A more efficient car engine? That’s the goal. An opposed-piston engine is more efficient than a traditional internal combustion engine. Pinnacle Engines is developing a multi-cylinder gasoline engine for automotive use. The team enhanced the engine’s reciprocating sleeve-valve system, thanks to a Department of Energy supercomputer. The result? An engine with better combustion and reduced…
De-Icing the Streets with New Technology
The City of Knoxville public service crews demonstrated a new de-icing device made possible by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The technology aims to more efficiently and effectively regulate brine distribution on the road during snowy weather. The novel approach features a variable control mechanism designed…
Tuning Terahertz Beams with Nanoparticles
For years, scientists have dismissed terahertz radiation. Why? There were few ways to control this line-of-sight, nonionizing radiation. However, they saw its potential. For example, it could be used for short-range, high-bandwidth communications for tiny medical and environmental sensors. Now, researchers have developed a way to magnetically control terahertz beams using specially designed nanoparticles. By…
Machine Learning And Neural Networks Recognize Exotic Insulating Phases In Quantum Materials
Does it conduct electricity? Or insulate against electricity? Physicists commonly classify material phases as one or the other. Machine learning is a powerful tool for pattern recognition and thus could help identify phases of matter. However, machine learning needs a bridge to the quantum world, where the physics of atoms, electrons, and particles differs from…
Unlocking Potential of 3D-Printed Rocket Parts with Neutrons
The process of 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, holds promise for advancements in almost every industry, including even rocket science. Engineers from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, used neutrons recently to help understand the potential benefit of additive manufactured rocket engine components. The team used the Neutron Residual Stress Mapping Facility at…
Keeping Cool with a Black Semiconductor
As anyone who has held a laptop computer or cell phone knows, they produce heat that has the potential to damage the microchips inside. However, layered, crystalline black phosphorus could lead to a new microchip design that lets heat flow away and keeps electrons moving. For the first time, scientists observed that black phosphorus nanoribbons…
Discovery of Rare Decay Narrows Space for New Physics
After a quarter of a century of searching, physicists have discovered a rare particle decay that gives them an indirect way to test models of new physics. Researchers on the CMS and LHCb collaborations at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN announced that their findings agreed closely with the Standard Model of particle physics, ruling…