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Fuel cell efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells decreases as the Nafion membrane, used to separate the anode and cathode within a fuel cell, swells as it interacts with water. Russian and Australian researchers have now shown that this Nafion separator membrane partially unwinds some of its constituent fibers, which then protrude away from the surface into the bulk water phase for hundreds of microns. Their results were published in this week’s Journal of Chemical Physics.

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The American Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society announced today that Bill Sutherland of the University of Utah, Francesco Calogero of the Sapienza University of Rome and Michel Gaudin of the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique Saclay are the winners of the 2019 Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics.

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The American Institute of Physics announced today the four winners of its 2018 Science Communication Awards for works on planetary astronomy, cutting-edge quantum technology and the detritus of human society. The awards carry a $3,000 prize, an engraved Windsor chair and a certificate of recognition for each category. The 2018 winners are David Baron, Jason Palmer, Claire Eamer and Wyatt Channell.

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Hardware that mimics the neural circuitry of the brain requires building blocks that can adjust how they synapse. One such approach, called memristors, uses current resistance to store this information. New work looks to overcome reliability issues in these devices by scaling memristors to the atomic level. Researchers demonstrated a new type of compound synapse that can achieve synaptic weight programming and conduct vector-matrix multiplication with significant advances over the current state of the art. They discuss their work in this week’s Journal of Applied Physics.

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Doctors use invasive procedures to decide whether an ablation procedure to remove heart tissue is likely to have a positive outcome. CT scans or ultrasounds are useful in determining the structure of a patient’s heart, but invasive electrical procedures are used to identify and localize the source of the atrial fibrillation. Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara have developed new algorithms to localize the source of an atrial fibrillation. They report their findings in APL Bioengineering.

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A group of researchers in Canada reports the construction of the first reservoir computing device built with a microelectromechanical system. Published in the Journal of Applied Physics, the neural network exploits the nonlinear dynamics of a microscale silicon beam to perform its calculations. The group’s work looks to create devices that can act simultaneously as a sensor and a computer using a fraction of the energy a normal computer would use.

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To forge nanodiamonds, which have potential applications in medicine, optoelectronics and quantum computing, researchers expose organic explosive molecules to powerful detonations in a controlled environment. These explosive forces, however, make it difficult to study the nanodiamond formation process. To overcome this hurdle, researchers recently developed a procedure and a computer model that can simulate the highly variable conditions of explosions on phenomenally short time scales. They report their work in The Journal of Chemical Physics.

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A new method enables researchers to directly observe and capture atomic motions at surfaces and interfaces in real time.

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Researchers experimentally observed the ionization-induced channeling of an intense microwave beam propagating through a neutral gas (>103 Pa).

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In the world of catalytic reactions, polymers created through electropolymerization are attracting renewed attention. A group of Chinese researchers recently provided the first detailed characterization of the electrochemical properties of polyaniline and polyaspartic acid (PASP) thin films. In AIP Advances, the team used a wide range of tests to characterize the polymers, especially their capacity for catalyzing the oxidation of popularly used materials, hydroquinone and catechol.

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IBM researchers are developing a new computer architecture, better equipped to handle increased data loads from artificial intelligence. Their designs draw on concepts from the human brain and significantly outperform conventional computers in comparative studies. They report on their recent findings in the Journal of Applied Physics.

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Silicon carbide has enjoyed renewed interest for its potential in quantum technology. Its ability to house optically excitable defects, called color centers, has made it a strong candidate material to become the building block of quantum computing. Now, researchers have created a list of “recipes” physicists can use to create specific types of defects with desired optical properties in SiC. The team reports their findings in Applied Physics Letters.

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The Coriolis effect impacts global wind patterns and ocean currents and its magnitude, relative to the magnitude of inertial forces, is expressed by the Rossby number. For over 100 years, scientists have believed that the higher this number, the less likely Coriolis effect influences oceanic or atmospheric events. Recently, researchers found that even smaller ocean disturbances with high Rossby numbers, like vortices within submarine wakes, are influenced by the Coriolis effect. Their discovery challenges assumptions at the very foundation of theoretical oceanography and geophysical fluid dynamics. The team reports their findings in Physics of Fluids.

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New work looks to understand how iron oxide nanoparticles age, and how aging may change their functional or safety profiles. By combining lab-based Mössbauer spectroscopy with “center of gravity” analysis, researchers can quantify the diffusive oxidation of magnetite into maghemite, and track the process. In Applied Physics Letters, the work is poised to help understand the aging mechanisms in nanomaterials, and how these effects change the way they interact with the human body.

