Elusive atomic-scale magnetic 'signal' in a Mott insulator revealed
Spin-polarizing scanning tunneling microscopy allowed researchers to detect an elusive atomic-scale magnetic signal in a Mott insulator, reports a team of scientists.
Read moreEngineering and Construction
Porous polymer coatings dynamically control light and heat
Engineers have developed dynamic porous polymer coatings that enable inexpensive and scalable ways to control light and heat in buildings. They took advantage of the optical switchability of PPCs in the solar wavelengths to regulate solar heating and daylighting, and extended the concept to thermal infrared wavelengths to modulate heat radiated by objects.
Read moreListening in to how proteins talk and learning their language
A research team has created a third approach to engineering proteins that uses deep learning to distill the fundamental features of proteins directly from their amino acid sequence without the need for additional information.
Read moreRemarkable story of shock wave physics in post-World War II America
Physicists predicted the Hubble Space Telescope would see a rising vapor plume as the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet crashed into the far side of Jupiter in 1994. And sure enough, the plume produced by the impact matched their computational analysis.
Read moreComposite metal foam outperforms aluminum for use in aircraft wings
The leading edges of aircraft wings have to meet a very demanding set of characteristics. New research shows that a combination of steel composite metal foam and epoxy resin has more desirable characteristics for use as a leading-edge material than the aluminum currently in widespread use.
Read moreResearchers watch quantum knots untie
A quantum gas can be tied into knots using magnetic fields. The same researchers who were the first to produce these knots have now studied how the knots behave over time. The surprising result is that the knots untie themselves over a short period of time, before turning into a vortex.
Read moreAtomic images reveal unusually many neighbors for some oxygen atoms
The identification of new chemical bonds is crucial for the design of new material structures. A team has found unexpected new configurations of oxygen and nitrogen in graphene.
Read moreAll plastic waste could become new, high-quality plastic through advanced steam cracking
A research group has developed an efficient process for breaking down any plastic waste to a molecular level. The resulting gases can then be transformed back into new plastics – of the same quality as the original. The new process could transform today's plastic factories into recycling refineries, within the framework of their existing infrastructure.
Read moreDouble layer of graphene helps to control spin currents
In order to make transistors that operate using the spin of electrons, rather than their charge, it is necessary to find a way of switching spin currents on and off. Furthermore, the lifetime of the spins should at least be equal to the time taken for these electrons to travel through a circuit. Scientists have now taken an important step forward by creating a device that meets both of these requirements.
Read moreFirst demonstration of one petabit per second network node
Computer scientists have demonstrated the first large-scale optical switching testbed capable of handling 1 Petabit per second optical signals. This demonstration made use of state-of-the-art large-scale and low-loss optical switches based on MEMS technology, three types of next-generation spatial-division multiplexing fibers, and included data rates from 10 Terabit per second to 1 Petabit per second. This is a major step forward towards practical petabit-class backbone networks.
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