Lifeboat Foundation

For the first time, MIT physicists have observed a highly ordered crystal of electrons in a semiconducting material and documented its melting, much like ice thawing into water. The observations confirm a fundamental phase transition in quantum mechanics that was theoretically proposed more than 80 years ago but not experimentally documented until now.

The team, led by MIT professor of physics Raymond Ashoori and his postdoc Joonho Jang, used a spectroscopy technique developed in Ashoori’s group. The method relies on electron “tunneling,” a quantum mechanical process that allows researchers to inject electrons at precise energies into a system of interest—in this case, a system of electrons trapped in two dimensions. The method uses hundreds of thousands of short electrical pulses to probe a sheet of electrons in a semiconducting material cooled to extremely low temperatures, just above absolute zero.

With their tunneling technique, the researchers shot electrons into the supercooled material to measure the energy states of electrons within the semiconducting sheet. Against a background blur, they detected a sharp spike in the data. After much analysis, they determined that the spike was the precise signal that would be given off from a highly ordered crystal of electrons vibrating in unison.

At the forefront of computing technology for decades, silicon-based chips’ reign may soon end, as today’s chip designers are looking for other materials that offer more options and more amazing abilities than the silicon we all know and love.

This new trend has spurred the guys at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to develop what could be the foundation for multi-role computer chips.

Continue reading “A New Kind of Computer Chip: Silicon May Be Replaced by New Material” »

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8BhG9ir4-4E

With the help of this material, scientists are a little bit closer to unlocking the mystery of how the rules of the quantum realm translate to the rules of the classical physics of the observable world.

Experts predict that the materials used in this research, topological insulators, will play a key role in furthering this development.

Continue reading “This Strange Material Could Reveal The Link Between Classical Physics And The Quantum Realm” »

Nice write on polymeric coatings as a material option consider when developing implants replicating a natural electrode charge without creating damage or disruptions. Author proposes such materials could be leveraged beyond their use today and expanded to include BMI implants. Definitely, will take a closer look at.

Jeff Hendricks Biotectix outlines how polymeric coatings can help improve the performance of medical and consumer electronic devices.

For all my Lab friends who utilize Spectrometers, drill bit fans as well as many of us QC fans. A new stronger syn. diamond being developed.

But you won’t find this diamond on any engagement rings — it will help cut through ultra-solid materials on mining sites.

Step aside, girls. Diamonds may now be a miner’s best friend, thanks to scientists from Australian National University (ANU).

Continue reading “Scientists are Creating a New Diamond Predicted to be Harder Than a Jeweler’s Diamond” »

Thermoelectric generators convert heat or cold to electricity (and vice-versa). Normally solid-state devices, they can be used in such things as power plants to convert waste heat into additional electrical power, or in small cooling systems that do not need compressors or liquid coolant. However the rigid construction of these devices generally limits their use to flat, even surfaces. In an effort to apply thermal generation capabilities to almost any shape, scientists at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in Korea claim to have created a thermoelectric coating that can be directly painted onto most surfaces.

Variously known as the Peltier, Seebeck, or Thomson effect, the thermoelectric effect is seen in semiconductor devices that create a voltage when a different temperature is present on each side or, when a voltage is applied to the device, it creates a temperature difference between the two sides. In this instance, the new paint created by the UNIST researchers is used specifically to heat a surface when a voltage is applied.

The specially-formulated inorganic thermoelectric paint was created using Bi2Te3 (bismuth telluride) and Sb2Te3 (antimony telluride) particles to create two types of semiconducting material. To test the resultant mixture, the researchers applied alternate p-type (positive) and n-type (negative) layers of the thermoelectric semiconductor paint on a metal dome with electrodes at the top and the base of the dome.

We’re closer than ever to a Theory of Everything.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=_-kkkNdbils

Harvesting human energy into devices.

Engineers find an alternate route toward self-powered devices with foldable material.

Continue reading “Nanogenerator Harvests Swipes To Power LCD Screens” »

It’s a super capacitor made with nano-materials, but all you need to know is—if it’s commercialized—your days of worrying about your battery might be over.