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In Physics of Fluids, researchers detail how the protruding eyes and mouths on simulated stingrays affect a range of forces involved in propulsion, such as pressure and vorticity. They created a computer model of a self-propelled flexible plate that mimicked a stingray's up-and-down harmonic oscillations and used it to illustrate the complex interplay between hydrodynamic forces. The group found that the eyes and mouth help streamline stingrays even further.

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In JASA Express Letters, researchers developed three designs for compact speaker systems that control the direction of sound more efficiently than previous models. For each speaker, the scientists were able to manipulate the timing and strength of the outgoing sound waves. They combined multiple speakers together into an array and used the constructive and destructive interference of sound waves to their advantage.

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In AVS Quantum Science, investigators outline how a time-sensitive network control plane could be a key component of a workable quantum network. In addition to the well-understood requirements of transmission distance and data rate, for quantum networks to be useful in a real-world setting there are at least two other requirements that need to be considered. One is real-time network control, specifically time-sensitive networking. The second is cost.

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In Journal for Renewable and Sustainable Energy, researchers share their work on the physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity of wood vinegar and tar fraction in bio-oil produced from hazelnut shells pyrolysis at 400 degrees Celsius to 1,000 C. The researchers found the wood vinegar and tar left over after burning the shells contained the most phenolic substances, which laid a foundation for the subsequent research on antioxidant properties.

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Wind power has experienced fast growth within China during the past decade, but many wind farms are being built within regions of high seismic activity. In Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, researchers present their work exploring the dynamic behaviors of wind turbines subjected to combined wind-earthquake loading. The group discovered that changes in the wind increase and decrease the response amplitude of the wind turbine under weak and strong earthquakes, respectively.

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While moving around within the gas in the interstellar medium, cosmic rays kickstart the background protons, which causes a collective plasma wave movement akin to ripples on a lake. The big question is how cosmic rays deposit their momentum into the background plasma. In Physics of Plasmas, plasma astrophysicists review recent developments within the field of studying the streaming instability triggered by cosmic rays, which likely have more impacts on galactic dynamics and the star formation cycle than previously known.

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AIP announces theoretical physicist Sylvester James "Jim" Gates Jr. as the winner of the 2021 Andrew Gemant Award, presented to those who have made significant contributions to the cultural, artistic, or humanistic dimension of physics. Gates was selected "for instilling a deep and humanistic love of physics in generations of students, being a steadfast ambassador of science policy and the history of physics, and his persistent dedication to communicating the wonders of the field."

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To fully harness the potential of sunlight, scientists have been trying to maximize the amount of energy that can be extracted from the sun. In Applied Physics Letters, researchers describe how pairing metal halide perovskites with conventional silicon leads to a more powerful solar cell that overcomes the 26% practical efficiency limit of using silicon cells alone. Perovskites fulfill all the optoelectronic requirements for a photovoltaic cell, and they can be manufactured using existing processes.

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In Physics of Fluids, researchers describe a simple model that captures the key mechanics of hand-washing, estimating the time scales on which particles, like viruses and bacteria, were removed. Particles are trapped on the rough surfaces of the hand in potential wells, as though they are at the bottom of a valley and the energy from the water flow must be high enough to get them up and out of the valley.

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When a medical imaging exam provides a clinical benefit, the only risk that should be considered is the exam itself rather than a patient's previous radiation exposure, according to a statement from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the American College of Radiology and the Health Physics Society, citing potential adverse effects on patient care.

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Hearing conservation programs and policies aim to protect workers from noise-induced hearing loss, but it remains unclear whether stress reactions caused by noise exposure might also lead to other negative health outcomes. In The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, researchers describe how data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey do not support an association between loud noise exposure and changes in biomarkers for cardiovascular disease or outcomes.

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Increased air pollution in recent years has exacerbated health risks for people who suffer from pulmonary diseases and these dynamics underscore the importance of increasing the efficacy of drug delivery devices that administer active pharmaceutical ingredients to treat respiratory illnesses. In Physics of Fluids, researchers describe developing a computational evaluation of drug delivery through both pressurized metered-dose inhalers and dry powder inhalers to determine how the process can be improved.

