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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids, volatile organic compounds include a variety of chemicals, and many are associated with adverse health effects so detecting VOCs simply, quickly, and reliably is valuable for several practical applications. In Review of Scientific Instruments, researchers describe a device designed to analyze air samples containing various VOCs. The device inhales a sample, enabling the sensors within its aluminum gas chamber to analyze and respond in real situations.
In Physics of Fluids, researchers have developed a method to turn biodegradable plastic knives, spoons, and forks into a foam that can be used as insulation in walls or in flotation devices. The investigators placed the cutlery into a chamber filled with carbon dioxide. As pressure increased, the gas dissolved into the plastic. When they suddenly released the pressure in the chamber, the carbon dioxide expanded within the plastic, creating foaming.
An international research team reports their success in using urea and sodium hydroxide (NaOH, commonly known as lye or caustic soda) as a pretreatment of algae, which breaks down cellulose and more than doubles biogas production under their initial experimental conditions.
Researchers from China present the fastest real-time quantum random number generators to date to make the devices quicker and more portable. The device combines a state-of-the-art photonic integrated chip with optimized real-time postprocessing for extracting randomness from quantum entropy source of vacuum states.
In Physics of Fluids, investigators from the University of Florida and Lebanese American University carried out detailed computer simulations to test a mathematical theory they developed previously. They found nearly identical exhalations could spread in different directions when miniscule initial variations are substantially amplified by turbulence. This is the so-called butterfly effect.
Meteorites that do not experience high temperatures at any point in their existence provide a good record of complex chemistry present when or before our solar system was formed. So researchers have examined individual amino acids in these meteorites, many of which are not in present-day organisms. In Physics of Fluids, researchers show the existence of a systematic group of amino acid polymers across several members of the oldest meteorite class, the CV3 type.
For wind farms, it is important to control upstream turbines in an efficient manner so downstream turbines are not adversely affected by upstream wake effects. In the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, researchers show that by designing controllers based on viewing the wind farm system as a coupled network, it is possible to extract power more efficiently.
Solar steam generation has emerged as a promising renewable energy technology for water harvesting, desalination, and purification that could benefit people who need it most in remote communities, disaster-relief areas, and developing nations. In Applied Physics Letters, researchers inspired by mangrove trees thriving along coastlines developed a synthetic tree to enhance SSG, replacing capillary action with transpiration, the process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from leaves, stems, and flowers.
A study on the role of microscopic particles in virus transmission suggests pollen is nothing to sneeze at. In Physics of Fluids, researchers investigate how pollen facilitates the spread of an RNA virus like the COVID-19 virus. The study draws on cutting-edge computational approaches for analyzing fluid dynamics to mimic the pollen movement from a willow tree, a prototypical pollen emitter. Airborne pollen grains contribute to the spread of airborne viruses, especially in crowded environments.
Emerging open-source programming language Julia is designed to be fast and easy to use. Since it is particularly suited for numerical applications, scientists are using it to explore the challenges in transitioning to all-renewable power generation. Decarbonization implies a radical restructuring of power grids, which will become even more complex, so new computational tools are needed. In Chaos, researchers describe a software package they built to enable the simulation of general dynamical systems on complex networks.
Two COVID-19 pandemic curves emerged within many cities during the one-year period from March 2020 to March 2021. Oddly, the number of total daily infections reported during the first wave is much lower than that of the second, but the total number of daily deaths reported during the first wave is much higher than the second wave.
Combustion engines can develop high frequency oscillations, leading to structural damage to and unsafe operating conditions. In Physics of Fluids, research clarifies the feedback processes that give rise to these oscillations. The investigators studied simulated combustion events in a computational model of a rocket combustor and their analysis involved sophisticated techniques, including symbolic dynamics and the use of complex networks to understand the transition into oscillatory behavior.
Links between lipid imbalance and disease have been established, in which lipid changes increase the formation of amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. This imbalance inspired researchers to explore the role of lipids comprising the cellular membranes of brain cells. In Biointerphases, the researchers report on the significant role lipids may play in regulating C99, a protein within the amyloid pathway, and disease progression.
Optical cloaking allows objects to be hidden in plain sight by guiding light around anything placed inside the cloak. While cloaking has been popularized in fiction, researchers in recent years have started realizing cloaks that shield objects from view by controlling the flow of electromagnetic radiation around them. In Journal of Applied Physics, researchers examined recent progress of developing invisibility cloaks that function in natural incoherent light and can be realized using standard optical components.
With the increase in demand for flexible wearable electronics, researchers have explored flexible energy storage devices, such as flexible supercapacitators, that are lightweight and safe and easily integrate with other devices. Printing electronics has proved to be an economical, simple, and scalable strategy for fabricating FSCs. In Applied Physics Reviews, researchers provide a review of printed FSCs in terms of ability to formulate functional inks, design printable electrodes, and integrate functions with other electronic devices.
