Chirality, a property where structures have a distinct left- or right-handedness, allows natural semiconductors to move charge and convert energy with high efficiency by controlling electron spin and the angular momentum of light. A new study has revealed that many conjugated polymers, long considered structurally neutral, can spontaneously twist into chiral shapes. This surprising behavior, overlooked for decades, could pave the way for development of a new class of energy-efficient electronics inspired by nature.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have performed infrared observations of a planetary debris disk around a nearby white dwarf known as GD 362. Results of the new observations, presented October 8 on the arXiv preprint server, yield important insights into the chemical composition of this disk.
White dwarfs (WDs) are stellar cores left behind after a star has exhausted its nuclear fuel. Due to their high gravity, they are known to have atmospheres of either pure hydrogen or pure helium.
However, there exists a small fraction of WDs that shows traces of heavier elements, and they are believed to be accreting planetary material. Studies of this material around WDs, which often forms dust disks, is essential to improving our knowledge of how planets form and evolve.
A newly developed material with exceptional high-temperature resistance shows strong promise for use in energy-efficient aircraft turbines. Metals that can endure extremely high temperatures are essential for technologies such as aircraft engines, gas turbines, and X-ray equipment. Among the most
Two physicists at the University of Stuttgart have proven that the Carnot principle, a central law of thermodynamics, does not apply to objects on the atomic scale whose physical properties are linked (so-called correlated objects). This discovery could, for example, advance the development of tiny, energy-efficient quantum motors. The derivation has been published in the journal Science Advances.
To further advance wireless communication systems, electronics engineers have been trying to develop new electronic circuits that operate in the microwave frequency range (1–300 GHz), while also losing little energy while transmitting signals. Ideally, these circuits should also be more compact than existing solutions, as this would help to reduce the overall size of communication systems.
Most of the microwaves integrated in current communication systems are made of bulk materials, such as silicon or gallium arsenide. While these circuits have achieved good results so far, both their size and power consumption have proved to be difficult to reduce further.
Two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting materials, which are made up of a single atomic layer, could overcome the limitations of bulk materials, as they are both thinner and exhibit advantageous electrical properties. Among these materials, molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂), has been found to be particularly promising for the development of microwave circuits and other components for communication systems.
White dwarfs are the dense, compact remains left behind when stars exhaust their nuclear fuel, a process that will one day occur to our own Sun. These stellar remnants are known as degenerate stars because their internal physics defy normal expectations: as they gain mass, they actually become smaller in size.
Many white dwarfs exist in pairs, forming what are known as binary systems, where two stars orbit each other. Most of these systems are ancient by galactic standards and have cooled over time to surface temperatures near 4,000 Kelvin.
Yet, astronomers have recently identified a remarkable group of short-period binary systems in which the stars complete an orbit in less than an hour. Surprisingly, these white dwarfs appear to be about twice as large as models predict, with much higher surface temperatures ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 Kelvin.
A research work conducted by scientists from Japan could help make next-generation solid-state batteries. Researchers from Japan’s Tohoku University have confirmed that the pressure-assisted sintering techniques such as hot pressing (HP) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) were found effective to develop next-generation batteries.
Researchers highlighted that solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLMBs) are drawing worldwide attention as a next-generation technology that promises higher energy density and greater safety than today’s lithium-ion batteries.
Scientists have come up with a new way to improve the safety and performance of all-solid-state lithium metal batteries (ASSLMBs), the next-generation energy source technology that is set to power everything from electric vehicles to renewable energy grids.
Most batteries that are in common use today contain flammable liquid electrolytes. The next evolution in batteries is the ASSLMB, which replaces the flammable liquid with a non-flammable solid material to move electrical charge between electrodes. While they are significantly safer, there is a critical flaw that prevents them from being reliable and long-lasting. That is, repeated charging and discharging cause gaps to form between the solid lithium metal anode and the solid electrolyte, which means the battery quickly breaks down and stops working.
To solve this problem, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a self-healing layer they call DAI (Dynamically Adaptive Interphase) that keeps the battery connected.
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Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net. Join Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur. Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur. Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a… Group: / 1,583,992,725,237,264 Reddit: / isaacarthur Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content. SFIA Discord Server: / discord Credits: The Dyson Economy — Mega-Structures, Mega-Markets, and Mega-Wealth Produced, Narrated & Written: Isaac Arthur Editor: Jonathan Maltz Editor: Thomas Owens Graphics: Bryan Versteeg, Jeremy Jozwik, Ken York, Sergio Botero, Udo Schroeter Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images Music Courtesy of Stellardrone & Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:09 The Vision of the Space Elevator 2:46 The Rope That Reaches the Sky 9:08 Manufacturing the Megastructure 12:58 Tether Design and Variants 19:57 PIA 21:52 Defects and Composites: Strength in Layers 22:48 Power and Payload 25:20 Safety, Scaling, and the Road Ahead. Facebook Group: / 1583992725237264 Reddit: / isaacarthur. Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content. SFIA Discord Server: / discord. Credits: The Dyson Economy — Mega-Structures, Mega-Markets, and Mega-Wealth. Produced, Narrated & Written: Isaac Arthur. Editor: Jonathan Maltz. Editor: Thomas Owens. Graphics: Bryan Versteeg, Jeremy Jozwik, Ken York, Sergio Botero, Udo Schroeter. Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images. Music Courtesy of Stellardrone & Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator.
Chapters. 0:00 Intro. 0:09 The Vision of the Space Elevator. 2:46 The Rope That Reaches the Sky. 9:08 Manufacturing the Megastructure. 12:58 Tether Design and Variants. 19:57 PIA 21:52 Defects and Composites: Strength in Layers. 22:48 Power and Payload. 25:20 Safety, Scaling, and the Road Ahead.
The international team of researchers conducted their experiments at European XFEL, the world’s largest X-ray laser, and DESY’s high energy photon source Petra III. Ice XXI is structurally distinct from all previously observed phases of ice. It forms when water is rapidly compressed to supercompressed water at room temperature and is metastable, meaning it can exist for some time even though another form of ice would be more stable at those conditions. The discovery offers important insights into how high-pressure ice forms.
Water or H2O, despite being composed of just two elements, exhibits remarkable complexity in its solid state. The majority of the phases are observed at high pressures and low temperatures. The team has learned more about how the different ice phases form and change with pressure.
“Rapid compression of water allows it to remain liquid up to higher pressures, where it should have already crystallized to ice VI,” KRISS scientist Geun Woo Lee explains. Ice VI is an especially intriguing phase, thought to be present in the interior of icy moons such as Titan and Ganymede. Its highly distorted structure may allow complex transition pathways that lead to metastable ice phases.
