Mar 25, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The ice-encrusted oceans of some of the moons orbiting Saturn and Jupiter are leading candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life. A new lab-based study led by the University of Washington in Seattle and the Freie Universität Berlin shows that individual ice grains ejected from...
A global roadmap to advance printable sensors for sustainability and quality of life
Mar 26, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Vincenzo Pecunia, from SFU’s School of Sustainable Energy Engineering, led a team of more than 100 experts from 57 research institutions worldwide in developing a comprehensive roadmap for next-generation printable sensor technologies. By paving the way for everyday objects and environments to acquire sensing capabilities,...
Electron-bending effect could boost computer memory
Mar 26, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A new magnetic material developed by RIKEN physicists could boost computer memory storage by enabling higher memory density and faster memory writing speeds (Nature Communications, "Emergent zero-field anomalous Hall effect in a reconstructed rutile antiferromagnetic metal"). Memory devices such as hard disks store data by...
Silicon nanospikes take out 96% of virus particles
Mar 26, 2024 (Nanowerk News) An international research team led by RMIT University has designed and manufactured a virus-killing surface that could help control disease spread in hospitals, labs and other high-risk environments. The surface made of silicon is covered in tiny nanospikes that skewer viruses on contact. Lab tests...
Parity anomaly demonstrated in a topological insulator
Mar 26, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Topological insulators are materials that can conduct electricity, but only on their surface or edges. No current flows inside them. They are the subject of intensive research worldwide because they have unique electronic properties that are interesting for improving the efficiency of quantum computers, for...
New mechanical transistors enable environmentally adaptive and electricity-free computing
Mar 26, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) In the field of computing, the electronic transistor has long been the dominant technology. Since its invention in 1947, this tiny device has become the foundation of modern electronics, enabling the digital revolution that has transformed nearly every aspect of our lives. However, despite its...
New method to measure entropy production on the nanoscale
Mar 26, 2024 (Nanowerk News) “New computational models give us new research opportunities. Extending thermodynamics for ultrashort excitations will provide novel insights into how materials function on the nanoscale,” says Matthias Geilhufe, Assistant Professor at the Department of Physics at Chalmers University of Technology. Entropy is a measure of irreversibility...
Tiniest ‘starquake’ ever detected
Mar 26, 2024 (Nanowerk News) An orange dwarf star has yielded the tiniest ‘starquakes’ ever recorded, measured by an international team of scientists. Named Epsilon Indi, the star is the smallest and coolest dwarf star yet observed with solar-like oscillations – “starquakes” like those shown by the Sun. These oscillations...
Elusive 3D printed nanoparticles could lead to new shapeshifting materials
Mar 25, 2024 (Nanowerk News) In nanomaterials, shape is destiny. That is, the geometry of the particle in the material defines the physical characteristics of the resulting material. “A crystal made of nano-ball bearings will arrange themselves differently than a crystal made of nano-dice and these arrangements will produce very...
A more effective particle conversion surfaces for space instruments
Mar 25, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Southwest Research Institute is investing internal funding to develop more effective conversion surfaces to allow future spacecraft instruments to collect and analyze low-energy particles. Conversion surfaces are ultra-smooth, ultra-thin surfaces covering a silicon wafer that convert neutral atoms into ions to more effectively detect particles...