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In Biophysics Reviews, researchers review recent scientific literature about the effects of particle contaminants on the mucosal system, an internal membrane that serves as the body's lubricant and the first line of defense from infections and toxins. These data establish a clear link between exposure to airborne or waterborne particulate matter and several health conditions.

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Because there is no ethical way to extract brain tissue from patients to look for clues about how amyloid plaques and protein aggregates proliferate, supplementary techniques are needed to better understand the progression of Alzheimer's disease. During ACA's 71st annual meeting, Abdullah Al Bashit, from Northeastern University, will discuss using computational techniques to help address these challenges. His work demonstrates how using small and wide-angle scattering along with state-of-the-art detection techniques will help probe the molecular structure and proliferation.

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AIP's Center for History of Physics selects Robert van Leeuwen, Pepijn Moerman, and Jaco de Swart as the recipients of the 2021 AIP Robert H.G. Helleman Memorial Fellowships. The fellowships are made possible by a gift from Robert H.G. Helleman to establish an endowment for supporting young physicists with Dutch citizenship in their pursuit of research activities in physics in the United States.

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Achieving Net Zero energy, where the total amount of energy used is equal to the amount of renewable energy created, is closer than ever before, and hydrogen technologies will play an important role in achieving that goal, but needs and gaps need to be addressed before a true hydrogen-powered future can take form. There are many opportunities in the global public and private sectors for research, development, and deployment collaboration.

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LEDs are commonly used for sterilization, and in the continued effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic, LEDs can also help inactivate SARS-CoV-2. A team in Pakistan designed far-ultraviolet LEDs at a targeted wavelength of 222 nanometers, chosen both for its ability to inactivate the virus and for being safe on human skin. They based their design on the material aluminum gallium nitride, part of a set of materials called III-nitrides which are efficient, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly.

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Traditionally used energy harvesting technologies, like photovoltaic panels or wind turbines, suffer from several limitations. In the absence of daylight and wind, neither of the two can supply any power. In the case of ocean buoys, a potential solution is omnipresent: wave energy. Abundant, predictable, and consistent, the ocean's waves can be used to power navigation buoys. Researchers have developed sphere-based triboelectric nanogenerators that can be incorporated directly into navigational buoys to provide electricity from ocean waves.

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As more devices require recharging their batteries, researchers are looking to ambient lighting as a potential source of generating small amounts of power for indoor devices. The researchers used one lighting source, a white LED akin to normal brightness for indoor lights, to test three different modules -- a gallium indium phosphide semiconductor, a gallium arsenide semiconductor, and a silicon semiconductor. The light source peaked in intensity on the shorter wavelengths of light.

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The cardiac pacemaker of the future could be powered by the heart itself, according to researchers in China. Current cardiac pacemakers use a battery power supply and leads to keep hearts beating regularly. Yi Zhiran and his group are investing batteryless powering and leadless pacing, harvesting kinetic energy from the heart to power the lifesaving device. The energy is harvested by the buckling of the encapsulated structure of the pacemaker, creating buckled piezoelectric energy.

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As photovoltaic technology continues to progress, PV devices' applications in harvesting energy from indoor ambient light have become more realistic. Some combinations of PV material and light source can be more efficient in converting power than the same material under solar illumination, and a better understanding of these relationships is needed to fully characterize the behavior of solar cells under very low illumination conditions.

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During ACA's 71st annual meeting, Celia Schiffer, from the University of Massachusetts, will talk about her lab's work with virus substrate recognition as a method to avoid drug resistance. Schiffer and her team expanded their work on HIV and the hepatitis C virus to include human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and discovered that designing robust inhibitors to fit within the substrate envelope tips this balance toward decreasing the probability of resistance.

