Aug 26, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed an approach to increase crop yield and efficiency by making plants more resilient against disease and harmful environmental factors. In a world where agriculture accounts for 14%-28% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of all freshwater withdraws, it...
Harvesting coherent hypersound with elliptical micropillars
Aug 24, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Scientists have harnessed elliptical micropillars to enhance the generation and detection of coherent acoustic phonons in the gigahertz range. This advancement represents a significant step forward in the development of more efficient nanoacoustic transducers. Controlling hypersound at the nanoscale has long been a significant challenge...
Superconductivity Is unpredictable at the edge
Aug 24, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Topological materials are materials that have unusual properties that arise because their wavefunction—the physical law guiding the electrons—is knotted or twisted. Where the topological material meets the surrounding space, the wavefunction must unwind. To accommodate this abrupt change, the electrons at the edge of the...
Using machine learning to speed up simulations of irregularly shaped particles
Aug 24, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Simulating particles is a relatively simple task when those particles are spherical. In the real world, however, most particles are not perfect spheres but take on irregular and varying shapes and sizes. Simulating these particles becomes a much more challenging and time-consuming task. The ability...
Turning bacteria into bioplastic factories
Aug 24, 2024 (Nanowerk News) In a world overrun by petroleum-based plastics, scientists are searching for alternatives that are more sustainable, more biodegradable and far less toxic to the environment. Two new studies by biologists at Washington University in St. Louis highlight one potential source of game-changing materials: purple bacteria...
Self-improving AI method increases 3D-printing efficiency
Aug 22, 2024 (Nanowerk News) An artificial intelligence algorithm can allow researchers to more efficiently use 3D printing to manufacture intricate structures. The Washington State University study, published in the journal Advanced Materials Technologies ("Machine Learning Enabled Design and Optimization for 3D-Printing of High-Fidelity Presurgical Organ Models"), could allow for...
Floatable solar device cleans water and tackles pollutants in one smart solution
Aug 22, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The quest for advanced technologies that address both clean water regeneration and pollutant degradation has become increasingly critical. Recent research presents a novel solution, as reported in Materials Horizons ("Monolith floatable dual-function solar photothermal evaporator: efficient clean water regeneration synergizing with pollutant degradation"). In this...
Micromachine twists 2D materials at will
Aug 22, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Just a few years ago, researchers discovered that changing the angle between two layers of graphene, an atom-thick sheet of carbon, also changed the material’s electronic and optical properties. They then learned that a “twist” of 1.1 degrees — dubbed the magic angle — could...
AI tackles one of the most difficult challenges in quantum chemistry
Aug 23, 2024 (Nanowerk News) New research using neural networks, a form of brain-inspired AI, proposes a solution to the tough challenge of modelling the states of molecules. The research shows how the technique can help solve fundamental equations in complex molecular systems. This could lead to practical uses in...
New open-source Python tool revolutionizes design and modeling of micro optical elements
Aug 23, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), in collaboration with Bosch Car Multimedia and Bosch Security Systems, recently published an article in Computer Physics Communications ("pyMOE: Mask design and modeling for micro optical elements and flat optics"), where they introduce a new open-source Python software...