and decisions are made in such systems is difficult to understand. A group of researchers from Southeast University and China University of Mining and Technology studied the synchronized flight of pigeon flocks. They used this as a basis to explain the mechanisms behind coordinated behavior, in the journal Chaos.

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Blood clots have long been implicated in heart attacks and strokes. While the role of one key protein, called von Willebrand factor, has been established, a reliable model for predicting how it collects in blood vessels remains elusive. Researchers review recent work on understanding the behavior of vWF in APL Bioengineering, painting a portrait of vWF, and by highlighting advances in the field, the authors put forth promising avenues for therapies in controlling these proteins.

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Multiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer in which malignant plasma cells accumulate in the bone marrow, and recent studies have shown that some can leave the marrow and enter the blood stream. Until now, it has been difficult to detect these cells, known as clonal circulating plasma cells, in the blood.

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The Kincade Fire has been burning through Sonoma County, displacing people from their homes and leaving destruction in its wake. It is a stark reminder of the increasingly pressing need for a better understanding of how fires begin and spread. This is where Rodman Linn and his research come in. He develops and uses computational models of the coupled interaction between the wildfires and surrounding atmosphere at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In the November 2019 issue of Physics Today, Linn describes a few of the many ways that fluid dynamics controls the behavior of fires.

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The lack of a clinically viable method to track and direct cancer drugs to tumors is a big problem for targeted therapeutics. But a new ultrasonic method proposed by biomedical engineers from Qifa Zhou’s team at the University of Southern California could enable acoustic control and real-time tracking of drug release within the body. The researchers report on their manipulation of ultrasonic waves to pinpoint drug delivery in Applied Physics Letters.

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Researchers at Montana Technological University have developed a portable electrospinning device with a confined electric field that can safely deposit bandages and drugs directly onto biological surfaces, using air to spray the fibers out onto the surface, like a can of spray paint. The device can be used to cover wounds and provide controlled drug release over time, and is described in the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B.

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The texture of food is an important part of enjoying foods. In order to completely understand these properties, better methods for testing are required to capture the motion inside liquid materials, especially in the case of foods that are complex liquids, like gelled desserts. In a study in Physics of Fluids, researchers introduce an updated method that can measure linear viscoelasticity and phase lag simultaneously in an opaque liquid, capturing information about complex rheological properties.

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Quantum mechanics has come a long way during the past 100 years but still has a long way to go. In AVS Quantum Science, researchers from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa review the progress being made in using structured light in quantum protocols to create a larger encoding alphabet, stronger security and better resistance to noise.

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Game theory has historically studied cooperation and hierarchy, and has sought to explain why individuals cooperate, even though they might be better off not to do so. In this week’s Chaos, researchers use a specialized graph to map a social network of cooperators and their neighbors; they discovered cooperators can attract more neighbors to follow their behaviors and are more likely to become leaders, indicating different learning patterns exist between cooperators and defectors.

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The American Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society announce Svetlana Jitomirskaya, from the University of California, Irvine, as the recipient of the 2020 Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics. The award is given annually to recognize significant contributions to the field. Jitomirskaya is the second woman to receive this award.

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A biomimetic blood vessel was fabricated using a modified 3D cell printing technique and bioinks. The result is a fully functional blood vessel with a dual-layer architecture that outperforms existing engineered tissue and brings 3D-printed blood vessels several fundamental steps closer to clinical use. The results, published in Applied Physics Reviews, include details on the triple-coaxial 3D printing technology and analysis of the unique architecture, physical strengths and biological activity of the engineered tissue.

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Mohan Edirisinghe leads a team at University College London studying the fabrication of polymeric nanofibers and microfibers -- very thin fibers made up of polymers. The fibers can be woven into textilelike structures but depending on the use, different fiber thicknesses may be necessary. To study the effects of various parameters on fiber fabrication, the researchers compared the characteristics of fibers created in different ways. The group describes the work in Applied Physics Reviews.

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The entry probe of the Galileo mission to Jupiter entered the planet’s atmosphere in 1995 in fiery fashion, generating enough heat to cause plasma reactions on its surface. The data relayed about the burning of its heat shield differed from the effects predicted in fluid dynamics models, and new work examines what might have caused such a discrepancy.

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Hydrogen-containing substances are important for many industries, but scientists have struggled to obtain detailed images to understand the element’s behavior. In Review of Scientific Instruments, researchers demonstrate the quantification of hydrogen for different states of water -- i.e., liquid, frozen and supercooled -- for applications to eco-friendly fuel cells.

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When a heart attack occurs, muscle in the heart tissue can be scarred, interfering with electrical activity necessary for healthy heart function. Using artificial materials to patch or rebuild damaged parts has been tried but only recently has work focused on the electrical properties needed for proper cardiac operation. In this week’s APL Bioengineering, investigators review the use of electrically conductive biomaterials for heart repair and treatment.