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Advances in artificial intelligence, specifically reinforcement learning, are proving beneficial to accelerating the pace of data-intensive challenges. The methods used by researchers with RL are techniques often used in video games, and by applying gamification to scientific processes, RL agents can learn as they are used in experiments, in effect, leveling up their rates of discovery as they work. Researchers are using trained RL agents at NSLS-II to accelerate the analysis of data-heavy measurements.

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Scientists have extensively studied how gastric juices in the stomach break down ingested food and other substances. However, less is known about how complex flow patterns and mechanical stresses in the stomach contribute to digestion. Researchers built a prototype of an artificial antrum to present a deeper understanding of how physical forces influence food digestion based on fluid dynamics. In Physics of Fluids, they reveal a classifying effect based on the breakup of liquid drops combined with transport phenomena.

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When we speak, we use our auditory and somatosensory systems to monitor the results of the movements of our tongue or lips. Since we cannot typically see our own faces and tongues while we speak, however, the potential role of visual feedback has remained less clear. In the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, researchers explore how readily speakers will integrate visual information about their tongue movements during a speech motor learning task.

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A key element to slowing metastasis in ovarian cancer is understanding the mechanisms of how tumor cells invade tissues. In APL Bioengineering, biophysics researchers explain how microscopic defects in how healthy cells line up can alter how easily ovarian cancer cells invade tissue. Using an experimental model, the group found that disruptions in the normal cellular layout, called topological defects, affect the rate of tumor cell invasion.

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Twelve distinguished speakers will be covering critical topics impacting energy storage and conversion at the upcoming AIP Publishing Horizons Virtual Conference on Aug. 4-6. The three-day event is organized by the journal Applied Physics Reviews and brings together leaders in the field of energy science to present their latest research in six sessions

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Myocardial infarction, or heart attacks, play a large part in heart diseases and the necrosis of cardiac tissue. In APL Bioengineering, researchers take stock of stem cell-laden 3D-bioprinted cardiac patch technologies and their efficacy as a therapeutic and regenerative approach for ischemic cardiomyopathy in reversing scar formation and promoting myocardial regeneration. They explore types of candidate stem cells that possess cardiac regenerative potential and share updates on the challenging implementation of the state-of-the-art 3D-bioprinting approach.

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The American Institute of Physics is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Watkins as AIP's first chief federation officer. He will be joining the institute in September to establish AIP's new federation office that will focus on enabling the goal of being a vibrant federation that advances the success of its 10 Member Societies whose membership in turn comprises 116,000 members of the physical sciences community.

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Obtaining split-second measurements relies on faultlessly rounding a raw time recorded by a stopwatch or electronic timing system to a submitted time. Researchers at the University of Surrey found certain stopwatches commit rounding errors when converting raw times to final submitted times. In American Journal of Physics, they outline a series of computer simulations based on procedures for converting raw race times for display.

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The most promising method to achieve real-world BCI applications is through electroencephalography, a method of monitoring the brain's electrical activity. EEG-based BCIs will require a number of technological advances prior to widespread use, but more importantly, they will raise a variety of social, ethical, and legal concerns. Researchers conducted a review of modern commercial brain-computer interface devices and discuss the primary technological limitations and humanitarian concerns of these devices in APL Bioengineering.

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In the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, researchers describe a real-time method for potentially helping turbine farms realize additional power from the clustering of their turbines. Their method requires no new sensors to identify which turbines at any given time could increase power production if yaw control is applied, and validation studies showed an increase of 1%-3% in overall power gain.

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In Biophysics Reviews, researchers provide an update on how electrical impulses in the heart travel from cell to cell. The connections between cells forming the low resistance pathway and facilitating the current flow are called gap junctions. Each consists of many channels, which are formed when specific proteins from one cell dock and fuse to the proteins from another cell. The scientists delve into the properties of gap junctions and their constituent proteins.

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Energy conversion and storage is a critical part of modern society as applications continue to develop at a rapid pace. At the 2021 AIP Publishing Horizons Virtual Conference, researchers will unveil and discuss the latest advances in energy science and how the field will change over the next decades. In addition to speaker sessions, a poster program will provide a wide view of the exciting research going on now by scientists around the world.