Hall thrusters are advanced electric rocket engines primarily used for station-keeping and attitude control of geosynchronous communication satellites and space probes. Recently, the launch of two satellites based on an all-electric bus has marked the debut of a new era – one in which Hall thrusters could be used not just to adjust orbits, but…
Lobster-Eye Imager Detects Soft X-Ray Emissions
Solar winds are known for powering dangerous space weather events near Earth, which, in turn, endangers space assets. So a large interdisciplinary group of researchers, led by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) set out to create a wide-field-of-view soft X-ray imager capable of detecting the soft X-ray emissions produced whenever the solar…
Diamonds Are for Temperature
Luminescent signals from green glowing diamond defects could monitor temperature in a range of physical and biological systems with unprecedented versatility Researchers have developed tiny, diamond-based probes that optically transmit detailed temperature information and can operate in conditions ranging from 150 to 850 degrees Kelvin, representing near-cryogenic cold to slightly below the melting point of…
An Inexpensive Rival to Graphene Aerogels
The electromagnetic radiation discharged by electronic equipment and devices is known to hinder their smooth operation. Conventional materials used today to shield from incoming electromagnetic waves tend to be sheets of metal or composites, which rely on reflection as a shielding mechanism. But now, materials such as graphene aerogels are gaining traction as more desirable…
Printing Silicon on Paper with Lasers
In seeking to develop the next generation of micro-electronic transistors, researchers have long sought to find the next best thing to replace silicon. To this end, a wealth of recent research into fully flexible electronic circuitry has focused on various organic and metal-oxide ink materials, which often lack all the favorable electronic properties of silicon…
Electronic Paper Could Make Inexpensive Electronic Displays
Researchers from the University of Tokyo have revamped an old e-paper concept to make an inexpensive handwriting-enabled e-paper well suited to large displays like whiteboards. They describe the e-paper in the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing. Traditional ink and paper is convenient for both reading and writing. In e-paper development the writing feature…
Researchers Synthesize New Thin-Film Material for Use in Fuel Cells
Researchers from Cornell University have synthesized a new thin-film catalyst for use in fuel cells. In a paper published March 10 in the journal APL Materials, from AIP Publishing, the team reports the first-ever epitaxial thin-film growth of Bi2Pt2O7 pyrochlore, which could act as a more effective cathode — a fundamental electrode component of fuel cells…
Making Quantum Dots Glow Brighter
Ultrathin layers of metal oxides can change the way quantum dots behave, in some cases turning them into more efficient light emitters. Washington, D.C. – Researchers from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the University of Oklahoma have found a new way to control the properties of quantum dots, those tiny chunks of semiconductor…
The Future Face of Molecular Electronics
Thin layer of picene molecules attached to a silver surface maintain their structure and function, demonstrating potential for electronic applications. Washington, D. C. – The emerging field of molecular electronics could take our definition of portable to the next level, enabling the construction of tiny circuits from molecular components. In these highly efficient devices, individual…
3-in-1 Optical Skin Cancer Probe
As thousands of vacationers hit the beach this summer, many of them will expose their unprotected bare limbs to direct UV sunlight, potentially putting them at risk of skin cancer later in life. To fight back, scientists can also turn to light, designing optical devices that may detect cancerous skin lesions early on, leading to…
Diamond Defect Interior Design
Planting imperfections called ‘NV centers’ at specific spots within a diamond lattice could advance quantum computing and atomic-scale measurement Washington, D.C., August 5, 2014 – By carefully controlling the position of an atomic-scale diamond defect within a volume smaller than what some viruses would fill, researchers have cleared a path toward better quantum computers and nanoscale…
Diamond Defect Interior Design
By carefully controlling the position of an atomic-scale diamond defect within a volume smaller than what some viruses would fill, researchers have cleared a path toward better quantum computers and nanoscale sensors. They describe their technique in a paper published in the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing. David Awschalom, a physicist at the…
The Evolution of Airplanes
One of the traditional arguments against Darwinian evolution has been that no one can confirm the process exists because it occurs on a time scale immensely greater than a human lifetime. Adrian Bejan, the J. A. Jones Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Duke University, has disagreed with that notion ever since 1996 when he…
Fly-Inspired Sound Detector
New device based on a fly’s freakishly acute hearing may find applications in futuristic hearing aids and military technology Washington D.C., June 22, 2014 – Even within a phylum so full of mean little creatures, the yellow-colored Ormia ochracea fly is distinguished among other arthropods for its cruelty — at least to crickets.…
A New Multi-Bit ‘Spin’ for MRAM Storage
A France-US research team’s new spin on MRAM technology led to a multi-bit storage paradigm that may rival flash memory storage Washington D.C., June 22, 2014 — Interest in magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is escalating, thanks to demand for fast, low-cost, nonvolatile, low-consumption, secure memory devices. MRAM, which relies on manipulating the…
New Materials for Future Green Tech Devices
Washington D.C., July 15, 2014 — From your hot car to your warm laptop, every machine and device in your life wastes a lot of energy through the loss of heat. But thermoelectric devices, which convert heat to electricity and vice versa, can harness that wasted heat, and possibly provide the green tech energy efficiency…
To Touch the Microcosmos
New haptic microscope technique allows researchers to ‘feel’ microworld. What if you could reach through a microscope to touch and feel the microscopic structures under the lens? In a breakthrough that may usher in a new era in the exploration of the worlds that are a million times smaller than human beings, researchers at Université…
Using Fluctuating Wind Power
Incorporating wind power into existing power grids is challenging because fluctuating wind speed and direction means turbines generate power inconsistently. Coupled with customers’ varying power demand, many wind-farm managers end up wasting power-generation capacity and limiting the service life of turbines through active control – including fully stopping turbines – in order to avoid any…