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During the past 20 years, the oil industry has begun to transition away from light oils toward heavier oils. But transporting heavy oils cost-effectively is a challenge because heavy oils are viscous -- essentially a thick, sticky and semifluid mess. One way to outmaneuver this problem, reported in Physics of Fluids, is a viscoplastic lubrication technique.

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The winners of the 2019 AIP Science Communication Awards are announced for their topical works on robotics inspired by animals, the nature of the universe, climate change, the awe and excitement of space, and the mystery of black holes. The winners are David L. Hu, Marcia Bartusiak, Nathaniel Rich, Raman Prinja, and Rushmore DeNooyer.

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Inspired by cephalopods, scientists developed an aquatic robot that mimics their form of propulsion. These high-speed, squidlike robots are made of smart materials, which make them hard to detect, while maintaining a low environmental footprint. Physicists used numerical simulations to illustrate the physical mechanisms and fluid mechanics of a squid’s swimming method. By using this form of locomotion, the new device can achieve impressive speeds, just like its animal inspiration.

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To develop higher capacity batteries, researchers have looked to lithium sulfur batteries because of sulfur’s high theoretical capacity and energy density. But there are still several problems to solve before they can be put into practical applications. The biggest is the shuttling effect that occurs during cycling. To solve this problem and improve lithium sulfur battery performance, the researchers created a sandwich-structured electrode using a novel material that traps polysulfides and increases the reaction kinetics.

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The complex interplay among the arteriovenous grafts, the vessels they connect, and the blood they transport has been difficult to simulate with computers, but one new method provides a way. Researchers report in Physics of Fluids on a series of simulations that reconstructed the fluid dynamics affected by the insertion of an AVG.

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Researchers in Japan have developed a type of processor called PAXEL, a device that can potentially bypass Moore’s Law and increase the speed and efficiency of computing. In APL Photonics, the researchers looked at using light for the data transport step in integrated circuits, since photons are not subject to Moore’s Law. Instead of integrated electronic circuits, much new development now involves photonic integrated circuits. The PAXEL accelerator takes this approach and uses power-efficient nanophotonics.

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By studying the brain dynamics of 28 subjects with epilepsy, scientists demonstrated there is no evidence for a previously suspected warning sign for seizures known as “critical slowing down,” which refers to characteristic changes in the behavior of a complex system that approaches a theoretical tipping point; when this point is exceeded, there can be impactful and devastating changes. The researchers discuss their work in this week’s Chaos.

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Being able to accurately forecast how much solar energy reaches the surface of the Earth is key to guiding decisions for running solar power plants and new work in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy looks to provide a standard of reference to the field. Dazhi Yang proposes an improved way to assess day-ahead solar forecasting, which combines two popular reference methods for weather forecasting, namely persistence and climatology. His approach provides a new way to gauge the skill of a forecaster.

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Despite advances in medical imaging, the mechanisms leading to the irregular contractions of the heart during rhythm disorders remain poorly understood. Research suggests existing data from ultrasound imaging can be used to work backwards to reconstruct underlying electrical causes of arrhythmias.

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Scientists have used a microchip to map the back of the eye for disease diagnosis. The interference technology used in the microchip has been around for a little while. This is the first time technical obstacles have been overcome to fabricate a miniature device able to capture high quality images.

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In a kaleidoscope, mirrors are placed at angles to create a visual illusion of multiple, symmetric images from one object. Researchers started with a cylindrical vector optical field and introduce a kaleidoscope structure to the polarization states by assigning a parameter for mirror-symmetric axes.

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An interdisciplinary team has found a solution to a problem plaguing developmental biology -- long-term cell tracking and manipulation. Researchers painstakingly developed an automated microfluidic device for the stable imaging of mice embryonic stem cells over a three-day period.

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African Americans are seeing growth in engineering and physical sciences but are not progressing at the same rate when compared to the general population. A report from the American Institute of Physics Statistical Research Center examined the number of bachelor’s degrees earned from 2005 to 2015.

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Medical implants of the future may feature reconfigurable electronic platforms that can morph in shape and size dynamically as bodies change or transform to relocate from one area to monitor another within our bodies. In Applied Physics Letters, a group of researchers reports a silicon honeycomb-serpentine reconfigurable electronic platform that can dynamically morph into three different shapes: quatrefoils (four lobes), stars and irregular ones.

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After noticing how the construction of dams significantly alter the hydrodynamics of natural rivers and the resulting downstream riverbed evolution, researchers decided to apply numerical simulations to help determine what’s at play in the relationship of sediment motion and flow conditions.

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History of science author and editor Melinda Baldwin has been named the AIP Endowed Professor in the History of Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland (UMD) in partnership with the American Institute of Physics (AIP), effective fall 2020.

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LEDs made of indium gallium nitride provide better luminescence efficiency than many of the other materials used to create blue and green LEDs, but a big challenge of working with InGaN is its known dislocation density defects that make it difficult to understand its emission properties.

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An explosion is a complex event involving quickly changing temperatures, pressures and chemical concentrations. In the Journal of Applied Physics, a special type of infrared laser, known as a swept-wavelength external cavity quantum cascade laser, is used to study explosions.

