Walking with coffee is a little-understood feat of physics
Using the cup-holding paradigm, new research indicates humans are able to switch abruptly and efficiently from one synchronous attractor to another, a mechanism that can be exploited for designing smart robots to adaptively handle complex objects in a changing environment.
Argonne and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association cooperate to develop battery recycling standards
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA).
Bacteria could learn to predict the future
Using computer simulations and a simple theoretical model, a new paper shows how bacteria could adapt to a fluctuating environment by learning its statistical regularities -- for example, which nutrients tend to be correlated -- and do so faster than evolutionary trial-and-error would normally allow.
Optical Techniques Offer Fast, Efficient COVID-19 Detection
Without the prospect of herd immunity on the immediate horizon, speedy detection for COVID-19 remains imperative for helping to curb the pandemic. Point-of-care testing that can provide immediate results is an urgent need. Researchers investigated the opportunities and challenges in developing rapid COVID-19 sensing techniques and discuss the prospects of optical biosensors for point-of-care COVID-19 testing in the journal Applied Physics Reviews.
Pivotal discovery of nanomaterial for LEDs
Perovskite nanocrystals have been prime candidates as a new material for LEDs but have proved unstable on testing. Scientists have discovered a method for stabilizing them, which have applications for consumer electronics, detectors and medical imaging.
Tea Time Gets Flavor Boost from Thin Film, Impure Water
In Physics of Fluids, researchers describe how they applied rheology to the seemingly quaint purpose of improving the quality of a cup of black tea. They describe the interfacial phenomenon in a cup left to cool after steeping, when a thin film at the air-water interface can form, and assess the mechanical properties of the film, the formation of which is affected by water hardness, acidity, sugar or milk, tea concentration, and brewing temperature.
Nanofiber Face Masks Improve Filtration Efficiency, Need Replacing More Often
Innovations to improve mask efficacy, with increasing focus on nanofiber manufacturing, have resulted in higher filtration efficiency, greater comfort, and easier breathing capacity. However, the effects of microwater droplets on the integrity of nanofibers are relatively unclear. In Physics of Fluids, researchers examine these ambiguities through a visualization of nanofibers interacting with water aerosol exposure. They used high-speed microscopic videos to systematically visualize the evolution of nanofibers with different contact angles, diameters, and mesh sizes under water aerosol exposure.
Science Snapshots from Berkeley Lab
An experiment to study gravity at the quantum scale, insights into an antibiotic-building enzyme, and the backstory of an incredible new protein prediction algorithm are featured in this month's roundup of science highlights.
The Magic Is Gone for Neutron Number 32
Protons and neutrons orbit atomic nuclei in shells with caps on how many protons or neutrons they can hold. Full shells mean stable, compact nuclei. Physicists call the number of protons or neutrons in a "magic" numbered full shell. New research shows that a previously reported "magicity" for number 32 does not appear in neutron-rich potassium isotopes.
Researchers Find a Way to Check That Quantum Computers Return Accurate Answers
Quantum computers become ever more powerful, but how can we be sure that the answers they return are accurate? A team of physicists from Vienna, Innsbruck, Oxford, and Singapore solves this problem by letting quantum computers check each other.
Al Ashley Fellows give advice to future scientists
Three physicists talk about how they got started, their work at SLAC and what they would say to others considering a career in STEM.
Discovery paves way for improved quantum devices
Physicists and engineers have found a way to identify and address imperfections in materials for one of the most promising technologies in commercial quantum computing.
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Ferroelectrics everywhere?
A new family of ferroelectric materials that could potentially improve information and energy storage came about due to searching for ferroelectricity in places researchers never looked before.
Toward Scaling Up Nanocages to Trap Noble Gases
Commercially available materials may be a potentially scalable platform for trapping gases for nuclear energy and other applications.
Results from Search for 'Chiral Magnetic Effect' at RHIC
Physicists from the STAR Collaboration of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility for nuclear physics research at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory, presented long-awaited results from a "blind analysis" of how the strength of the magnetic field generated in certain collisions affects the particles streaming out.
Protruding Eyes, Mouth Make Stingrays More Hydrodynamically Efficient
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.
Compact Speaker Systems Direct Sound Efficiently
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.
PPPL physicist helps confirm a major advance in stellarator performance for fusion energy
Results of a heat-confinement experiment on the twisty magnetic Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Germany could enable devices based on the W7-X design to lead to a practical fusion reactor.
Well, This Is Cool: PNNL's Bruce Kay Is A Supercooled Water Expert
Bruce Kay is an international authority on how water, and whose research examines how fast reactions occur between molecules and surfaces and also how they convert from solid to liquid to gas.
Updated State-of-the-Art Computer Code Could Advance Efforts to Harness Fusion Energy on Earth
Researchers at PPPL have used supercomputers and a state-of-the-art computer code to simulate plasma in fusion devices under a wider range of conditions than ever before.
NRAO Names New Assistant Director for New Mexico Operations
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory has named Dr. Patricia (Trish) Henning as its next Assistant Director for New Mexico Operations. In that role, she will lead the operations of the Very Large Array, the Very Long Baseline Array, and the Domenici Science Operations Center in Socorro, NM.
Geophysicist sprints to monitor quake aftershocks in Alaska
Cornell professor and collaborators collect data that could provide new insight into the mechanics of crustal faults and possibly help researchers understand and anticipate future earthquake clusters.
Computers Help Scientists Understand the Particles that Make Up Atoms
To reduce the need for computer power, researchers typically simulate how quarks combine to make up larger particles by simulating quarks heavier than quarks found in nature. Now, using the Summit supercomputer, a team simulated much lighter quarks than possible in the past. This produced more realistic results that will help scientists investigate the Higgs boson.
LED Material Shines Under Strain
A team led by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley has demonstrated an approach for achieving LEDs with near 100% light-emission efficiency at all brightness levels.
How extreme cold can crack lithium-ion battery materials, degrading performance
Storing the rechargeable batteries at sub-freezing temperatures can crack the battery cathode and separate it from other parts of the battery, a new study shows.