The WHO and the CDC recommend keeping a certain distance between people to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These social distancing recommendations are estimated from a variety of studies, but further research about the precise mechanism of virus transport is still needed. In Physics of Fluids, researchers demonstrate normal breathing indoors without a mask can transport saliva droplets capable of carrying virus particles to a distance of 2.2 meters in a matter of 90 seconds.
Researchers know cosmic rays originate from the multitude of stars in the Milky Way and other galaxies. The difficulty is tracing the particles to specific sources, because the turbulence of interstellar gas, plasma, and dust causes them to scatter and rescatter in different directions. In AIP Advances, researchers developed a simulation model to better understand these and other cosmic ray transport characteristics, with the goal of developing algorithms to enhance existing detection techniques.
As antibiotic-resistant bacteria become more prevalent, silver has seen steep growth in its use in things like antibacterial coatings. Still, a better understanding can provide clues on how to best apply it. In Chemical Physics Reviews, researchers monitored the interaction of silver nanoparticles with a nearby E. coli culture and found the silver undergoes several dramatic changes. Most notably, the E. coli cells caused substantial transformations in the size and shape of the silver particles.
The Society of Physics Students has awarded leadership scholarships to Elyzabeth Graham, Emma Moreland, and Natalie Douglass, three undergraduate members who are currently studying physics and engineering and will each receive a $2,000 scholarship. The scholarships are made possible by a gift from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for AIP-SPS members. The purpose of the LLNL-AIP leadership scholarship is to encourage the study of physics and the pursuit of higher education with a preference for those who are traditionally underrepresented in physics and astronomy, including women.
Wake steering is a strategy employed at wind power plants involving misaligning upstream turbines with the wind direction to deflect wakes away from downstream turbines, which consequently increases the net production of wind power at a plant. In Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, researchers illustrate how wake steering can increase energy production for a large sampling of commercial land-based U.S. wind power plants. Several were ideal candidates.
Photodynamic therapy, or using light to inactivate viruses, bacteria, and other microbes, has garnered promising results in recent decades for treating respiratory tract infections and some types of cancer. In Applied Physics Reviews, researchers review the existing approaches and propose adding antibodies to enhance PDT efficacy. They provide a model to help expedite overall PDT development as a rapid response to emergent viral pandemic threats.
A year and a half into the pandemic, waves of successive outbreaks and the dire need for new medical solutions, especially testing, continue to exist. In the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, researchers report a rapid and sensitive testing method for COVID-19 biomarkers that amplifies the binding signal for a target biomarker and provides detection within one second.
Not all embryo transfers succeed, which gives rise to the practice of freezing extra embryos from an IVF cycle for future transfers. This allows those with at-risk fertility, due to age or treatments such as chemotherapy, to delay their transfer. In the journal Biomicrofluidics, researchers introduce a standalone microfluidics system to automate the process of embryo vitrification of replacing water with cryoprotectants, which exposes embryos to a slow and constantly increasing concentration of cryoprotectants.
The annual International Day of Light celebrates light and the role it plays in science, culture, art, education, and many other diverse fields. This year, the day, Sunday, May 16, takes on a special role as organizers invite everyone to #TrustScience. The steering committee of the International Day of Light decided to emphasize the importance of evidence-based solutions in science by asking supporters to sign the Trust Science Pledge.
When trauma, illness, or injury causes significant muscle loss, reconstructive procedures for bioengineering functional skeletal muscles can fall short, resulting in permanent impairments. Finding a synergy in the importance of biochemical signals and topographical cues, researchers developed an efficient technique for muscle regeneration and functional restoration in injured rats. They describe results from the technique in Applied Physics Reviews.
Improved ventilation can lower the risk of transmission of the COVID-19 virus, but large numbers of decades-old public school classrooms lack adequate ventilation systems. A systematic modeling study of simple air cleaners using a box fan reported in Physics of Fluids shows these inexpensive units can greatly decrease the amount of airborne virus in these spaces, if used appropriately.
Cell tissues tend to be highly ordered in terms of spatial distribution and alignment, so bioengineered cellular scaffolds for tissue engineering applications must closely resemble this orientation to be able to perform like natural tissue. In Applied Physics Reviews, from AIP Publishing, an international research team describes its approach for directing cell orientation within deposited hydrogel fibers via a method called multicompartmental bioprinting.
If a respiratory droplet from a person infected with COVID-19 lands on a surface, it becomes a possible source of disease spread, because while 99.9% of the droplet's liquid content evaporates within a few minutes, a residual thin film that allows the virus to survive can be left behind. In Physics of Fluids, researchers present work exploring how the evaporation rate of residual thin films can be accelerated by tuning surfaces' wettability and creating geometric microtextures on them.
Researchers have identified a set of genes, called clock genes, that control circadian rhythms. But a more complicated network of genes than previously known appears related to these rhythms. In Applied Physics Reviews, scientists detail a statistical model they are using to help identify the genes involved in this network. With help from other disciplines, they hope to fully understand how these genes work together to make different people more productive at different times of day.