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Scientists at the University of Tokyo have recorded the largest magnetic field ever generated indoors -- a whopping 1,200 tesla, as measured in the standard units of magnetic field strength. The high magnetic field also has implications for nuclear fusion reactors, a tantalizing if unrealized potential future source of abundant clean energy. The experiments that set the new world record are described in this week’s Review of Scientific Instruments.

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Printed electronics use standard printing techniques to manufacture electronic devices on different substrates like glass, plastic films, and paper. Interest in this area is growing because of the potential to create cheaper circuits more efficiently than conventional methods. A new study published in AIP Advances provides insights into the processing of copper nanoparticle ink with green laser light.

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Scientists looking to hydrogen as a next-generation clean energy source are developing hydrogen-sensing technologies, the most common of which uses palladium-based thin films because palladium readily absorbs hydrogen gas. However, it also readily absorbs other gases, decreasing the overall efficiency of these sensors. Researchers conducted a systematic study of hydrogen detection using the Extraordinary Hall Effect to measure the hydrogen magnetization response in cobalt-palladium thin films, and reports in the Journal of Applied Physics.

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For fusion power plants to be effective, scientists must find a way to trigger the low-to-high confinement transition, or “L-H transition” for short. Scientists have observed that the L-H transition is always associated with zonal flows of plasma. Theoretically, zonal flows in a plasma consist of both a stationary flow with a near-zero frequency and one that oscillates at a higher frequency called the geodesic acoustic mode. For the first time, researchers have detected GAM at two different points simultaneously within the reactor. This new experimental setup will be a useful diagnostic tool for investigating the physics of zonal flows, and their role in the L-H transition. The researchers report these findings in a new paper published in Physics of Plasmas.

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Epidemiological studies have established a strong correlation between inhaling ultrafine particles from incomplete combustion and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Still, relatively little is known about the mechanisms behind how air particulates affect human health. New work with carbon nanodots seeks to provide the first model of how ultrafine carbon-based particles interact with the lung tissues. Researchers created a 3D lung cell model system to investigate how carbon-based combustion byproducts behave as they interact with human epithelial tissue. They discuss their work in Biointerphases.

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Spiderwebs can withstand a predator’s impact while still helping catch and detect small prey. Spiders architect these lightweight networks for strength and elasticity using different silks and geometric structures. Recently, researchers unraveled a new energy absorption mechanism that explains how spiderwebs can be simultaneously sensitive and impact-resistant. The research team reports their findings in Applied Physics Letters.

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Scientists seek to better understand protein folding to cure misfolding diseases, but this incredibly complex process requires sophisticated algorithms to identify the folding mechanisms. Computational biophysicists have proposed a new way to identify the most crucial factors for protein folding. They demonstrated the short simulation time of their approach on a small but intriguing protein, “GB1 beta-hairpin,” in The Journal of Chemical Physics.

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Titanium-based materials are widely used in medical implant technology, and coating the surface of titanium materials with biologically active molecules has recently shown promise to improve how cells adhere to implants and promote tissue regeneration. The mechanisms behind how peptides stick to titanium, however, are not fully understood. Researchers have now found how calcium ions present at the interface between titanium oxide and tissues affect how well peptides bind to the metal. The team reports their findings in Biointerphases.

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The recurrence plot is a vital tool for analyzing nonlinear dynamic systems, especially systems involving empirically observed time series data. RPs show patterns in a phase space system and indicate where data visit the same coordinates, and can mimic some types of inferential statistics and linear analyses. A paper in Chaos provides a proof of concept for using RPs to mimic the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, which scientists use to determine if two data sets significantly differ.

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Flashes of brightness known as solar flares can be followed by coronal mass ejections that send plasma from the sun into space. These charged particles can then travel to Earth, and when they arrive they wreak havoc on Earth’s magnetic field. The result can be beautiful but also destructive: auroras and geomagnetic storms. In the journal Chaos, researchers report a method for analyzing magnetic field data that might provide better short-term forecasting of geomagnetic storms.

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Designing lightweight materials -- a goal in the automotive and airline industries -- requires carefully joining together different types of materials like metals and polymers, and these additional steps drive up manufacturing costs. New work in laser technology recently increased the adhesion strength of metal-plastic hybrid materials; engineers demonstrated a technique for binding plastic to aluminum by pretreating sheets of aluminum with infrared lasers. They discuss their work in the Journal of Laser Applications.

