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Archive for the ‘materials’ category: Page 14

Dec 11, 2023

Sydney researchers debut new lego-style chip with enhanced bandwidth

Posted by in categories: materials, robotics/AI

“This architecture means Australia could develop its own sovereign chip manufacturing without exclusively relying on international foundries for the value-add process.”


Researchers at the University of Sydney Nano Institute have introduced a compact silicon semiconductor chip that seamlessly integrates electronics with photonic components. The innovation promises to significantly expand radio-frequency (RF) bandwidth and the ability to accurately control information flowing within the chip.

The chip, built using cutting-edge silicon photonics technology, boasts integration capabilities for diverse systems on semiconductors less than 5 millimeters wide. Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Ben Eggleton described the process as akin to assembling Lego building blocks, where new materials are integrated through advanced packaging of electronic ‘chiplets’, in a statement.

Continue reading “Sydney researchers debut new lego-style chip with enhanced bandwidth” »

Dec 8, 2023

MIT developed ML-tool for material prediction beats human wisdom

Posted by in category: materials

The tool uses first-principle calculations to arrive at material behavior in a few thousand steps rather than a million possibilities.


How well did the system perform?

The researchers have not yet put the system under extensive analysis but have seen some encouraging results in the limited cases so far.

Continue reading “MIT developed ML-tool for material prediction beats human wisdom” »

Dec 7, 2023

The Age of Silicon Is Here…for Batteries

Posted by in categories: energy, materials

The mainstay material of electronics is now yielding better energy storage.

Dec 7, 2023

Superconductors’ Secret: Old Physics Law Stands the Test of Time in Quantum Material Conundrum

Posted by in categories: materials, quantum physics

This surprising result is important for understanding unconventional superconductors and other materials where electrons band together to act collectively.

Long before researchers discovered the electron and its role in generating electrical current, they knew about electricity and were exploring its potential. One thing they learned early on was that metals were great conductors of both electricity and heat.

Discovery of the Wiedemann-Franz Law.

Dec 7, 2023

How AI assistants are already changing the way code gets made

Posted by in categories: materials, robotics/AI

AI coding assistants are here to stay—but just how big a difference they make is still unclear.

Two weeks into the coding class he was teaching at Duke University in North Carolina this spring, Noah Gift told his students to throw out the course materials he’d given them.

Dec 7, 2023

New Era of Soft Robotics Inspired by Octopus-Like Sensory Capabilities

Posted by in categories: materials, robotics/AI

SUMMARY: A soft robot with octopus-inspired sensory and motion capabilities represents significant progress in robotics, offering nimbleness and adaptability in uncertain environments.

Robotic engineers have made a leap forward with the development of a soft robot that closely resembles the dynamic movements and sensory prowess of an octopus. This groundbreaking innovation from an international collaboration involving Beihang University, Tsinghua University, and the National University of Singapore has the potential to redefine how robots interact with the world around them.

The blueprint for this highly adaptable robot draws upon the intelligent, soft-bodied mechanics of an octopus, enabling smooth movements across a variety of surfaces and environments with precision. The sensorized soft arm, lovingly named the electronics-integrated soft octopus arm mimic (E-SOAM), embodies advancements in soft robotics with its incorporation of elastic materials and sophisticated liquid metal circuits that remain resilient under extreme deformation.

Dec 6, 2023

Chinese researchers develop new hydrogel to harvest water from air

Posted by in categories: materials, sustainability

The gel demonstrated an adsorption capacity of about six times its weight in humid conditions and 90 percent of this water could be recovered.


In arid areas, vapor from the air is the only option but needs an inexpensive and scalable technique to produce large amounts of water.

Dec 3, 2023

Meteorites likely source of nitrogen for early Earth, Ryugu samples study finds

Posted by in categories: materials, space

Micrometeorites originating from icy celestial bodies in the outer solar system may be responsible for transporting nitrogen to the near-Earth region in the early days of our solar system. That discovery was published in Nature Astronomy by an international team of researchers, including University of Hawai’i at Mānoa scientists, led by Kyoto University.

Nitrogen compounds, such as ammonium salts, are abundant in material born in regions far from the sun, but evidence of their transport to Earth’s orbital region had been poorly understood.

“Our recent findings suggest the possibility that a greater amount of than previously recognized was transported near Earth, potentially serving as for life on our planet,” says Hope Ishii, study co-author and affiliate faculty at the Hawai’i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST).

Dec 3, 2023

Thought To Be Impossible — Scientists Uncover Hidden World Using Newly Found Properties of a Graphene-Like Material

Posted by in categories: innovation, materials

A breakthrough in nanofluidics is set to revolutionize our grasp of molecular dynamics at minuscule scales. Collaborative efforts from scientists at EPFL and the University of Manchester have uncovered a previously hidden world by using the newly found fluorescent properties of a graphene-like 2D material, boron nitride. This innovative approach enables scientists to track individual molecules within nanofluidic structures, illuminating their behavior in ways never before possible. The study’s findings were recently published in the journal Nature Materials.

Nanofluidics, the study of fluids confined within ultra-small spaces, offers insights into the behavior of liquids on a nanometer scale. However, exploring the movement of individual molecules in such confined environments has been challenging due to the limitations of conventional microscopy techniques. This obstacle prevented real-time sensing and imaging, leaving significant gaps in our knowledge of molecular properties in confinement.

Dec 2, 2023

Inspired by kombucha tea, engineers create living materials

Posted by in category: materials

A symbiotic culture of specialized yeast and bacteria can generate tough materials able to perform a variety of functions.

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