NUS scientists created the first copper-free superconductor to work above 30 K under ambient pressure, marking a major scientific leap. This discovery may revolutionize energy-efficient electronics. Professor Ariando and Dr Stephen Lin Er Chow from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Depar
Researchers at Tohoku University have developed a titanium-aluminum (Ti-Al)-based superelastic alloy. This new material is not only lightweight but also strong, offering the unique superelastic capability to function across a broad temperature range—from as low as −269°C, the temperature of liquid helium, to +127°C, which is above the boiling point of water.
Superconductivity is a quantum phenomenon, observed in some materials, that entails the ability to conduct electricity with no resistance below a critical temperature. Over the past few years, physicists and material scientists have been trying to identify materials exhibiting this property (i.e., superconductors), while also gathering new insights about its underlying physical processes.
Superconductors can be broadly divided into two categories: conventional and unconventional superconductors. In conventional superconductors, electron pairs (i.e., Cooper pairs) form due to phonon-mediated interactions, resulting in a superconducting gap that follows an isotropic s-wave symmetry. On the other hand, in unconventional superconductors, this gap can present nodes (i.e., points at which the superconducting gap vanishes), producing a d-wave or multi-gap symmetry.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo recently carried out a study aimed at better understanding the unconventional superconductivity previously observed in a rare-earth intermetallic compound, called PrTi2Al20, which is known to arise from a multipolar-ordered state. Their findings, published in Nature Communications, suggest that there is a connection between quadrupolar interactions and superconductivity in this material.
If one side of a conducting or semiconducting material is heated while the other remains cool, charge carriers move from the hot side to the cold side, generating an electrical voltage known as thermopower.
Past studies have shown that the thermopower produced in clean two-dimensional (2D) electron systems (i.e., materials with few impurities in which electrons can only move in 2D), is directly proportional to the entropy (i.e., the degree of randomness) per charge carrier.
The link between thermopower and entropy could be leveraged to probe exotic quantum phases of matter. One of these phases is the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) effect, which is known to arise when electrons in these materials are subject to a strong perpendicular magnetic field at very low temperatures.
Thanks to breakthroughs in hydrogel material science, we now have material that functions similar to Star Wars Bacta.
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How many robots does it take to screw in a lightbulb? The answer is more complicated than you might think. New research from Northeastern University upends the riddle by making a robot that is both flexible and sensitive enough to handle the lightbulb, and strong enough to apply the necessary torque.
“What we found is that by thinking about the bodies of robots and how we can make new materials for them, we can actually make a robot that has the benefits of both rigid and soft robots,” says Jeffrey Lipton, assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern.
“It’s flexible, extendable and compliant like an elephant trunk or octopus tentacle, but can also apply torques like a traditional industrial robot,” he adds.
A new study presents a compelling new model for the formation of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes – planets that are 1 to 4 times the size of Earth and among the most common in our galaxy. Using advanced simulations, the researchers propose that these planets emerge from distinct rings of planetesimals, providing fresh insight into planetary evolution beyond our solar system.
A new study by Rice University researchers Sho Shibata and Andre Izidoro presents a compelling new model for the formation of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes — planets that are 1 to 4 times the size of Earth and among the most common in our galaxy. Using advanced simulations, the researchers propose that these planets emerge from distinct rings of planetesimals, providing fresh insight into planetary evolution beyond our solar system. The findings were recently published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
For decades, scientists have debated how super-Earths and mini-Neptunes form. Traditional models have suggested that planetesimals — the tiny building blocks of planets — formed across wide regions of a young star’s disk. But Shibata and Izidoro suggest a different theory: These materials likely come together in narrow rings at specific locations in the disk, making planet formation more organized than previously believed.
Professor Ariando and Dr. Stephen Lin Er Chow from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of Physics have designed and synthesized a groundbreaking new material—a copper-free superconducting oxide—capable of superconducting at approximately 40 Kelvin (K), or about minus 233°C, under ambient pressure.
Nearly four decades after the discovery of copper oxide superconductivity, which earned the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physics, the NUS researchers have now identified another high-temperature superconducting oxide that expands the understanding of unconventional superconductivity beyond copper oxides.
Pioneering new research could help unlock exciting new potential to create ultrafast, laser-driven storage devices. The study, led by experts from the University of Exeter, could revolutionize the field of data storage through the development of laser-driven magnetic domain memories.
The new research is based on creating a pivotal new method for using heat to manipulate magnetism with unprecedented precision in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals materials. It is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Typically, heat is an unwanted byproduct of power consumption in electronic devices, especially in semiconductors. As devices become smaller and more compact, managing heat has become one of the major challenges in modern electronics.
Is there a cleaner and more environmentally friendly way for scientists to create lithium-6, which is a primary component in creating nuclear fusion fuel? This is what a recent study published in Chem hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated safer methods for separating lithium-6 from lithium-7, which is a common procedure for creating nuclear fusion fuel. However, this procedure has long-required liquid mercury, whose exposure often results in sever neurodevelopmental disorders, including memory loss, along with lung, kidney, and nervous system damage.
For the study, the researchers discovered their novel method purely by accident while they were working with “produced water”, which is groundwater that is forced to the surface during drilling processes for gas and oil that needs cleaning before it’s pumped back underground, and this process repeats. To accomplish this cleaning process, a membrane is used to filter out unwanted components, during which the researchers found they were filtering lithium within this now-surface groundwater.
“We saw that we could extract lithium quite selectively given that there was a lot more salt than lithium present in the water,” said Dr. Sarbajit Banerjee, who is a professor of chemistry at ETH Zurich and a co-author on the study. “That led us to wonder whether this material might also have some selectivity for the 6-lithium isotope.”
