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Category: materials – Page 294



New 2D sensors can cover any smooth surface
But researchers have a new way to keep the materials and their associated circuitry, including electrodes, intact as theyâre moved to curved or other smooth surfaces.
The results of their work appear in the journal ACS Nano.


Scientists invented a new material that gets thicker as you stretch it
Most of us think we have a pretty solid grasp on basic physics, and one of the assumptions weâve come to form is that any material gets thinner as itâs stretched. It makes sense, since the same amount of material spread over a larger area would have to mean that thereâs less of it in any one spot, right?
Not so fast. Researchers led by Dr. Devesh Mistry of the University of Leeds invented a new synthetic material that gets thicker as itâs being stretched. The material, which is described in detail in a new paper published in Nature Communications, is one of few that exhibit âauxeticâ properties, which means they expand instead of contracting when tugged on from different directions.

Researchers Just Created a New Form of Matter
Thereâs a new form of matter out there and itâs called a supersolid. Born in the labs of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), this new matter is seemingly a contradiction. The supersolid combines properties of solids and superfluids â or fluids with zero viscosity, thereby flowing without losing kinetic energy. Supersolids have previously been predicted by physicists, but have not been observed in a lab until now.
âIt is counterintuitive to have a material which combines superfluidity and solidity,â says team leader Wolfgang Ketterle, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Physics at MIT and 2001 Noble laureate. âIf your coffee was superfluid and you stirred it, it would continue to spin around forever.â Their research was published in the journal Nature.
To develop this seemingly contradictory form of matter, Ketterleâs team manipulated the motion of atoms in a superfluid state of dilute gas, called a Bose-Einstein condensate, or BEC. Ketterle co-discovered BEC, which won him his Noble prize in physics. âThe challenge was now to add something to the BEC to make sure it developed a shape or form beyond the shape of the âatom trap,â which is the defining characteristic of a solid,â Ketterle explained.

Researchers Turn Lobster Shells Into Biodegradable Plastic
Plastic is a resilient and versatile material, but itâs not that great for the environment â not plastic thatâs made from petroleum, anyway. But scientists are cooking up a better alternative.
Chitin, like plastic, is resilient and versatile. Chitin is found in everything from lobster and shrimp shells, insect exoskeletons, and squid beaks. Thanks to a team of Canadian researchers it may soon be found in plastic, too.
Scientists at McGill University in Montreal have developed a process that allows them to process chitinous things into eco-friendly plastic. Associate Professor of Applied Chemistry Audrey Moores told the CBC âit remains biodegradeable, so if it goes in the environment itâs not going to pollute.â

This dark
This dark, tangled web spotted by NASAâs Hubble Space Telescope is a supernova remnant, created after a massive star ended its life in an explosion and threw its constituent material out into surrounding space. Discover more: https://go.nasa.gov/2G0nVgS&h=AT0m92-1V7h2Z6pdebGy-JSLFWâŠCsgI5QIBpg

Stone Tools at Arabian âCrossroadsâ Present Mysteries of Ancient Human Migration
Scerri now knows when people dropped their tools on the barren ridge, but she can only speculate as to just who they were.
âThe hominins responsible for the Acheulean at the site made their way into the heart of now arid Arabia by following lake and river channels. Once there, they climbed up the largest dyke, which was also a source of raw material,â she says. The toolmaking site they created there, perched at a lofty vantage point from which they could observe the surrounding plains, hints at how they may have thought and lived. âWe donât know which hominin taxon made these tools, but what we can say is that the hominins were resourceful and intelligent,â adds Scerri, of the Max Planck Institute and the University of Oxford.
Why these hominins took such a route at all is another area of intriguing speculation. âAlthough Arabia was wetter when these hominins were at Saffaqah, it was still a marginal environment,â Scerri says. âWere they pushed to the margins by larger brained hominins elsewhere, such as Neanderthals or even Homo sapiens in Africa?â