Feb 25, 2023 (Nanowerk News) For two decades, scientists have observed an elongated object named X7 near the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way and wondered what it was. Was it pulled off a larger structure nearby? Was its unusual form the result of stellar winds...
Researchers create single-photon emitters exactly where they are needed
Feb 25, 2023 (Nanowerk News) In the very near future, quantum computers are expected to revolutionize the way we compute, with new approaches to database searches, AI systems, simulations and more. But to achieve such novel quantum technology applications, photonic integrated circuits which can effectively control photonic quantum states –...
Robotic bees and roots offer hope of healthier environment and sufficient food
Feb 25, 2023 (Nanowerk News) The robotic bee replicants home in on the unsuspecting queen of a hive. But unlike the rebellious replicants in the 1982 sci-fi thriller Blade Runner, these ones are here to work. Combining miniature robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the plan is for the...
Unusual atom helps in search for Universe’s building blocks
Feb 24, 2023 (Nanowerk News) An unusual form of caesium atom is helping a University of Queensland-led research team unmask unknown particles that make up the Universe. Dr Jacinda Ginges, from UQ’s School of Mathematics and Physics, said the unusual atom – made up of an ordinary caesium atom and...
A new approach to stabilise perovskite solar cells without lead
Feb 24, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Solar cells made from perovskite, a material that is able to harvest sunlight and convert it to electricity, hold great potential as a replacement for silicon solar cells. Despite superior performance, efficiency and being cheaper to manufacture, perovskite solar cells have not been commercially manufactured...
Quantum mechanics could lead to stronger, more sustainable alloys
Feb 24, 2023 (Nanowerk News) It may be an abstract concept for many people, but a new study shows that quantum mechanics can play a role in reducing the carbon footprint for producing steel and other alloys while making materials stronger and lighter. Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology...
Breakthrough enables battery-free smart tag technology
Feb 22, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Imagine you can open your fridge, open an app on your phone and immediately know which items are expiring within a few days. This is one of the applications that a new technology developed by engineers at the University of California San Diego would enable....
Bacteria-growen nanowires can ‘smell’ a vast array of chemical tracers
Feb 23, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced the invention of a nanowire 10,000 times thinner than a human hair that can be cheaply grown by common bacteria and tuned to “smell” a vast array of chemical tracers—including those given off by people afflicted...
Real-life ‘quantum molycircuits’ using exotic nanotubes
Feb 23, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Molybdenum disulfide MoS2 is a groundbreaking material for electronics applications. As a two-dimensional layer similar to graphene, it is an excellent semiconductor, and can even become intrinsically superconducting under the right conditions. It's not particularly surprising that science fiction authors have already been speculating about...
New analysis method developed for quantum and nanomaterials
Feb 23, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A slow-motion movie on sports television channels shows processes in hundredths of a second. By contrast, processes on the nanoscale take place in the so-called femtosecond range: For example, an electron needs only billionths of a second to orbit a hydrogen atom. Physicists around the...