New nanomechanical oscillators with record-low loss

May 12, 2022 (Nanowerk News) The vibrational modes of nanomechanical resonators are analogous to different notes of a guitar string and have similar properties such as frequency (pitch) and lifetime. The lifetime is characterized by the quality factor, which is the number of times that the resonator oscillates until its...

Scientists grow plants in soil from the Moon

May 12, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Scientists have grown plants in soil from the Moon, a first in human history and a milestone in lunar and space exploration. In a new paper published in the journal Communications Biology ("Plants grown in Apollo lunar regolith present stress-associated transcriptomes that inform prospects for...

Algae-powered computing

Researchers have used a widespread species of blue-green algae to power a microprocessor continuously for a year - and counting - using nothing but ambient light and water. Their system has potential as a reliable and renewable way to power small devices.

Skipping tiny stones into a quantum whirlpool

May 12, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University used numerical simulations to confirm observations of quantized vortices in superfluid helium using silicon nanoparticles, improving understanding of quantum fluids and superconductors (Science Advances, "Visualization of quantized vortex reconnection enabled by laser ablation"). Researchers have observed the vortices that form...