Lifeboat Foundation

The process of crystallization fouling is a phenomenon where scale forms on surfaces. It is widespread in nature and technology and affects the energy and water industries. Despite previous attempts, rationally designed surfaces with intrinsic resistance remain elusive due to a lack of understanding of how microfoulants adhere in dynamic aqueous environments.

In a study now published in Science Advances, Julian Schmid and a team of researchers in surface engineering in Switzerland and the U.S. studied the interfacial dynamics of microfoulants by using a micro-scanning fluid dynamic gauge system to demonstrate a rationally developed coating that removes 98% of deposits under shear flow conditions.

Machine learning and laboratory experiments have provided scientists with insights into the different languages bacteria use to communicate. By understanding the ways in which bacteria interact and the circumstances under which their communication is disrupted, researchers can tackle issues related to drug-resistant bacteria and advance the development of biocomputing technologies.

The study builds on an earlier project in which the researchers showed that disrupting bacterial communication is an effective way to fight multidrug-resistant bacteria. Bacteria use small molecules to communicate with each other and coordinate infection, and the team showed that interfering with bacterial communication by blocking these molecules reduced inflammation and made the bacteria more vulnerable to antibiotics.

Physicists at the National University of Singapore have innovated a concept to induce and directly quantify spin splitting in two-dimensional materials. By using this concept, they have experimentally achieved large tunability and a high degree of spin-polarisation in graphene. This research achievement can potentially advance the field of two-dimensional (2D) spintronics, with applications for low-power electronics.

Joule heating poses a significant challenge in modern electronics, especially in devices such as personal computers and smartphones. This is an effect that occurs when the flow of electrical current passing through a material produces thermal energy, subsequently raising the material’s temperature.

One potential solution involves the use of spin, instead of charge, in logic circuits. These circuits can, in principle, offer low-power consumption and ultrafast speed, owing to the reduction or elimination of Joule heating. This has given rise to the emerging field of spintronics.

Scientists from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have confirmed the underlying physics of a newly discovered phenomenon of magnet levitation. In 2021, a scientist from Turkey published a research paper detailing an experiment where a magnet was attached to a motor, causing it to rotate rapidly. When this setup was brought near a second magnet, the second magnet began to rotate and suddenly hovered in a fixed position a few centimeters away.

University of Chicago scientists have developed a way to improve chemical reactions in drug manufacturing using electricity. This breakthrough in electrochemistry, enhancing efficiency and sustainability, opens new avenues in green chemical production. Credit: SciTechDaily.com.

As the world moves away from gas towards electricity as a greener power source, the to-do list goes beyond cars. The vast global manufacturing network that makes everything from our batteries to our fertilizers needs to flip the switch, too.

A study from UChicago chemists found a way to use electricity to boost a type of chemical reaction often used in synthesizing new candidates for pharmaceutical drugs.

Furthermore, they are recognized transcription factors critical in human embryo development and tissue function.

Potential novel cancer therapeutics

The statement noted that this discovery opens the door to potential novel cancer therapeutics.

Continue reading “Scientists are advancing cancer treatments after cracking IKAROS code” »

From the Moon’s south pole to an ice-covered ocean world, several exciting space missions are slated for launch in 2024.

Overall, they put the odds at around five percent.

This week, Intel began to receive its first ASML’s extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tool with a 0.55 numerical aperture (High-NA), which it will use to learn how to use the technology before deploying the machines for a post-18A production node in the next couple of years or so. By contrast, TSMC is in no rush to adopt High-NA EUV any time soon, and it might be years before the company jumps on this bandwagon in 2030 or beyond, according to analysts from both China Renaissance and SemiAnalysis.

“In contrast to Intel’s use of High-NA EUV soon after its shift to GAA (planned for [20A] insertion), we expect TSMC’sHigh-NA EUV insertion in the post N1.4 era (the inflection likely at N1, scheduled for post-2030 launch),” wrote Szeho Ng, an analyst with China Renaissance.