Scientists from Texas A&M have developed an extension to an ordinary cellphone that makes it capable of detecting chemicals, drugs, biological molecules, and pathogens. The development is based on fluorescence spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy and uses the high-quality cameras found in modern cellphones. An inexpensive diode laser is used as a light source, oriented at right angles to the line connecting the sample and the camera. The advance is reported in Reviews of Scientific Instruments.
There has been marked increase in the number of people over 65 who have needed spinal fusion surgery, and many researchers have focused on trying to create a biomimetic scaffold that induces vascularization. In Applied Physics Reviews, researchers present a solution to address the challenge: The team designed a microchannel scaffold made of a collagen and hydroxyapitite combination, with each strut consisting of micrometer-scaled microchannels. The microchannels have induced growth of blood vessels in a mouse model.
AIP and six scientific societies are calling on the new White House and 117th Congress to support research and education in the physical sciences to address critical issues facing our society. In the week of hearings on President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the White House OSTP, a letter sent to the president and congressional leaders highlights calls for action on these foundational issues and outlines several cornerstone policy issues that need attention, funding, and support.
After developing a link discovery method in 2020 using terahertz radiation, Rice and Brown researchers addressed what would happen if a wall or other reflector creates a non-line-of-sight path from the base station to the receiver. In APL Photonics, they consider two different generic types of transmitters and explore how their characteristics can be used to determine whether an NLOS path contributes to the signal received by the receiver.
Although bone has some capacity to regenerate, large bone defects cannot be healed without major medical procedures. Metallic implants are widely used, but their bioinertness poses a challenge. In Biointerphases, researchers showcase approaches that are alternatives to metallic implants and use natural polymer coatings to improve bone-implant integration, also known as osseointegration. Establishing a strong chemical interaction between a metal and a completely organic and natural polymer is a significant advancement in bone tissue engineering.
Freshwater accounts for only about 2.5% of water on Earth, so much of the world experiences serious water shortages. In AIP Advances, scientists report the development of a highly efficient desalination device that uses a titanium-containing layer capable of absorbing solar energy. When sunlight strikes the layer, it heats rapidly and vaporizes the water. By placing the unit in a transparent container with a sloped quartz roof, the water vapor can be condensed and collected.
The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is suspected of being linked to a small number of deep vein thrombosis cases, which led several countries in Europe to suspend AstraZeneca injections. Researchers explored a hypothesis that this pause, even if short, could cause additional deaths from the faster spread of COVID-19. In Chaos, they report using an epidemiological model and statistical analysis to estimate excess deaths resulting from suspending AstraZeneca vaccinations and those potentially linked to DVT-adverse events in France and Italy.
Wearable electronics have increasingly become a part of everyday life, so researchers wondered if these could be powered by harvesting electricity from waste heat. Further inspiration came from a desire to ultimately fabricate energy converting devices from the same materials as the active devices themselves. In Applied Physics Letters, the researchers report the design and fabrication of single-wall carbon nanotube thermoelectric devices on flexible polyimide substrates as a basis for wearable energy converters.
Fiber optic technology is the holy grail of high-speed, long-distance telecommunications. Still, with the continuing exponential growth of internet traffic, researchers are warning of a capacity crunch. In AVS Quantum Science, researchers show how quantum-enhanced receivers could play a critical role in addressing this challenge. The scientists developed a method to enhance receivers based on quantum physics properties to dramatically increase network performance while significantly reducing the error bit rate and energy consumption.
As artificial intelligence has attracted interest, researchers are focused on understanding how the brain accomplishes cognition so they can construct systems with general intelligence comparable to humans' intelligence. In Applied Physics Letters, researchers propose an approach to large-scale AI that focuses on integrating photonic components with superconducting electronics; using light for communication and complex electronic circuits for computation could enable artificial cognitive systems of scale and functionality beyond what can be achieved with either light or electronics alone.
A real-life forensic puzzle inspired University of Illinois at Chicago and Iowa State University researchers to explore the physics involved, and in Physics of Fluids, they present theoretical results revealing an interaction of the incoming vortex ring of propellant muzzle gases with backward blood spatter. A detailed analytical theory of such turbulent self-similar vortex rings was given by this group in earlier work and is linked mathematically to the theory of quantum oscillators.
To search for answers about how blood droplets from a gunshot wound can reverse direction while in flight, researchers explored the influence of propellant gases on blood backspatter. In Physics of Fluids, they report using numeric modeling to capture the behavior of gun muzzle gases and predict the reversal of blood droplet flight, which was captured experimentally. Their experiments also show the breakup of blood droplets, a future extension of their modeling efforts.
In Physics of Fluids, scientists reveal several key factors that influence the number of bounces a skipping stone will undergo when hitting the water. The study involved theoretical modeling and an experimental setup using a model stone to gather data in real time and that allowed a motor to apply a controlled spin to the disk prior to launch. The investigators found that vertical acceleration and the spin direction influence the result.
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