News 2019
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Physics - Materials Science - 15.10.2019 
Solving the Mystery of Quantum Light in Thin Layers
A very special kind of light is emitted by tungsten diselenide layers. The reason for this has been unclear. Now an explanation has been found at TU Wien (Vienna). It is an exotic phenomenon that nobody was able to explain for years: when energy is supplied to a thin layer of the material tungsten diselenide, it begins to glow in a highly unusual fashion.
Materials Science - 14.10.2019
Materials Science - Physics - 11.10.2019
Physics - Materials Science - 10.10.2019 
Simple Materials Offer a Peek into the Quantum Realm
As reported , a Berkeley Lab-led team of physicists and materials scientists were the first to unambiguously observe and document the unique optical phenomena that occur in certain types of synthetic materials called moiré superlattices. The new findings will help researchers understand how to better manipulate materials into light emitters with controllable quantum properties.
Physics - Materials Science - 09.10.2019 
As hot as the Sun’s interior
Physicists create plasma for the first time using nanowires and long-wavelength ultrashort pulse laser Light Physicists at the University of Jena have developed a new method for producing plasma, enabling them to deal with some of the problems that stand in the way of this extremely difficult process.
Materials Science - 09.10.2019
Music - Materials Science - 08.10.2019 
Romantic Replicas
To play a piece of music as it was conceived by the composer is a trend. But where can the rare historical instruments be found? The solution would be exact copies of the coveted originals. A team of Empa researchers is analysing such replicas with the aim of reproducing historical trombones with their typical sound.
Physics - Materials Science - 08.10.2019 
A promising route to scalable quantum photonics
Researchers from the Photonics Research Group (imec, Ghent University) and MIT have integrated single photon emitters in 2D layered materials with a Silicon Nitride photonic chip. Even for moderate quantum yields, dielectric cavities could be designed such that the single photon extraction into the guided mode can reach unity.
Materials Science - Health - 08.10.2019 
On Your Medicine’s Secret Service
Whether a wound heals well under a dressing cannot be seen from the outside. Empa researchers are now enabling a view through the bandage à la James Bond. The refined application of terahertz radiation could promote the analysis of multi-layered tissues for medical purposes and be used for wound treatment or the diagnostics of blood vessel plaques.
Music - Materials Science - 08.10.2019 
An Open Ear for Noise
A rippling stream is Jean-Marc Wunderli's favourite sound. However, his everyday research has little to do with calming natural sounds. He deals with completely different ones: noise from aircraft turbines, train noise, busy roads, wind turbines and now even drones. All these emissions are part of the research activities of Empa's Acoustics / Noise Control Lab, which Wunderli is heading since last July.
Materials Science - Physics - 07.10.2019 
Unbreakable
Can glass flow at room temperature and thus withstand hard impacts' A theory from the 1970s predicted exactly this. Empa researchers have now provided the proof. The results could form the basis for robust 3D printed glass microarchitectures. No one in the world has ever seen what we have measured," says Rajaprakash Ramachandramoorthy.
Physics - Materials Science - 07.10.2019 
Modified quantum dots capture more energy from light and lose less to heat
Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers discover a new approach for capturing energy from light-generated, 'hot' electrons, avoiding wasteful heat loss This discovery can potentially enable novel, highly-efficient solar cells, light detectors, photocathodes and light-driven chemical reactions. Victor Klimov LOS ALAMOS, N.M. Oct.
Materials Science - Chemistry - 07.10.2019 
Slow Decay
"Corrosion" comes from Latin "corrodere": to gnaw something to pieces. This refers to the gradual destruction of a substance due to the influence of other substances in the environment. Specialists at Empa take a close look at such processes and can find timely ways to prevent material failure due to corrosion - long before disasters such as those in Genoa occur.
Physics - Materials Science - 07.10.2019 
’Picoscience’ and a plethora of new materials
The revolutionary tech discoveries of the next few decades, the ones that will change daily life, may come from new materials so small they make nanomaterials look like lumpy behemoths. These new materials will be designed and refined at the picometer scale, which is a thousand times smaller than a nanometer and a million times smaller than a micrometer (which itself is smaller than the width of a human hair).
Materials Science - Health - 07.10.2019 
The Screw That Dissolves
Where bones fracture, surgeons often have to join the fragments with implants. Magnesium orthopaedic screws, which over time dissolve in the body, spare patients another operation after healing is completed and reduce the risk of infection. What happens inside the body during this process, though, is still largely unknown.
