Tech
Scientists at the University of Bath have taken an important step towards understanding the interaction between layers of atomically thin materials arranged in stacks. They hope their research will speed up the discovery of new, artificial materials, leading to the design of electronic components that are far tinier and more efficient than anything known today.
The optical vortex plays an increasingly important role in optical information processing. As an information carrier, it improves the capacity of channels and offers an independent aspect for analysis--different from polarization, intensity, phase, and path. A new degree of freedom for encoding and encrypting optical information may be provided via nonlinear optics, using vortex beams known as azimuthons, which carry an orbital angular momentum and can now be made to exhibit a mutual conversion pattern known as Rabi oscillation.
The built environment, where someone lives (private) or works (public), influences a person's daily life and can help, or hinder, their mental health. This is especially true for those with mental health conditions such as PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Researchers in the Wm Michael Barnes '64 Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University are working to determine which elements of built environments affect veterans with PTSD the most, and how they can be altered to help veterans thrive.
BROOKLYN, New York, Monday, August 10, 2020 - The proliferation and miniaturization of electronics in devices, wearables medical implants and other applications has made technologies for blocking electromagnetic interference (EMI) especially important, while making their implementation more challenging. While EMI can cause disruptions in communication in critical applications, resulting in potentially disastrous consequences, traditional EMI shields require large thicknesses to be effective, hampering design flexibility.
Photoelectric conversion is an efficient and green way of energy conversion, which has important applications in light energy utilization and optical information devices. It is reported that up to 40% of the energy loss in the single-junction solar cells is due to the thermal loss of the carrier and the low light absorption of the device. The utilization of hot carrier energy in nanomaterials is the key to further improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency.
In recent years, the number of people affected by coeliac disease, wheat allergy or gluten or wheat sensitivity has risen sharply. But why is this the case? Could it be that modern wheat varieties contain more immunoreactive protein than in the past? Results from a study by the Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich and the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research are helping to answer this question.
Drivers and passengers can inhale significantly lower levels of air pollution by setting their vehicle's ventilation systems more effectively and taking a 'cleaner' route to their destination, a new study reveals.
Road transport emissions are major source of urban air pollution - nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) coming from vehicle exhausts, plus non-exhaust emissions such as brake dust, tyre wear and road dust in the case of PM.
To the naked eye, metal organic frameworks (MOFs) look a little like sand. But if you zoom in, you will see that each grain looks and acts more like a sponge--and serves a similar purpose. MOFs are used to absorb and hold gases, which is useful when trying to filter toxic gases out of the air or as a way to store fuel for natural gas- or hydrogen gas-powered engines.
Scientists have revealed a way to eradicate parasitic worms by stopping them from using alternative metabolism pathways provided by bacteria that live within them, according to new findings published today in eLife.
The study has identified three potential drugs that are active against the parasitic worm Brugia malayi (B. malayi), a leading cause of disability in the developing world.
NASA's Aqua satellite obtained a visible image of Tropical Storm Jangmi after it transitioned into an extra-tropical storm.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) posted its final bulletin on Tropical Storm Jangmi on Aug. 10 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC). At that time, it was located near latitude 26.9 degrees north and longitude 130.4 degrees east, about 139 miles northeast of Chinhae, South Korea. Jangmi was speeding to the north-northeast at 29 knots and had maximum sustained winds of 35 knots (40 mph).
TROY, N.Y. -- In order to earn certification in general surgery, residents in the United States need to demonstrate proficiency in the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic program (FLS), a test that requires manipulation of laparoscopic tools within a physical training unit. Central to that assessment is a quantitative score, known as the FLS score, which is manually calculated using a formula that is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
A combination of genetic and emotional differences may lead to post-traumatic stress (PTS) in police officers, a new study finds.
Based on biological studies of officers in major cities, the study showed that the most significant PTS predictors are the tendency to startle at sudden sounds, early career displays of mental health symptoms (e.g., anxiety and depression), and certain genetic differences, including some known to influence a person's immune system.
Irina Shtangeeva is a researcher at the Department of Soil Science and Soil Ecology, St Petersburg University. She has studied the ability of wheat and couch grass to accumulate toxic substances. Both plants were capable of absorbing various chemical elements from contaminated soils. Although the plants were able to accumulate high concentrations of toxicants, they could survive under negative environmental conditions. Interestingly, the plants accumulated toxicants in the aerial parts thus removing them from contaminated soils.
A new theoretical method paves the way to modelling the interior of the ice giants Uranus and Neptune, thanks to computer simulations on the water contained within them. The tool, developed by scientists from SISSA in Trieste and the University of California at Los Angeles and recently published in Nature Communications, allows one to analyse thermal and electric processes occurring at physical conditions that are often impossible to reproduce experimentally, with a much easier and low-cost approach.
Magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT) as a noninvasive local treatment strategy is able to ablate tumors using an alternating magnetic field (AMF) to heat up magnetocaloric agents (e.g., magnetic nanoparticles) administered into the tumors. For clinical applications, there is still a demand to find new magnetocaloric agents with strong AMF-induced heating performance and excellent biocompatibility.