Materials – Lifeboat News: The Blog

May 3
2019

DARPA preparing to test fly two hypersonic weapons

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is eyeing flight tests later this year for two hypersonic weapons, and it is teaming up with the US Army on developing such a ground-launched capability. However, at the same time, army leaders are drafting plans to consolidate duelling lines of effort within their hypersonic weapons’ portfolio.

During a 1 May Defense Writers’ Group breakfast with reporters, DARPA Director Dr Steven Walker fielded questions about ongoing projects inside the Pentagon’s research arm including the development of two hypersonic weapons with the US Air Force (USAF) — the Tactical Boost Glide (TBG) and the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC).

“[They are] two very different concepts but when you’re talking hypersonic [weapons], it is good to have what I consider intended redundancy because it’s a hard technology, making materials and propulsion systems that last in 3,000° Fahrenheit temperatures is not easy,” Walker said.

May 2
2019

Open Source

We’re committed to accelerating scientific progress for the benefit of society. One way we do this is through releasing open source materials, to contribute to the AI community’s culture of collaboration and shared progress.

Along with publishing papers to accompany research conducted at DeepMind, we release open source environments, data sets, and code to enable the broader research community to engage with our work and build upon it. For example, you can build on our implementations of the Deep Q-Network or Differential Neural Computer, or experiment in the same environments we use for our research, such as DeepMind Lab or StarCraft II.

Our open source contributions can be viewed on our site and on GitHub.

Apr 30
2019

How Twisted Graphene Became the Big Thing in Physics

The stunning emergence of a new type of superconductivity with the mere twist of a carbon sheet has left physicists giddy, and its discoverer nearly overwhelmed.

Apr 29
2019

Graphene sponge helps lithium sulphur batteries reach new potential

To meet the demands of an electric future, new battery technologies will be essential. One option is lithium sulphur batteries, which offer a theoretical energy density more than five times that of lithium ion batteries. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, recently unveiled a promising breakthrough for this type of battery, using a catholyte with the help of a graphene sponge.

The researchers’ novel idea is a porous, sponge-like aerogel made of reduced graphene oxide that acts as a free-standing electrode in the battery cell and allows for better and higher utilisation of sulphur.

A traditional battery consists of four parts. First, there are two supporting electrodes coated with an active substance, which are known as an anode and a cathode. In between them is an electrolyte, generally a liquid, allowing ions to be transferred back and forth. The fourth component is a separator, which acts as a physical barrier, preventing contact between the two electrodes whilst still allowing the transfer of ions.

Apr 29
2019

Researchers find ice feature on Saturn’s giant moon

Rain, seas and a surface of eroding organic material can be found both on Earth and on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. However, on Titan it is methane, not water, that fills the lakes with slushy raindrops.

Apr 28
2019

China develops unique heat-resistant material for hypersonic aircraft

Chinese scientists have developed a new heat-resistant material for hypersonic aircraft, as it can endure over 3,000 C from friction caused by a Mach 5–20 flight within the atmosphere.

A lead scientist said the material outperforms all similar foreign-made ones with its high melting point, low density and high malleability.

The new material enables a hypersonic aircraft to fly at Mach 5–20 within the atmosphere for several hours, as the high heat resulting from the friction between the aircraft and the air reaches between 2,000 C to 3,000 C, a temperature normal metal would not be able to endure.

Apr 26
2019

Researchers develop new class of anti-ice surfaces

Scraping an icy windshield can be a seasonal struggle for those that live in colder climates. But engineers from UBC’s Okanagan campus are aiming to ease that winter frustration with a new surface coating that can shed ice from large areas using little effort.

The new anti-ice coating is a new class of surfaces called low interfacial toughness (LIT) materials and were developed by UBC Okanagan researchers in a new study published this week in the journal Science.

“For those experienced in the early morning windshield scrape, it should come as no surprise that it normally takes quite a lot of force to remove large areas of ice,” explains Kevin Golovin, assistant professor at the UBCO School of Engineering and study lead author. “That’s not the case with LIT materials. Imagine simply brushing the ice away or letting it sliding off the windshield from its own weight—that’s how effective LIT materials can be.”

Apr 26
2019

The Glass Age, Part 1: Flexible, Bendable Glass

Circa 2014

Be amazed as Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman introduce us to a whole new way of thinking about glass. Learn the history of glass innovation and watch incredible demonstrations of bendable optical fiber and thin, ultra-flexible glass. This is the Glass Age, where materials science is constantly pushing boundaries and creating new possibilities for glass-enabled technology and design. See how glass is shaping the future at www.TheGlassAge.com

Presented by Corning.

Apr 26
2019

Researchers discover surprising quantum effect in hard disk drive material

Scientists find surprising way to affect information storage properties in metal alloy.

Sometimes scientific discoveries can be found along well-trodden paths. That proved the case for a cobalt-iron alloy material commonly found in hard disk drives.

As reported in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters, researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, along with Oakland University in Michigan and Fudan University in China, have found a surprising quantum effect in this alloy.

Apr 26
2019

Building the smart cities of the future

This article is the first part in a series on smart cities. See more from Christine Wong.

Smart cities are coming under siege.

In Songdo, South Korea, clusters of concrete high-rises sit empty, waiting for an influx of foreign workers that hasn’t materialized. The $40 billion smart city, which was to be completed last year, is only 70 percent finished. Just 100,000 people live in Songdo so far, well short of its target population of 300,000.