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Cancer researchers struggle to identify tumor cells that are interspersed within nonmalignant tissues because tumor cells exploit the tissue environment and monopolize available resources to continue growing. Researchers attribute cancer cell’s ability to use cell signaling and metabolic pathways that override normal cell growth restrictions to complicated chemical exchanges between tissue and tumor cells. A new approach shows promise to begin analyzing cell-to-cell interactions in this complex environment. The researchers discuss their work in Biointerphases.

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Innovations on the microscale depend on understanding and predicting the behavior of electricity on the smallest of length scales. Scientists already have a good grasp of “electrical breakdown,” when electricity jumps across large gaps and creates plasma. However, researchers have had little insight into the behavior of electricity as it jumps across very small gaps until now. A team reports new research, in the Physics of Plasmas, that shines light on the behavior of electrical breakdown for the smallest gap distances ever studied: a mere 5 to 10 microns.

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Ceramic materials are used in nuclear, chemical and electrical power generation industries because of their ability to withstand extreme environments. However, at high temperatures, ceramics are susceptible to thermal-shock fractures caused by rapid temperature-changing events, such as cold water droplet contact with hot surfaces. In a novel interdisciplinary approach, engineers at the University of New Mexico report in AIP Advances the use of a cheap, simple, water-repelling coating to prevent thermal shock in ceramics.

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Researchers recently discovered that the strength of the magnetic field required to elicit a particular quantum mechanical process corresponds to the temperature of the material. Based on this finding, scientists can determine a sample’s temperature to a resolution of one cubic micron by measuring the field strength at which this effect occurs. Temperature sensing is integral in most industrial, electronic and chemical processes, so greater spatial resolution could benefit commercial and scientific pursuits. The team reports their findings in AIP Advances.

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Clinicians most often monitor antibodies because these small proteins attach to antigens, or foreign substances, we face every day. Most biomolecules, however, have complicated charge characteristics, and the sensor response from conventional carbon nanotube systems can be erratic. A team in Japan recently revealed how these systems work and proposed changes to dramatically improve biomolecule detection. They report their findings in the Journal of Applied Physics.

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Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles present research on a curious cosmic phenomenon known as “whistlers” -- very low frequency packets of radio waves that race along magnetic field lines. Appearing in the Physics of Plasmas, the study provides new insights into the nature of whistlers and space plasmas and could one day aid in the development of practical plasma technologies with magnetic fields, including spacecraft thrusters that use charged particles as fuel.

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The 1987 Montreal Protocol and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol called for countries around the world to phase out substances that deplete the ozone layer and cause global warming, but many HVAC systems still use synthetic refrigerants that violate those international agreements and inflict environmental damage. Recently, Iranian researchers investigated how natural refrigerants could be used in geothermal heat pumps to reduce energy consumption and operating costs. They report their findings in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy.

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Researchers from the University of Florida and the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil have used state of the art simulations to assess the effect of both pH and redox potential, or rate of electron transfer, on a biomolecule.

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Experts in fluid dynamics and kids jumping into a pool both know that an object falling into a liquid makes a splash. A new study finds that a single layer of a penetrable fabric – in this case, toilet paper – causes a wettable ball to make an especially tall splash, but additional layers can stop the splash entirely.

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400 kilometers above Earth, researchers examined waves in complex plasma under microgravity conditions and found that the microparticles behaved in nonuniform ways in the presence of varying electrical fields. They report some of the first findings from the Plasma-Kristall 4 experiment, a collaboration between the European Space Agency and the Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos, in Physics of Plasmas.

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In nature, the nuclear reactions that form stars are often accompanied by astronomically high amounts of energy, a challenge for nuclear astrophysicists trying to study these reactions; the chances of re-creating such a spark are unfathomably low. However, after recent renovations to its accelerator, one laboratory reported record-breaking performance. Following six years of upgrades to the Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source at the Laboratory for Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics, researchers report improved results, discussed in Review of Scientific Instruments.

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Metastasis is a leading contributor to many deaths related to cancer, but the exact mechanisms for how broken cellular function appears in cells far removed from a cancer’s primary tumor remain an area of ongoing research. Scientists at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities confirmed a link between healthy-tumor hybrid cells and metastatic tumors for the first time in live animals. In APL Bioengineering, they discuss how they studied the distinct, heterogenous gene expression profiles found in human hybrid cells and how hybrid cells spontaneously occur in mouse models.

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Birds create songs by moving muscles in their vocal organs to vibrate air passing through their tissues, and new research shows that these muscles act in concert to create sound. Scientists describe how zebra finches produce songs in this week’s Chaos: Using electromyographic signals, they tracked the activity of one muscle involved in creating sound, the syringealis ventralis. They then used the data from this muscle to create a synthetic zebra finch song.