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Many industrial buildings rely on ultrasound instruments that continually monitor the structural integrity of their systems without damaging or altering their features. One new technique draws on laser technology and candle soot to generate effective ultrasonic waves for nondestructive testing and evaluation.

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Researchers have developed a way to remove ice and frost from surfaces extremely efficiently, using less than 1% of the energy and less than 0.01% of the time needed for traditional defrosting methods. Instead of conventional defrosting, which melts all the ice or frost from the top layer down

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Scientists are using nanoparticle screening on personal care products and finding previously thought toxic chemicals may not be harmful. In Biomicrofluidics, researchers discuss their work successfully using microchips to demonstrate titanium dioxide, a chemical found in most sunscreens, not only is nontoxic but also offers protection against ultraviolet damage to skin cells.

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When energy is added to uranium under pressure, it creates a shock wave, and even a tiny sample will be vaporized like a small explosion. By using smaller, controlled explosions, physicists can test on a microscale what could previously be tested only in larger, more dangerous experiments. In a recent experiment, scientists used a laser to ablate atomic uranium while recording chemical reactions as the plasma cooled, oxidized and formed species of more complex uranium. They discuss their work in this week’s Physics of Plasmas.

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Monitoring and tracking biological threats or epidemics require the ability to carry out tests in the field during austere situations. Expensive laboratory equipment is often unavailable in these settings, so inexpensive point-of-care technology is needed. Ordinary paper is often used, since it’s cheap, portable and widely available. However, paper poses some problems that hinder its usefulness. In this week’s Biointerphases, investigators report a technique that greatly improves the performance of paper-based point-of-care technologies.

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The American Institute of Physics announced astronomer Virginia Trimble has been selected to receive the 2019 Andrew Gemant Award, an annual prize recognizing contributions to the cultural, artistic and humanistic dimension of physics. The award recognizes Trimble’s lifelong successes in the physical sciences and “for taking the broader view of how physics and astronomy is accomplished, creatively engaging physical scientists and the public throughout her lifetime, and commitment to establishing science within the social perspective.”

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The human heart’s energy needs and functions are difficult to reproduce in other animals; one new system looks to circumvent these issues and provide a functional view of how different treatments can help ailing cells in the heart following oxygen and nutrient deprivations. Researchers have unveiled a new silicon chip that holds human lab-grown heart muscle cells for assessing the effectiveness of new drugs. They discuss their work in this week’s APL Bioengineering.

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Advances in adapting the technology and better methods for predicting wind conditions have fanned significant growth of the use of wind turbines for electricity in the last 40 years. A new report, in Applied Physics Reviews, takes stock of where the field is now and what lies ahead. Researchers surveyed the growth of wind technology as a source of renewable energy and assessed its viability for continuing to capture larger shares of the electricity market.

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Molecular interactions between gases and liquids underpin much of our lives, but difficulties in measuring gas-liquid collisions have so far prevented the fundamental exploration of these processes. Researchers in the U.K. hope their new technique of enabling the visualization of gas molecules bouncing off a liquid surface will help climate scientists improve their predictive atmospheric models. The technique is described in The Journal of Chemical Physics.

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Blood spatters are hydrodynamic signatures of violent crimes, often revealing when an event occurred and where the perpetrator and victim were located. Researchers have worked toward gaining a better physical understanding of the fluid dynamical phenomena during gunshot spatters, which could enhance investigations. In the Physics of Fluids, they propose a generalized model for the chaotic disintegration of a liquid due to an arbitrarily shaped projectile. Their model focuses on providing predictive models of gunshot blood atomization and droplet flight and spattering.

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Nuclear power plants can withstand most inclement weather and do not emit harmful greenhouse gases. However, trafficking of the nuclear materials to furnish them with fuel remains a serious issue as security technology continues to be developed. Two physicists conducted research to enhance global nuclear security by improving radiation detectors. According to them, improving radiation detectors requires the identification of better sensor materials and the development of smarter algorithms to process detector signals. They discuss their work in this week’s Journal of Applied Physics.

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Several screening tests for cervical cancer have been developed in recent years. One technique uses immunofluorescent staining to determine the levels of biomarkers to indicate a cell is undergoing HPV-related cancerous growth. Immunostaining for these proteins, however, can be time-intensive. One new approach, discussed in this week’s Biomicrofluidics, looks to provide a way to screen cervical cells with immunostaining more efficiently, drawing inspiration from an unlikely source: Pachinko.

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Gaining a full understanding of systems of exoplanets and distant stars is difficult, because the initial positions and velocities of the exoplanets are unknown. Determining whether the system dynamics are quasi-periodic or chaotic is cumbersome, expensive and computationally demanding. In this week’s Chaos, Tamás Kovács delivers an alternative method for stability analysis of exoplanetary bodies using only the observed time series data to deduce dynamical measurements and quantify the unpredictability of exoplanet systems.