Materials Science - Environment - 07.10.2019 
The Wood Paradox
It can be deformed as required and is three times stronger than natural wood: the wood material developed by Marion Frey, Tobias Keplinger and Ingo Burgert at Empa and ETH Zurich has the potential to become a high-tech material. In the process, the researchers remove precisely the part of the wood that gives it its stability in nature: lignin.
Physics - Materials Science - 04.10.2019 
New metasurface design can control optical fields in three dimensions
A team led by scientists at the University of Washington has designed and tested a 3D-printed metamaterial that can manipulate light with nanoscale precision. As they report in a paper published Oct. Advances, their designed optical element focuses light to discrete points in a 3D helical pattern. The team's design principles and experimental findings demonstrate that it is possible to model and construct metamaterial devices that can precisely manipulate optical fields with high spatial resolution in three dimensions.
Materials Science - 02.10.2019
Environment - Materials Science - 30.09.2019
Environment - Materials Science - 30.09.2019 
New treatment prevents wildfires
Scientists and engineers worked with state and local agencies to develop and test a long-lasting, environmentally benign fire-retarding material. If used on high-risk areas, the simple, affordable treatment could dramatically cut the number of fires that occur each year. A preventive treatment developed by Stanford researchers could greatly reduce the incidence and severity of wildfires.
Materials Science
Results 41 - 60 of 187.
A very special kind of light is emitted by tungsten diselenide layers. The reason for this has been unclear. Now an explanation has been found at TU Wien (Vienna). It is an exotic phenomenon that nobody was able to explain for years: when energy is supplied to a thin layer of the material tungsten diselenide, it begins to glow in a highly unusual fashion.
Cells’ mitochondria work much like Tesla battery packs
For years, scientists assumed that mitochondria — the energy-generating centers of living cells — worked much like household batteries, generating energy from a chemical reaction inside a single chamber or cell. Now, UCLA researchers have shown that mitochondria are instead made up of many individual bioelectric units that generate energy in an array, similar to a Tesla electric car battery that packs thousands of battery cells to manage energy safely and provide fast access to very high current.
For years, scientists assumed that mitochondria — the energy-generating centers of living cells — worked much like household batteries, generating energy from a chemical reaction inside a single chamber or cell. Now, UCLA researchers have shown that mitochondria are instead made up of many individual bioelectric units that generate energy in an array, similar to a Tesla electric car battery that packs thousands of battery cells to manage energy safely and provide fast access to very high current.
White blood cell ’security guard’ and community messages: News from the College
Here's a batch of fresh news and announcements from across Imperial. From a white blood cell playing a 'security guard' role, to the President's call for collaboration and community, here is some quick-read news from across the College. Patrolling eye Researchers from Imperial have discovered a new 'security guard' role for a type of white blood cell called a neutrophil.
Here's a batch of fresh news and announcements from across Imperial. From a white blood cell playing a 'security guard' role, to the President's call for collaboration and community, here is some quick-read news from across the College. Patrolling eye Researchers from Imperial have discovered a new 'security guard' role for a type of white blood cell called a neutrophil.
As reported , a Berkeley Lab-led team of physicists and materials scientists were the first to unambiguously observe and document the unique optical phenomena that occur in certain types of synthetic materials called moiré superlattices. The new findings will help researchers understand how to better manipulate materials into light emitters with controllable quantum properties.
Physicists create plasma for the first time using nanowires and long-wavelength ultrashort pulse laser Light Physicists at the University of Jena have developed a new method for producing plasma, enabling them to deal with some of the problems that stand in the way of this extremely difficult process.
Archives Digitize Decades of Mellon Institute Records
Carnegie Mellon's University Libraries have organized and preserved 347 boxes of records from the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, one of the nation's premier independent research centers, making the records more widely discoverable and available to researchers. "No one has written a comprehensive history on the Mellon Institute, how it factored into the larger industrial research ecosystem or its contributions to science," said Project Archivist Emily Davis, who led the digitization effort.
Carnegie Mellon's University Libraries have organized and preserved 347 boxes of records from the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, one of the nation's premier independent research centers, making the records more widely discoverable and available to researchers. "No one has written a comprehensive history on the Mellon Institute, how it factored into the larger industrial research ecosystem or its contributions to science," said Project Archivist Emily Davis, who led the digitization effort.