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Scientists studying nucleation often use microscopic droplets as miniature experiments that can run quickly, in parallel, and in a small space. However, these experiments require high-resolution images, limiting the number of droplet images that can be simultaneously processed. Researchers recently overcame this challenge by focusing their measurements on the contrast between droplets and their surrounding medium. This technique, published this week in AIP Advances, provides the most accurate and efficient method for detecting crystal nucleation to date.

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Modern communication systems often employ optical fibers to carry signals across or between devices. These integrated optics combine more than one function into a single circuit. However, signal transmission requires long optical fibers, which makes it difficult to miniaturize the device. Instead of long optical fibers, scientists have started testing planar waveguides. In the Journal of Applied Physics, investigators report on a laser-assisted study of a type of glass that shows promise as a material for broadband planar waveguide amplifiers.

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Metallic glasses are an exciting research target for tantalizing applications; however, the difficulties associated with predicting how much energy these materials release when they fracture is slowing down development of metallic glass-based products. Recently, researchers developed a way of simulating to the atomic level how metallic glasses behave as they fracture. This modeling technique could improve computer-aided materials design and help researchers determine the properties of metallic glasses. The duo reports their findings in the Journal of Applied Physics.

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Leading Argonne National Laboratory researcher Seth Darling describes the most advanced research innovations that could address global clean water accessibility.

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In the heart, aging can disrupt the protein network within muscle cells that move blood around the body. However, a new discovery in how heart muscles maintain their shape in fruit flies sheds light on the crucial relationship between cardiac function, metabolism, and longevity. Researchers have discovered that maintaining high levels of the protein vinculin confers health benefits to fruit flies. Their work, published in APL Bioengineering, shows that fruit flies bred to produce 50 percent more vinculin enjoyed better cardiovascular health and lived a third of their average life span longer.

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Studying the photochemistry has shown that ultraviolet radiation can set off harmful chemical reactions in the human body and, alternatively, can provide “photo-protection” by dispersing extra energy. To better understand the dynamics of these photochemical processes, a group of scientists irradiated the RNA base uracil with ultraviolet light and documented its behavior on a picosecond timescale. They discuss their work this week in The Journal of Chemical Physics.

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The interaction of traveling waves in dissipative systems, physical systems driven by energy dissipation, can yield unexpected and sometimes chaotic results. These waves, known as dissipative pulses are driving experimental studies in a variety of areas that involve matter and energy flows. In the journal Chaos, researchers discuss their work studying collisions between three types of DSs to determine what happens when these traveling waves interact.

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Ferroelectric materials are behind some of the most advanced technology available today. Findings that ferroelectricity can be observed in materials that exhibit other spontaneous transitions have given rise to a new class of materials, known as hybrid improper ferroelectrics. The properties of this type of material, however, are still far from being fully understood. New findings published in Applied Physics Letters help shine light on these materials and indicate potential for optoelectronic and storage applications.

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Superconductor-ferromagnet structures are widely regarded as the building blocks of superconducting spintronic technology. More conventional spintronic devices typically require large currents, so researchers are investigating the viability of low-resistance superconductors. Their new results could answer longstanding questions about how SF structures interact. They reveal a general mechanism of the long-range electromagnetic proximity effect in SF structures in Applied Physics Letters.

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Past research has shown a link between interstitial fluid flow and an increased invasion rate of glioblastoma cells, and a team of biomedical researchers and electrical engineers recently developed a new method to measure and reconstruct interstitial fluid flow velocities in the brain. This method gives researchers a first look at interstitial fluid flow dynamics in glioma models, and the technique can readily translate to clinical models already using contrast-enhanced MRI. The team describes their method in APL Bioengineering.

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A new microfluidics innovation shows hope to improve artificial placentas so preterm newborns can properly develop lungs following birth. An international team demonstrated the new technique to construct microchannels with a more efficient gas exchange between infant blood and air. The improved design uses both sides of the membrane for gas exchange; the group used this design to develop a prototype that oxygenates blood through a thin membrane. They report their findings in Biomicrofluidics.

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Using oscillating liquid streams, breakup and drop formation can be improved compared to common straight jets, but the many dynamic interactions make it difficult for scientists to understand the mechanisms behind this breakup. Now, researchers have simulated the breakup of an oscillating stream using numerical modelings. Their findings, published in Physics of Fluids, give researchers a better understanding of how an oscillating jet achieves these results. The report also offers a way to predict the device’s behavior numerically, which could save time and money in industry.