To play a piece of music as it was conceived by the composer is a trend. But where can the rare historical instruments be found? The solution would be exact copies of the coveted originals. A team of Empa researchers is analysing such replicas with the aim of reproducing historical trombones with their typical sound.
Researchers from the Photonics Research Group (imec, Ghent University) and MIT have integrated single photon emitters in 2D layered materials with a Silicon Nitride photonic chip. Even for moderate quantum yields, dielectric cavities could be designed such that the single photon extraction into the guided mode can reach unity.
Whether a wound heals well under a dressing cannot be seen from the outside. Empa researchers are now enabling a view through the bandage à la James Bond. The refined application of terahertz radiation could promote the analysis of multi-layered tissues for medical purposes and be used for wound treatment or the diagnostics of blood vessel plaques.
A rippling stream is Jean-Marc Wunderli's favourite sound. However, his everyday research has little to do with calming natural sounds. He deals with completely different ones: noise from aircraft turbines, train noise, busy roads, wind turbines and now even drones. All these emissions are part of the research activities of Empa's Acoustics / Noise Control Lab, which Wunderli is heading since last July.
Can glass flow at room temperature and thus withstand hard impacts' A theory from the 1970s predicted exactly this. Empa researchers have now provided the proof. The results could form the basis for robust 3D printed glass microarchitectures. No one in the world has ever seen what we have measured," says Rajaprakash Ramachandramoorthy.
Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers discover a new approach for capturing energy from light-generated, 'hot' electrons, avoiding wasteful heat loss This discovery can potentially enable novel, highly-efficient solar cells, light detectors, photocathodes and light-driven chemical reactions. Victor Klimov LOS ALAMOS, N.M. Oct.
"Corrosion" comes from Latin "corrodere": to gnaw something to pieces. This refers to the gradual destruction of a substance due to the influence of other substances in the environment. Specialists at Empa take a close look at such processes and can find timely ways to prevent material failure due to corrosion - long before disasters such as those in Genoa occur.
The revolutionary tech discoveries of the next few decades, the ones that will change daily life, may come from new materials so small they make nanomaterials look like lumpy behemoths. These new materials will be designed and refined at the picometer scale, which is a thousand times smaller than a nanometer and a million times smaller than a micrometer (which itself is smaller than the width of a human hair).
Where bones fracture, surgeons often have to join the fragments with implants. Magnesium orthopaedic screws, which over time dissolve in the body, spare patients another operation after healing is completed and reduce the risk of infection. What happens inside the body during this process, though, is still largely unknown.
It can be deformed as required and is three times stronger than natural wood: the wood material developed by Marion Frey, Tobias Keplinger and Ingo Burgert at Empa and ETH Zurich has the potential to become a high-tech material. In the process, the researchers remove precisely the part of the wood that gives it its stability in nature: lignin.
A team led by scientists at the University of Washington has designed and tested a 3D-printed metamaterial that can manipulate light with nanoscale precision. As they report in a paper published Oct. Advances, their designed optical element focuses light to discrete points in a 3D helical pattern. The team's design principles and experimental findings demonstrate that it is possible to model and construct metamaterial devices that can precisely manipulate optical fields with high spatial resolution in three dimensions.
New 3D printing technique for biomaterials
A new way of 3D printing soft materials such as gels and collagens offers a major step forward in the manufacture of artificial medical implants. Developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham, the technique could be used to print soft biomaterials that could be used to repair defects in the body.
A new way of 3D printing soft materials such as gels and collagens offers a major step forward in the manufacture of artificial medical implants. Developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham, the technique could be used to print soft biomaterials that could be used to repair defects in the body.
Reveals how hurricanes affect life below the surface
In early October 2016, a tropical storm named Nicole formed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It roamed for six days, intensifying to a powerful hurricane with 140 mph winds, before hitting the island of Bermuda as a Category 3 storm. Hurricanes like Nicole can cause significant damage to human structures on land, and often permanently alter terrestrial landscapes.
In early October 2016, a tropical storm named Nicole formed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It roamed for six days, intensifying to a powerful hurricane with 140 mph winds, before hitting the island of Bermuda as a Category 3 storm. Hurricanes like Nicole can cause significant damage to human structures on land, and often permanently alter terrestrial landscapes.
Scientists and engineers worked with state and local agencies to develop and test a long-lasting, environmentally benign fire-retarding material. If used on high-risk areas, the simple, affordable treatment could dramatically cut the number of fires that occur each year. A preventive treatment developed by Stanford researchers could greatly reduce the incidence and severity of wildfires.
